Prayers and Meditations — §604

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 604 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

لَكَ الحَمْدُ يا إِلهِي بِما جَعَلْتَنِيْ هَدَفًا لِسِهامِ أَعْدائِكَ فِي سَبِيلِكَ، أَشْكُرُكَ يا عَالِمَ الغَيْبِ وَالشُّهُودِ وَمالِكَ الوُجُودِ بِما جَعَلْتَنِي مَسْجُونًا فِي حُبِّكَ وَسَقَيْتَنِي كَأْسَ البَلايا لإِظْهارِ أَمْرِكَ وَإِعْلاءِ كَلِمَتِكَ، أَيْ رَبِّ أَيُّ بَلائِي أَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I give Thee thanks, O my God, for that Thou hast made me to be a target for the darts of Thine adversaries in Thy path. I offer Thee most high praise, O Thou Who art the Knower of the seen and unseen and the Lord of all being, that Thou hast suffered me to be cast into prison for love of Thee, and caused me to quaff the cup of woe, that I may reveal Thy Cause and glorify Thy word.

Translation Notes

لَكَ

l → “His is”

literal: for; for you; for him

الحَمْدُ

ḥ-m-d → “I give” Distinctive

literal: praise; to praise

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “my God”

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

بِما

m-ʾ → “for that” Distinctive

literal: what; which; that which; relative pronoun; interrogative

جَعَلْتَنِيْ

j-ʿ-l → “Thou hast made”

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

هَدَفًا

h-d-f → “target”

literal: target; goal; aim

لِسِهامِ

s-h-m → “darts”

literal: arrow; dart; shaft; portion; share

أَعْدائِكَ

ʿ-d-w → “Thine adversaries”

literal: when; if; whenever; at that time

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

سَبِيلِكَ،

s-b-l → “Thy path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

أَشْكُرُكَ

sh-k-r → “Render thanks”

literal: thankfulness, gratitude; to give thanks, be grateful; manifest; evident; apparent; clear

عَالِمَ

ʿ-l-m → “Knower” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

الغَيْبِ

gh-y-b → “invisible”

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

وَالشُّهُودِ

sh-h-d → “unseen”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

وَمالِكَ

m-l-k → “Lord”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

الوُجُودِ

w-j-d → “all being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

مَسْجُونًا

s-j-n → “be cast into prison” Distinctive

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

حُبِّكَ

ḥ-b-b → “love of Thee”

literal: love; affection

وَسَقَيْتَنِي

s-q-y → “partake” Distinctive

literal: to give drink; to water, irrigate; to water

كَأْسَ

k-ʾ-s → “cup”

literal: cup; chalice; goblet

البَلايا

b-l-w → “of woe” Distinctive

literal: affliction; trial; calamity

لإِظْهارِ

ẓ-h-r → “that I may reveal” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

أَمْرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “Thy Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

وَإِعْلاءِ

ʿ-l-w → “glorify” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

كَلِمَتِكَ،

k-l-m → “Thy word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

رَبِّ

r-b-b

literal: Lord; lord; divine

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

Fire Tablet

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Revealed in late 1871 during a period of severe hardship in ‘Akká, this Tablet takes the form of an anguished dialogue between Bahá’u’lláh and God. Questions about the sufferings of the faithful are answered with divine assurances, building to a crescendo of triumph over tribulation.

50 ¶

Gleanings

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A compilation of 166 selections from Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets, spanning the Baghdad, Adrianople, and ‘Akká periods (1853–1892). George Townshend assisted with English refinement. Shoghi Effendi wrote that it gives the friends a splendid opportunity to acquire knowledge and understanding of the Faith.

729 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

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16 ¶

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The principal doctrinal work of the Faith, revealed in Baghdad within the space of two days and two nights in response to questions from the Báb’s maternal uncle. Shoghi Effendi described it as occupying a position unequalled by any work except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas — a model of Persian prose, at once original, chaste, vigorous, and remarkably lucid.

291 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

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Revealed in Adrianople and addressed to a believer named Aḥmad, this Tablet has been invested by Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency and significance. Its central imagery draws on the metaphor of fire and water: “Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones.”

17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

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Revealed during a visit to Mount Carmel, this Tablet addresses the mountain directly and prophesies its future as the world spiritual and administrative center of the Faith. Shoghi Effendi designated it one of three foundational Charters. Its imagery of the Ark and the dwellers therein prefigures the Universal House of Justice.

5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

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Chanted aloud in the outskirts of Baghdad just weeks before the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván, its gloomy prognostications aroused the grave apprehensions of all who heard it. Only the Arabic portion has an authorized translation; the Persian portion remains untranslated.

57 ¶

The Hidden Words

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Seventy-one Arabic and eighty-two Persian aphorisms revealed around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. Originally designated the “Hidden Book of Fáṭimih,” Shoghi Effendi described it as a marvelous collection of gem-like utterances occupying a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Faith.

160 ¶

Will and Testament

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in three parts between 1901 and 1908, opened and read after His passing on 28 November 1921. Shoghi Effendi designated it the Charter of the New World Order — the mightiest instrument forged to ensure the continuity of the three ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.

59 ¶