Prayers and Meditations — §608

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 608 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحَانَكَ يا إِلهِي قَدْ تَوَجَّهَ وَجْهُ البَهآءِ إِلى وَجْهِكَ وَوَجْهُكَ وَجْهُهُ وَنِدائُكَ نِدائُهُ وَظُهُورُكَ ظُهُورُهُ وَنَفْسُكَ نَفْسُهُ وَأَمْرُكَ أَمْرُهُ وَحُكْمُكَ حُكْمُهُ وَجَمالُكَ جَمالهَ وَسُلْطانُكَ سُلْطَانُهُ وَعِزُّكَ عِزُّهُ وَقُدْرَتُكَ قُ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Glory be to Thee, O my God! My face hath been set towards Thy face, and my face is, verily, Thy face, and my call is Thy call, and my Revelation Thy Revelation, and my self Thy Self, and my Cause Thy Cause, and my behest Thy behest, and my Being Thy Being, and my sovereignty Thy sovereignty, and my glory Thy glory, and my power Thy power.

Translation Notes

سُبْحَانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Glory be to Thee” Distinctive

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

قَدْ

q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

تَوَجَّهَ

w-j-h → “set” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

البَهآءِ

b-h-w

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

إِلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

وَنِدائُكَ

n-d-w → “my call” Distinctive

literal: call; voice; cry; summons; to call; to proclaim; to cry out; to summon

نِدائُهُ

n-d-y → “Thy call” Distinctive

literal: call; voice; cry; summons; to call; to proclaim; to cry out; to summon

وَظُهُورُكَ

ẓ-h-r → “my Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

وَنَفْسُكَ

n-f-s → “my self” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وَأَمْرُكَ

ʾ-m-r → “my Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

وَحُكْمُكَ

ḥ-k-m → “my behest”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

وَجَمالُكَ

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

وَسُلْطانُكَ

s-l-ṭ → “my sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

وَعِزُّكَ

ʿ-z-z → “my glory”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

وَقُدْرَتُكَ

q-d-r → “my power” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

Fire Tablet

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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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The Book of the Covenant — Bahá’u’lláh’s Will and Testament, written entirely in His own hand and unsealed on the ninth day after His ascension. It designates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and establishes what Shoghi Effendi called the mightiest Covenant in all religious history.

16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

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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 ¶