Prayers and Meditations — §619

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 619 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

تَوَكَّلَتْ بِذاتِكَ، فَيا إِلهِي هذِهِ مَرِيضٌ اسْتَظَلَّتْ فِي ظِلِّ شَجَرَةِ شِفائِكَ، وَعَلِيلٌ قَدْ هَرَبَتْ إِلى مَدْيَنِ حِراسَتِكَ، وَسَقِيمٌ أَرادَتْ تَسْنِيمَ مَواهِبِكَ، وَوَجْعانٌ سَرُعَتْ إِلى مَنْبَعِ سَكِينَتِكَ، وَعاصٍ تَوَجَّهَتْ إِلى شَطْرِ غُفْرانِكَ،

Shoghi Effendi Translation

She is sick, O my God, and hath entered beneath the shadow of the Tree of Thy healing; afflicted, and hath fled to the City of Thy protection; diseased, and hath sought the Fountainhead of Thy favors; sorely vexed, and hath hasted to attain the Wellspring of Thy tranquility; burdened with sin, and hath set her face toward the court of Thy forgiveness.

Translation Notes

تَوَكَّلَتْ

w-k-l

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority; to rely; to trust; to place trust in

بِذاتِكَ،

dh-w-t

literal: essence, self, being, substance; with preposition ‘by’

فَيا

y-ʾ → “O my”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

هذِهِ

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; this (masculine); this (feminine)

مَرِيضٌ

m-r-ḍ → “ills” Distinctive

literal: illness, disease; sickness

اسْتَظَلَّتْ

ẓ-l-l → “hath entered”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

شَجَرَةِ

sh-j-r → “of the Tree”

literal: tree

شِفائِكَ،

sh-f-y → “healing”

literal: healing; healing, cure; healer

وَعَلِيلٌ

ʿ-l-l → “afflicted”

literal: cause; reason; illness; defect

قَدْ

q-d → “We have been”

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

هَرَبَتْ

h-r-b → “fled”

literal: flee; fleeing; fled

إِلى

ʾ-l-y → “to”

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

مَدْيَنِ

m-d-n → “City”

literal: city; cities; civilization

حِراسَتِكَ،

ḥ-r-s → “of Thy protection”

literal: to guard, protect, watch over

وَسَقِيمٌ

s-q-m → “sickness” Distinctive

literal: sickness; disease; ailment

أَرادَتْ

r-y-d → “hath sought”

literal: to will; to intend; to wish

تَسْنِيمَ

s-n-m → “living waters”

literal: highest-spring/pure-water; exaltation, fountain in Paradise; fountain

مَواهِبِكَ،

w-h-b → “of Thy favors” Distinctive

literal: gift; grant; bestowal

وَوَجْعانٌ

w-j-ʿ → “sorely vexed”

literal: aching; pain, ache

سَرُعَتْ

s-r-ʿ → “hath hasted”

literal: speed; swiftness; haste

مَنْبَعِ

n-b-ʿ → “Source”

literal: to not be; non-existence; there is not

سَكِينَتِكَ،

s-k-n → “inmates” Distinctive

literal: dwelling; inhabitants; dwell

وَعاصٍ

ʿ-ṣ-y → “sinner” Distinctive

literal: disobedience; disobey; disobedient

تَوَجَّهَتْ

w-j-h → “hath set her face” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

شَطْرِ

sh-ṭ-r → “court” Distinctive

literal: side, direction; half; to split

غُفْرانِكَ،

gh-f-r → “of Thy forgiveness”

literal: to pardon; to efface; to forgive

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Bahá’u’lláh

The last outstanding Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, written around 1891 and addressed to Shaykh Muḥammad-Taqí of Iṣfahán. It calls upon that rapacious priest to repent, quotes the most celebrated passages from Bahá’u’lláh’s own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His Cause.

268 ¶

Fire Tablet

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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 ¶