Prayers and Meditations — §624

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 624 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

فَسُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ يا إِلهِي أَسْئَلُكَ بِاسْمِكَ الَّذِيْ بِهِ أَرْفَعْتَ أَعْلامَ هِدايَتِكَ وَأَشْرَقْتَ أَنوارَ عِنايَتِكَ وَأَظْهَرْتَ سُلْطانَ رُبُوبِيَّتِكَ، وَبِهِ ظَهَرَ مِصْباحُ أَسْمائِكَ فِي مِشْكاةِ صِفاتِكَ، وَبِهِ طَلَعَ هَيْكَلُ التَّوحِيدِ وَمَظْهَرُ التَّجْرِيدِ، وَبِهِ رُفِعَ مَناهِجُ الهِدايَةِ وَظَهَرَ سُبُلُ الإِرادَةِ، وَبِهِ تَزَلْزَلَتْ أَرْكانُ الضَّلالَةِ وَانْهَدَمَتْ آثارُ الشَّقاوَةِ، وَبِهِ تَفَجَّرَتْ يَنابِيعُ الحِكْمَةِ وَتَنَزَّلَتْ مائِدَةُ السَّماوِيَّةِ، وَبِهِ حَفَظْتَ عِبادَكَ وَنَزَّلْتَ شِفائَكَ، وَبِهِ ظَهَرَتْ مَرْحَمَتُكَ عَلَى عِبادِكَ وَمَغْفِرَتُكَ بَيْنَ خَلْقِكَ، بِأَنْ تَحْفَظَ الَّذِيْ تَوَسَّلَ إِلَيْكَ وَرَجَعَ عَلَيْكَ وَتَمَسَّكَ بِرَحْمَتِكَ وَتَشَبَّثَ بِذَيْلِ عُطُوفَتِكَ، ثُمَّ أَنْزِلْ عَلَيْهِ شِفآءً مِنْ عِنْدِكَ وَسَلامَةً مِنْ لَدُنْكَ وَصَبْرًا مِنْ جانِبِكَ وَسُكُونًا مِنْ حَضْرَتِكَ، إِذْ إِنَّكَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Glory be to Thee, O Lord my God! I implore Thee by Thy Name, through which Thou didst lift up the ensigns of Thy guidance, and didst shed the radiance of Thy loving-kindness, and didst reveal the sovereignty of Thy Lordship; through which the lamp of Thy names hath appeared within the niche of Thine attributes, and He Who is the Tabernacle of Thy unity and the Manifestation of detachment hath shone forth; through which the ways of Thy guidance were made known, and the paths of Thy good pleasure were marked out; through which the foundations of error have been made to tremble, and the signs of wickedness have been abolished; through which the fountains of wisdom have burst forth, and the heavenly table hath been sent down; through which Thou didst preserve Thy servants and didst vouchsafe Thy healing; through which Thou didst show forth Thy tender mercies unto Thy servants and revealedst Thy forgiveness amidst Thy creatures—I implore Thee to keep safe him who hath held fast and returned unto Thee, and clung to Thy mercy, and seized the hem of Thy loving providence. Send down, then, upon him Thy healing, and make him whole, and endue him with a constancy vouchsafed by Thee, and a tranquility bestowed by Thy highness.

Translation Notes

فَسُبْحَانَكَ

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

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

اللَّهُمَّ

ʾ-l-h → “O Lord” Distinctive

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

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

أَسْئَلُكَ

s-ʾ-l → “I implore”

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

بِاسْمِكَ

s-m-w → “by Thy Name”

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint; name; noun; to name, to appoint, to designate

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “through which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

بِهِ

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

أَرْفَعْتَ

r-f-ʿ → “Thou didst lift up”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

أَعْلامَ

ʿ-l-m → “ensigns”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

هِدايَتِكَ

h-d-y → “of Thy guidance”

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

وَأَشْرَقْتَ

sh-r-q → “didst shed” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

أَنوارَ

n-w-r → “radiance” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

عِنايَتِكَ

ʿ-n-y → “of Thy loving-kindness”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

وَأَظْهَرْتَ

ẓ-h-r → “didst 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

سُلْطانَ

s-l-ṭ → “sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

رُبُوبِيَّتِكَ،

r-b-b → “of Thy Lordship”

literal: divine; of God; lordly

مِصْباحُ

ṣ-b-ḥ → “lamp”

literal: morning, dawn; daybreak

فِي

f-y → “within”

literal: in; in-it; in it

مِشْكاةِ

sh-k-w → “complain” Distinctive

literal: niche; chamber; recess

صِفاتِكَ،

w-ṣ-f → “of Thine attributes”

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

طَلَعَ

ṭ-l-ʿ → “hath shone forth”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

هَيْكَلُ

h-y-k-l → “form”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

التَّوحِيدِ

w-ḥ-d → “of Thy unity”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

التَّجْرِيدِ،

j-r-d → “of detachment”

literal: neck; throat

مَناهِجُ

n-h-j → “ways”

literal: ways; paths; way

سُبُلُ

s-b-l → “paths”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

الإِرادَةِ،

r-w-d

literal: to will; to intend; to wish; will, volition, intention, desire

تَزَلْزَلَتْ

z-l-z-l → “dismayed” Distinctive

literal: to shake; to quake; to be shaken; to be moved

أَرْكانُ

r-k-n → “foundations”

literal: pillar; cornerstone; support; fundamental element; limb; member

الضَّلالَةِ

ḍ-l-l → “of error”

literal: error; straying; misguidance; delusion; falsehood

وَانْهَدَمَتْ

h-d-m → “will demolish” Distinctive

literal: demolish; demolition; demolished

آثارُ

ʾ-th-r → “signs”

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

الشَّقاوَةِ،

sh-q-w → “misery” Distinctive

literal: wretchedness; misery, wretchedness; misery

تَفَجَّرَتْ

f-j-r → “workers of iniquity” Distinctive

literal: dawn; wicked; burst forth

يَنابِيعُ

n-b-ʿ → “Source” Distinctive

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

الحِكْمَةِ

ḥ-k-m → “of wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

وَتَنَزَّلَتْ

n-z-l → “hath been sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

مائِدَةُ

m-y-d → “bread”

literal: extended; outstretched; sustained

حَفَظْتَ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “Thou didst preserve”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

عِبادَكَ

ʿ-b-d → “Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

شِفائَكَ،

sh-f-y → “Thy healing”

literal: to seek healing; to be healed; recovery

مَرْحَمَتُكَ

r-ḥ-m → “Thy tender mercies”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “unto”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

وَمَغْفِرَتُكَ

gh-f-r → “revealedst Thy forgiveness”

literal: forgiving; forgiveness; forgive

بَيْنَ

b-y-n → “amidst”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

خَلْقِكَ،

kh-l-q → “Thy creatures—I”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

بِأَنْ

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تَوَسَّلَ

w-s-l → “holding fast unto Him” Distinctive

literal: seeking-means; supplicating; seeking-means-ones

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y

literal: one; a single

وَرَجَعَ

r-j-ʿ → “and returned unto Thee”

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

وَتَمَسَّكَ

m-s-k → “and clung”

literal: most complete; to complete; perfect; fullness

وَتَشَبَّثَ

sh-b-th → “clung”

literal: to cling to; to grasp; to hold fast

بِذَيْلِ

dh-y-l → “hem”

literal: hem; skirt; tail; border

عُطُوفَتِكَ،

ʿ-ṭ-f → “of Thy loving providence”

literal: compassionate; kindness/compassion; kindness

ثُمَّ

th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

عَلَيْهِ

ʿ-l-y → “upon him”

literal: upon; on; exalted

مِنْ

m-n → “vouchsafed by Thee” Distinctive

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

عِنْدِكَ

ʿ-n-d → “Thee”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

وَسَلامَةً

s-l-m → “resignation” Distinctive

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

لَدُنْكَ

l-d-n → “by”

literal: from; on the part of; from before; near

وَصَبْرًا

ṣ-b-r

literal: patience; forbearance; endurance; to be patient

جانِبِكَ

j-n-b → “Thee”

literal: to avoid; to shun; to keep away from

وَسُكُونًا

s-k-n → “inmates” Distinctive

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

حَضْرَتِكَ،

ḥ-ḍ-r → “him” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

إِذْ

ʾ-dh-dh

literal: when; since

إِنَّكَ

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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 ¶

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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

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

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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 ¶