Prayers and Meditations — §638

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 638 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحانَكَ يا إِلهِي تَعْلَمُ بَلائِي وَما وَرَدَ عَلَيَّ مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ طافُوا حَولِي مِنَ العِبادِ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوا بِآياتِكَ الكُبْرى وَأَعْرَضُوا عَنْ طَلْعَتِكَ النَّوْرآءِ، وَعِزَّ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Glorified art Thou, O my Lord! Thou beholdest my tribulations and all that hath befallen me at the hands of such of Thy servants as keep company with me, who have disbelieved in Thy most resplendent signs, and turned back from Thy most effulgent Beauty. I swear by Thy glory! Such are the troubles that vex me, that no pen in the entire creation can either reckon or describe them.

Translation Notes

سُبْحانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Glorified”

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

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “O my Lord” Distinctive

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

تَعْلَمُ

ʿ-l-m → “beholdest” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بَلائِي

b-l-w → “tribulations”

literal: trial; affliction; tribulation; testing

وَما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

وَرَدَ

w-r-d → “hath befallen”

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

عَلَيَّ

ʿ-l-w → “me” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

مِنَ

m-n → “at the hands of”

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

الَّذِيْنَ

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

طافُوا

ṭ-w-f → “circle”

literal: circle; circling; circumambulate

حَولِي

ḥ-w-l

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

العِبادِ

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

كَفَرُوا

k-f-r → “have disbelieved”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude

بِآياتِكَ

ʾ-y-y → “in Thy” Distinctive

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

الكُبْرى

k-b-r → “most resplendent” Distinctive

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

وَأَعْرَضُوا

ʿ-r-ḍ → “and turned back” Distinctive

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

طَلْعَتِكَ

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Beauty” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

النَّوْرآءِ،

n-w-r → “most effulgent”

literal: light; illumination

وَعِزَّ

ʿ-z-z → “I swear by Thy glory”

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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16 ¶

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291 ¶

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17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

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5 ¶

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57 ¶

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160 ¶

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59 ¶