Prayers and Meditations — §639

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 639 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

تِكَ قَدْ بَلَغَتِ البَلايا إِلى مَقامٍ لا تُحْصى وَلا تَجْرِيْ مِنْ قَلَمِ الإِنْشآءِ، أَسْئَلُكَ يا مالِكَ الأسْماءِ وَفاطِرَ الأَرْضِ وَالسَّمآءِ بِأَنْ تُؤَيِّدَنِيْ عَلَى شَأْنٍ لا يَمْنَعُنِي شَيْءٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِكَ وَثَنائِكَ وَلا يَشْغَلُنِي أَمْرٌ عَمَّا أَمَرْتَنِي بِهِ فِي أَلْواحِكَ، أَقُومُ عَلَى أَمْرِكَ عَلَى شَأْنٍ أُعَرِّيْ رَأْسِيْ وَأَطْلَعُ مِنَ البَيْتِ صائِحًا بِاسْمِكَ بَيْنَ خَلْقِكَ وَناطِقًا بِذِكْرِكَ بَيْنَ عِبادِكَ، وَإِذا قَضَيْتُ ما قَضَيْتَ وَأَدَّيْتُ ما كَتَبْتَ يَجْتَمِعُ عَلَيَّ أَشْرارُ بَرِيَّتِكَ وَيَفْعَلُونَ ما يَشاؤُونَ فِي سَبِيلِكَ، أَيْ رَبِّ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I implore Thee, O Thou Who art the King of names and the Creator of earth and heaven, so to assist me by Thy strengthening grace that nothing whatsoever will have the power to hinder me from remembering Thee, or celebrating Thy praise, or to keep me back from observing what Thou hast prescribed unto me in Thy Tablets, that I may so arise to serve Thee that with bared head I will hasten forth from my habitation, cry out in Thy name amidst Thy creatures, and proclaim Thy virtues among Thy servants. Having accomplished what Thou hadst decreed, and delivered the thing Thou hadst written down, the wicked doers among Thy people would, then, compass me about and would do with me in Thy path as would please them.

Translation Notes

تِكَ

ʿ-z-z

literal: glory; mighty; might

قَدْ

q-d

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

بَلَغَتِ

b-l-gh

literal: to reach; to attain; to deliver; to proclaim

البَلايا

b-l-w

literal: affliction; trial; calamity

إِلى

ʾ-l-y

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

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

تُحْصى

ḥ-ṣ-y

literal: unnumbered, innumerable, countless, beyond count; to count; to enumerate; to be reckoned

وَلا

w-l-y

literal: friend; lord; guardian

تَجْرِيْ

j-r-y

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

مِنَ

m-n → “from”

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

قَلَمِ

q-l-m

literal: pen; writing instrument

الإِنْشآءِ،

n-sh-ʾ

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

أَسْئَلُكَ

s-ʾ-l → “I implore Thee”

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

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

مالِكَ

m-l-k → “King”

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

الأسْماءِ

s-m-w → “names”

literal: heaven; sky

وَفاطِرَ

f-ṭ-r → “Creator”

literal: creator; the one who splits/creates

الأَرْضِ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

بِأَنْ

ʾ-n-n → “so to” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تُؤَيِّدَنِيْ

ʾ-y-d → “assist me”

literal: to support, assist, strengthen, confirm; to support; to assist; to strengthen; to aid; confirmation; support; strengthening

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “by Thy strengthening grace” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

شَأْنٍ

sh-ʾ-n

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

يَمْنَعُنِي

m-n-ʿ → “hinder me” Distinctive

literal: prevent; prevented; prevention

شَيْءٌ

sh-y-ʾ → “nothing whatsoever”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

ذِكْرِكَ

dh-k-r → “remembering Thee” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

وَثَنائِكَ

th-n-y → “celebrating Thy praise”

literal: praise; commendation; eulogy; glorification; praise, commendation, eulogy

يَشْغَلُنِي

sh-gh-l → “busied” Distinctive

literal: occupied; busy; occupy

أَمْرٌ

ʾ-m-r

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

أَمَرْتَنِي

ʾ-m-r → “hast prescribed” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

بِهِ

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

أَلْواحِكَ،

l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: description; tablet; manifesto

أَقُومُ

q-w-m → “arise”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

أُعَرِّيْ

ʿ-r-y → “Rid” Distinctive

literal: naked; bare; stripped

رَأْسِيْ

r-ʾ-s → “my head”

literal: chief; leader; head; president; beginning

وَأَطْلَعُ

ṭ-l-ʿ → “hasten forth” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

البَيْتِ

b-y-t → “habitation” Distinctive

literal: house; household; family; verse

صائِحًا

ṣ-y-ḥ → “cry out”

literal: cry; shout; cry out

بَيْنَ

b-y-n → “amidst”

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

خَلْقِكَ

kh-l-q → “creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

وَناطِقًا

n-ṭ-q → “proclaim” Distinctive

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

عِبادِكَ،

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

وَإِذا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

قَضَيْتُ

q-ḍ-y → “decree” Distinctive

literal: decree; decree/judgment; decreed

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

وَأَدَّيْتُ

ʾ-d-y → “delivered”

literal: performance; deliver/convey; fulfill/discharge

كَتَبْتَ

k-t-b → “written down”

literal: book; scripture; writing

يَجْتَمِعُ

j-m-ʿ → “all” Distinctive

literal: to gather, assemble, come together

أَشْرارُ

sh-r-r → “wicked doers”

literal: evil; harm; wickedness

بَرِيَّتِكَ

b-r-ʾ → “people”

literal: to create; to create anew; to be free from; innocent; free from; clear of; to cure; to heal; to clear

وَيَفْعَلُونَ

f-ʿ-l → “do”

literal: to do, act, make; deed, action

سَبِيلِكَ،

s-b-l → “path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y

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

رَبِّ

r-b-b

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

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 ¶

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

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

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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 ¶