Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §642

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 642 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحَانَكَ يا إِلهِي لا أَجِدُ فِي مَمْلَكَتِكَ مَنْ يَقْدِرُ أَنْ يُقْبِلَ إِلَيْكَ حَقَّ الإِقْبالِ أَوْ يَسْتَمِعَ ما خَرَجَ مِنْ فَمِ مَشِيَّتِكَ حَقَّ الاسْتِماعِ، أَسْئَلُكَ يا مالِكَ الإِبْداعِ وَمَليْكَ الاخْتِراعِ بِأَنْ تُؤَيِّدَهُمْ عَلَى ما تُحِبُّ وَتَرْضی، ليَقُومُنَّ عَلَى أَمْرِكَ بَيْنَ خَلْقِكَ وَيَنْطِقُنَّ بِذِكْرِكَ بَيْنَ السَّمواتِ وَا

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Lauded be Thy name, O my God! I can discover no one in Thy realm who can befittingly turn unto Thee, or is able to adequately hearken unto what hath gone out of the mouth of Thy will. I beseech Thee, therefore, O Thou Who art the Possessor of the entire creation and the King of the realm of Thine invention, graciously to aid Thy creatures to accomplish that which is pleasing and acceptable unto Thee, that they may arise to serve Thy Cause amidst Thy creatures, and to speak forth Thy praise before all who are in heaven and on earth.

Translation Notes

سُبْحَانَكَ
s-b-ḥ → “Lauded be Thy name”

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

يا
y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي
ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

لا
l-ʾ → “no”

literal: no; not; negation particle

أَجِدُ
w-j-d → “discover” Distinctive

literal: creation; bringing into existence

فِي
f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

مَمْلَكَتِكَ
m-l-k → “Thy realm”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

مَنْ
m-n → “from”

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

يَقْدِرُ
q-d-r → “can”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

أَنْ
ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

يُقْبِلَ
q-b-l → “turn” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إِلَيْكَ
ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

حَقَّ
ḥ-q-q → “truth”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

أَوْ
h-w-w → “is”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

يَسْتَمِعَ
s-m-ʿ → “hearken”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

ما
m-ʾ → “that”

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

خَرَجَ
kh-r-j → “gone out” Distinctive

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

فَمِ
f-m-m → “mouth”

literal: mouth

مَشِيَّتِكَ
sh-y-ʾ → “Thy will”

literal: thing; something

أَسْئَلُكَ
s-ʾ-l → “beseech”

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

الإِبْداعِ
b-d-ʿ → “the entire creation”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

الاخْتِراعِ
kh-r-ʿ → “creation”

literal: invention; creation; origination

بِأَنْ
ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تُؤَيِّدَهُمْ
ʾ-y-d → “aid”

literal: to grant; to give; to bestow; to support, aid

عَلَى
ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

تُحِبُّ
ḥ-b-b → “pleasing” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

وَتَرْضی،
r-ḍ-y → “and acceptable unto Thee” Distinctive

literal: pleasure; pleasure/satisfaction; pleasure, satisfaction

ليَقُومُنَّ
q-w-m → “may arise”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

أَمْرِكَ
ʾ-m-r → “Thy Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

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”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

وَيَنْطِقُنَّ
n-ṭ-q → “to speak forth”

literal: speak; speaking; spoke

بِذِكْرِكَ
dh-k-r → “Thy praise”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

السَّمواتِ
s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

وَا
w-ʾ-y → “by”

literal: by; by (oath particle)

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶