Prayers and Meditations — §645
Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 645 of 858.
Source (Arabic)
الها معبودا مسجودا مقتدرا، شهادت ميدهم كه تو بوصف ممكنات معروف نشوى و باذكار موجودات موصوف نگردی، ادراكات عالم و عقول امم بساحت قدست على ما ينبغى راه نيابد و پى نبرد، آيا چه خطا اهل مدينهء اسماء را از افق اعلايت منع نمود و از تقرّب ببحر اعظمت محروم ساخت، يك حرف از كِتابت امّ البيان و يك كلمه از آن موجد امكان، چه ناسپاسى از عبادت ظاهر كه كلّ را از شناسائيت باز داشتی، يك قطره از درياى رحمتت نار جحيم را بيفسرد و يك جذوه از نار محبّتت عالم را بر افروزد، اى عليم اگر چه غافليم و لكن
Shoghi Effendi Translation
My God, Thou Whom I adore and worship, Who art Most Powerful! I testify that no description by any created thing can ever reveal Thee, and no praise which any being is able to utter can express Thee. Neither the comprehension of any one in the whole world, nor the intelligence of any of its peoples, can, as it befitteth Thee, gain admittance into the court of Thy holiness, or unravel Thy mystery. What sin hath kept the inmates of the city of Thy names so far from Thine all-glorious Horizon, and deprived them of access to Thy most great Ocean? One single letter of Thy Book is the mother of all utterances, and a word therefrom the begetter of all creation. What ingratitude have Thy servants shown forth that Thou hast withheld them, one and all, from recognizing Thee? A drop out of the ocean of Thy mercy sufficeth to quench the flames of hell, and a spark of the fire of Thy love is enough to set ablaze a whole world.
Translation Notes
ادراكات
literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend
ينبغى
literal: it is proper; it is fitting; it is necessary; it behooves
اى
literal: does; is it that (interrogative particle); sign; verse; O! (vocative particle); him; them (object pronoun)
