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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،

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

نگردی،
ngrdí، gshtn

literal: become; became; to become

SE rendered نشوى (nshúى), باذكار (bádhkár), موجودات (mújúdát), موصوف (múṣúf), نگردی، (ngrdí،), ادراكات (idrákát), عالم (ʿálm), عقول (ʿqúl), امم (imm), بساحت (bsáḥt) as “can, utter, being, is, comprehension, world, intelligence, peoples, court”

have 26% hath 20% become 9% may 9% thou 9% made 9% will 7% returned 4% life-vein 4% failed 4%
راه
ráh ráh

literal: way; path; path, way

SE rendered امم (imm), بساحت (bsáḥt), قدست (qdst), ينبغى (ynbghى), راه (ráh), نيابد (níábd), پى (pى), نبرد، (nbrd،), آيا (áyá), چه (chh), خطا (khṭá) as “peoples, court, holiness, befitteth, gain, unravel Thy, mystery, sin”

led 21% way 14% path 14% enter 14% shed 7% summoned 7% thus 7% beaconing 7% gain 7%
نمود
nmúd nmúdn

literal: do; to do; show

SE rendered اسماء (ismáʾ), از (iz), افق (ifq), اعلايت (iʿláyt), منع (mnʿ), نمود (nmúd), از (iz), تقرّب (tqrrb), ببحر (bbḥr), اعظمت (iʿẓmt), محروم (mḥrúm) as “names, Horizon, all-glorious, kept, access, Ocean, great, deprived”

hath 44% have 26% had 12% made 3% caused 3% laid 2% chose 2% fulfill 2% hast 2% make 2%
ساخت،
sákht، sákhtn

literal: make; to make; make/construct

SE rendered تقرّب (tqrrb), ببحر (bbḥr), اعظمت (iʿẓmt), محروم (mḥrúm), ساخت، (sákht،), يك (yk), حرف (ḥrf), از (iz), كِتابت (kitábt), البيان (al-bíán) as “access, Ocean, great, deprived, One, letter, Book, all utterances”

can 22% deprived 11% hath 11% envelop 11% themselves 11% must 11% prevent 11% deny 11%
ناسپاسى

literal: ingratitude

1 occurrence in corpus

ظاهر
ẓáhr ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; manifest; appear

SE rendered امكان، (imkán،), چه (chh), ناسپاسى (náspásى), از (iz), عبادت (ʿbádt), ظاهر (ẓáhr), از (iz), شناسائيت (shnásáʾít), باز (báz) as “creation, ingratitude, Thy, recognizing, withheld”

شناسائيت
shnásáʾít sh-n-s → “recognizing”

literal: recognition

1 occurrence in corpus

داشتی،
dáshtí، dáshtn

literal: have; to have; had

SE rendered شناسائيت (shnásáʾít), باز (báz), داشتی، (dáshtí،), يك (yk), قطره (qṭrh), از (iz), درياى (dríáى), رحمتت (rḥmtt), نار (nár) as “recognizing, withheld, A, drop, ocean, mercy, flames”

hath 33% have 26% beyond 7% repository 7% never 7% can 4% should 4% shall 4% thou 4% did 4%
جحيم
jḥím j-ḥ-m → “hell”

literal: hell; hellfire; hellfire, inferno

fire 50% hell 50%
افروزد،
ifrúzd، ifrúkhtn → “kindling” Distinctive

literal: kindle; kindle/light; to kindle

This form usually rendered as “enough” (1 occurrences)

kindling 40% feed 20% kindled 20% enough 20%

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

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268 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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Kitáb-i-’Ahd

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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Tablet of Carmel

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5 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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‘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 ¶