Prayers and Meditations — §664

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 664 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

الها معبودا مقصودا كريما رحيما جانها از تو و اقتدارها در قبضه قدرت تو، هر كه را بلند كنى از مَلَك بگذرد و بمقام وَرَفَعْنَاهُ مَكانًا عَلِيًّا رسد، و هر كه را بياندازى از خاك پست‌ تر بلكه هيچ از او بهتر،

Shoghi Effendi Translation

My God, the Object of my adoration, the Goal of my desire, the All-Bountiful, the Most Compassionate! All life is of Thee and all power lieth within the grasp of Thine omnipotence. Whosoever Thou exaltest is raised above the angels, and attaineth the station: “Verily, We uplifted him to a place on high!”; and whosoever Thou dost abase is made lower than dust, nay, less than nothing.

Translation Notes

الها

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

معبودا

ʿ-b-d → “Object of my adoration”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

مقصودا

q-ṣ-d → “Goal of my desire”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

كريما

k-r-m → “All-Bountiful”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field

رحيما

r-ḥ-m → “Most Compassionate”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

جانها

j-ʾ-n → “All life”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

تو

t-w-w → “thou”

literal: you

اقتدارها

q-d-r → “all power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

قبضه

q-b-ḍ → “grasp”

literal: grasp; grip; control; seize

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

كه

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بلند

b-l-n-d → “lofty”

literal: high; lofty; raised; to raise

كنى

k-r-d → “made” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to speak; to abstain; to refrain from; to avoid; allusion; insinuation; indirect reference

مَلَك

m-l-k → “angels” Distinctive

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

بگذرد

g-dh-r → “renounced” Distinctive

literal: to place, to put, to leave, to set, to pass

بمقام

q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

وَرَفَعْنَاهُ

r-f-ʿ → “uplifted”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

مَكانًا

k-w-n → “be” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

عَلِيًّا

ʿ-l-w → “high!”” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

رسد،

r-s-d → “attaineth”

literal: Persian verb رسیدن (to arrive/reach), not Arabic ر-س-د

خاك

kh-ʾ-k → “dust”

literal: dust; earth; soil; ground

پست‌

p-s-t → “failure” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

تر

t-r-r → “less than”

literal: more (comparative suffix)

بلكه

b-l-k → “nay”

literal: nay; but rather; on the contrary; but

هيچ

h-y-ch → “any”

literal: nothing; any; not a single

او

h-w-w

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

بهتر،

b-h-t-r

literal: better; best

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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16 ¶

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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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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 ¶

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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 ¶