Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §666

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 666 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

اى توانا ناتوانان را توانائى بخش و مردگان را زندگى عطا فرما، شايد ترا بيابند و بدرياى آگاهيت راه يابند و بر امرت مستقيم مانند، اگر از لغات مختلفه عالم عرف ثناى تو متضوّع شود همه محبوب جان و مقصود روان چه تازى چه فارسى اگر از آن محروم ماند قابل ذكر نه چه الفاظ چه معانی، اى

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Vouchsafe Thy strength, O Almighty One, unto Thy weak creatures, and quicken them who are as dead, that haply they may find Thee, and may be led unto the ocean of Thy guidance, and may remain steadfast in Thy Cause. Should the fragrance of Thy praise be shed abroad by any of the divers tongues of the world, out of the East or out of the West, it would, verily, be prized and greatly cherished. If such tongues, however, be deprived of that fragrance, they assuredly would be unworthy of any mention, be they words or thoughts.

Translation Notes

اى
ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

توانا
t-w-ʾ-n → “unto Thy weak creatures” Distinctive

literal: to be able, can; power, strength

ناتوانان
t-w-n → “can” Distinctive

literal: to be able, can; power, strength

را
r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بخش
b-kh-sh → “Vouchsafe”

literal: to grant; to give; to forgive; to bestow

مردگان
m-r-d → “dead”

literal: death; dead; to die

زندگى
z-n-d

literal: prison; jail

عطا
ʿ-ṭ-w

literal: the letter Ṭá; refers to Ṭihrán (also spelled Ṭehran)

فرما،
f-r-m → “saith” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

شايد
sh-y-d → “haply”

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

ترا
t-r-r → “Thee”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

بيابند
y-ʾ-b → “they may find”

literal: to find; to obtain; to discover

بدرياى
d-r-y-ʾ → “be led”

literal: sea; ocean

آگاهيت
ʾ-g-h → “cognizant” Distinctive

literal: aware; cognizant; informed; apprised; awareness; knowledge; consciousness

راه
r-h → “guide” Distinctive

literal: way; path; road

بر
b-r-r → “in” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

امرت
ʾ-m-r → “Cause” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

مستقيم
q-w-m → “steadfast”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

مانند،
m-ʾ-n → “remain”

literal: to remain; to stay; to be left

اگر
ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

از
ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

لغات
l-gh-w → “divers tongues”

literal: vain; word; vain, idle, useless

مختلفه
kh-l-f → “divers”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

عالم
ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

عرف
ʿ-r-f → “fragrance”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ثناى
th-n-y → “praise”

literal: praise; commendation; eulogy

تو
t-w-w

literal: you

متضوّع
ḍ-w-ʿ → “diffuse”

literal: emitting fragrance; diffusing; exuding

شود
sh-w-d → “be”

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

همه
h-m-h → “all”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

محبوب
ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

جان
j-ʾ-n → “lives”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

مقصود
q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

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

روان
r-w-ḥ

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

چه
ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

تازى
ʿ-r-b → “Arabic” Distinctive

literal: Arabic; Arab; Bedouin

فارسى
f-r-s → “send” Distinctive

literal: to will; to intend; to desire; to display; to show; to present

آن
ʾ-n → “that fragrance, they assuredly would be”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

محروم
ḥ-r-m → “deprived”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

قابل
q-b-l → “unworthy”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

ذكر
dh-k-r → “mention”

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

نه
n-h-y

literal: end; ended; utmost

الفاظ
l-f-ẓ → “words”

literal: word; utterance; expression

معانی،
ʿ-n-y → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

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 ¶