Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §67

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 67 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

رَبِّ أَسْئَلُكَ بِرَحْمَتِكَ الَّتِيْ سَبَقَتِ المُمْكِناتِ وَبِكَرَمِكَ الَّذِيْ أَحاطَ الكائِناتِ بِأَنْ تَجْعَلَنِيْ مُقْبِلاً إِلَيْكَ وَلائِذًا بِحَضْرَتِكَ وَمُسْتَقِيمًا فِيْ حُبِّكَ، ثُمَّ اكْتُبْ لِي ما قَدَّرْتَهُ لأحِبَّائِكَ، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ المُقْتَدِرُ عَلَى ما تَشآءُ لا إِلهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ الغَفُورُ الكَرِيمُ وَالحَمْدُ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by Thy mercy that hath surpassed the entire creation, and Thy generosity that hath embraced all created things, to cause me to turn my face wholly towards Thee, and to seek Thy shelter, and to be steadfast in my love for Thee. Write down, then, for me what Thou didst ordain for them who love Thee. Powerful art Thou to do what Thou pleasest. No God is there beside Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bountiful.

Translation Notes

رَبِّ
r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: love; affection

أَسْئَلُكَ
s-ʾ-l → “beseech”

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

بِرَحْمَتِكَ
r-ḥ-m → “by Thy mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

الَّتِيْ
ʾ-l-l → “that” Distinctive

literal: who; which/that; which

سَبَقَتِ
s-b-q → “hath surpassed”

literal: to precede; to surpass; to excel

المُمْكِناتِ
m-k-n → “the entire creation”

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

وَبِكَرَمِكَ
k-r-m → “Thy generosity”

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

الَّذِيْ
l-dh-y → “that hath” Distinctive

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

أَحاطَ
ḥ-w-ṭ → “embraced” Distinctive

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

الكائِناتِ
k-w-n → “all created things”

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

بِأَنْ
ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تَجْعَلَنِيْ
j-ʿ-l

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

مُقْبِلاً
q-b-l → “turn my face” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إِلَيْكَ
ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

وَلائِذًا
l-w-dh → “my Refuge” Distinctive

literal: refuge; seeking refuge; haven

بِحَضْرَتِكَ
ḥ-ḍ-r → “and” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

وَمُسْتَقِيمًا
q-w-m → “to be steadfast”

literal: rising; standing; resurrection; uprising; establishment

فِيْ
f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

حُبِّكَ،
ḥ-b-b → “my love for Thee”

literal: love; affection

ثُمَّ
th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اكْتُبْ
k-t-b → “Write down”

literal: book; scripture; writing

لِي
ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: for us; to us

ما
m-ʾ → “that”

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

قَدَّرْتَهُ
q-d-r → “Thou didst ordain”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

إِنَّكَ
ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أَنْتَ
ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

عَلَى
ʿ-l-w → “to do” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

تَشآءُ
sh-y-ʾ → “Thou pleasest”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

لا
l-ʾ → “No”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إِلهَ
ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

إِلاَّ
ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

الغَفُورُ
gh-f-r → “Ever-Forgiving”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

وَالحَمْدُ
ḥ-m-d

literal: praise; to praise

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 ¶