Prayers and Meditations — §726

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 726 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

حُبِّكَ وَسُكْرُ رَحِيقِ تَوحِيدِكَ عَلَى شَأْنٍ أَسْمَعُ مِنْ هَزِيزِ الأَرْياحِ ذِكْرَكَ وَثَنائَكَ وَمِنْ خَرِيْرِ المآءِ نَعْتَكَ وَأَوْصافَكَ وَمِنْ حَفِيْفِ الأَشْجارِ أَسْرارَ قَضائِكَ الَّتِيْ أَوُدَعْتَها فِي مَمْلَكَتِكَ، سُبْحانَكَ يا إِلهَ الأَسْمآءِ وفَاطِرَ السَّماءِ لَكَ الحَمْدُ بِما عَرَّفْتَ عِبادَكَ هذا اليَوْمَ الَّذِيْ فيْهِ جَرى كَوْثَرُ الحَيَوانِ مِنْ إِصْبَعِ كَرَمِكَ وَظَهَرَ رَبِي

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I swear by Thy might, O Thou in Whose grasp are the reins of all mankind, and the destinies of the nations! I am so inflamed by my love for Thee, and so inebriated with the wine of Thy oneness, that I can hear from the whisper of the winds the sound of Thy glorification and praise, and can recognize in the murmur of the waters the voice that proclaimeth Thy virtues and Thine attributes, and can apprehend from the rustling of the leaves the mysteries that have been irrevocably ordained by Thee in Thy realm.

Translation Notes

حُبِّكَ

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

وَسُكْرُ

s-k-r → “inebriated”

literal: to become drunk; intoxication; inebriation

رَحِيقِ

r-ḥ-q → “wine”

literal: wine; pure drink; choice beverage (metaphorical for divine knowledge and love)

تَوحِيدِكَ

w-ḥ-d → “oneness”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

شَأْنٍ

sh-ʾ-n

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

أَسْمَعُ

s-m-ʿ → “hear”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

هَزِيزِ

h-z-z → “transports” Distinctive

literal: shake; shook; trembling

الأَرْياحِ

r-y-ḥ → “winds”

literal: rest; ease; comfort; tranquility; wind; breeze; spirit; fragrance; scent; aroma

ذِكْرَكَ

dh-k-r → “glorification” Distinctive

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

وَثَنائَكَ

th-n-y → “praise”

literal: praise; commendation; eulogy; glorification; praise, commendation, eulogy

خَرِيْرِ

kh-r-r → “murmur”

literal: fall down; murmur; murmuring

المآءِ

m-w-h → “waters”

literal: water; shelter; refuge; dwelling; abode; essence

نَعْتَكَ

n-ʿ-t → “glorifier” Distinctive

literal: grace; bounty; divine favor

وَأَوْصافَكَ

w-ṣ-f → “attributes”

literal: attributes; description; attribute

حَفِيْفِ

ḥ-f-f → “rustling”

literal: rustling

الأَشْجارِ

sh-j-r → “leaves” Distinctive

literal: tree

أَسْرارَ

s-r-r → “mysteries”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

قَضائِكَ

q-ḍ-y → “ordained” Distinctive

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

الَّتِيْ

ʾ-l-l

literal: who; which/that; which

أَوُدَعْتَها

w-d-ʿ → “entrusted” Distinctive

literal: deposit, trust, pledge

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

مَمْلَكَتِكَ،

m-l-k → “realm”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

سُبْحانَكَ

s-b-ḥ

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

إِلهَ

ʾ-l-h

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

الأَسْمآءِ

s-m-w

literal: heaven; sky

وفَاطِرَ

f-ṭ-r

literal: creator; the one who splits/creates

لَكَ

literal: for; for you; for him

الحَمْدُ

ḥ-m-d

literal: praise; to praise

بِما

m-ʾ

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

عَرَّفْتَ

ʿ-r-f → “recognize”

literal: knowledge; know; knower

عِبادَكَ

ʿ-b-d

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

هذا

h-dh-ʾ

literal: this; that

اليَوْمَ

y-w-m

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y

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

جَرى

j-r-y

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

كَوْثَرُ

k-w-th-r

literal: abundance; river of paradise; the Kawthar

الحَيَوانِ

ḥ-y-w

literal: life; living being; animal

إِصْبَعِ

ṣ-b-ʿ

literal: finger; digit

كَرَمِكَ

k-r-m

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

وَظَهَرَ

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

رَبِي

r-b-b

literal: divine; of God; lordly

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘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 ¶