Prayers and Meditations — §734

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 734 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

الأَعْظَمِ الأَبْهى وَهذا الطُّلُوعِ الأَنْوَرِ الأَسْنی، فَلَمَّا أَنارَ أُفُقُ العالَمِ وَأَتى الاسْمُ الأَعْظَمُ كَفَرُوا بِهِ وَبِآياتِهِ إِلاَّ مَنْ أَخَذَتْهُ حَلاوَةُ ذِكْرِكَ وَثَنائِكَ وَوَرَدَ عَلَيْهِ ما لا يُحْصِيهِ إِلاَّ عِلْمُكَ المُهَيْمِنُ عَلَى مَنْ فِي سَمائِكَ وَأَرْضِكَ، وَأَنْتَ تَعْلَمُ يا إِلهِي بِأَنَّ مُنْزِلَ البَيانِ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

This is the Day, O my Lord, which Thou didst announce unto all mankind as the Day whereon Thou wouldst reveal Thy Self, and shed Thy radiance, and shine brightly over all Thy creatures. Thou hast, moreover, entered into a covenant with them, in Thy Books, and Thy Scriptures, and Thy Scrolls, and Thy Tablets, concerning Him Who is the Dayspring of Thy Revelation, and hast appointed the Bayán to be the Herald of this Most Great and all-glorious Manifestation, and this most resplendent and most sublime Appearance.

Translation Notes

الأَعْظَمِ

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

الأَبْهى

b-h-w → “all-glorious”

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

وَهذا

h-dh-ʾ → “and this”

literal: this; that

الطُّلُوعِ

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Dayspring” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

الأَنْوَرِ

n-w-r → “most resplendent” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

الأَسْنی،

s-n-w → “most sublime”

literal: most beautiful; finest; highest

فَلَمَّا

l-m-m

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

أُفُقُ

ʾ-f-q

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

العالَمِ

ʿ-l-m

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وَأَتى

ʾ-t-y

literal: to come; to arrive; to bring; to go; coming; arrival; the one coming; to give; Revelation; came; gave; brought

الاسْمُ

s-m-w

literal: heaven; sky

كَفَرُوا

k-f-r

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

بِهِ

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

وَبِآياتِهِ

ʾ-y-y

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

إِلاَّ

ʾ-kh-r

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

مَنْ

m-n

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

أَخَذَتْهُ

ʾ-kh-dh

literal: to take; to seize; to affect

حَلاوَةُ

ḥ-l-w

literal: sweetest; most sweet; most pleasant

ذِكْرِكَ

dh-k-r

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

وَثَنائِكَ

th-n-y

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

وَوَرَدَ

w-r-d

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

عَلَيْهِ

ʿ-l-y

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ما

m-ʾ

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

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

يُحْصِيهِ

ḥ-ṣ-y

literal: count; enumerate; enumeration

المُهَيْمِنُ

h-m-n

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

فِي

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

وَأَرْضِكَ،

ʾ-r-ḍ

literal: earth; land; ground; country

وَأَنْتَ

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h

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

بِأَنَّ

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

مُنْزِلَ

n-z-l

literal: to descend, to be revealed

البَيانِ

b-y-n → “the Bayán”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

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 ¶