Prayers and Meditations — §743

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 743 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

لآياتِ وَسُلْطانَ الكائِناتِ إِنِّي أَجِدُ عَرْفَ وِصالِكَ كَأَنَّكَ أَظْهَرْتَ نَفْسَكَ وَفَتَحْتَ بابَ لِقائِكَ عَلَى مَنْ فِي سَمآئِكَ وَأَرْضِكَ، أَيْ رَبِّ مِنْ عَرْفِ قَمِيصِكَ أَيْقَنْتُ بِأَنَّ العالَمَ تَشَرَّفَ بِقُدُومِكَ وَفازَ بِنَفَحاتِ وَصْلِكَ، وَلكِنْ يا مَحْبُوبَ العالَمِ وَمَقْصُودَ الأُمَمِ لَمْ أَدْرِ بِأَيِّ مَقامٍ اسْتَقَرَّ عَرْشُ عَظَمَتِكَ وَأَيُّ مَقَرٍّ فازَ بِقُدُومِكَ وَتَنَوَّرَ بِأَنْوارِ وَجْهِكَ وَعِزَّتِكَ يا مَوْلَى الوُجُودِ وَمالِكَ الغَيْبِ وَالشُّهُودِ قَدْ تَحَيَّرَ كُلُّ ذِيْ عِلْمٍ فِي عِرْفانِكَ وَكُلُّ ذِيْ حِكْمَةٍ فِي إِدْراكَ آياتِ عَظَمَتِكَ عَلَى شَأْنٍ اعْتَرَفَ الكُلُّ بِ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Deny not Thy loved ones, O my Lord, the sweet savors of this Day whereon the mysteries of Thy name, the Self-Subsisting, were unraveled, and all that had been enshrined within the treasuries of Thy wisdom was revealed. This is the Day, O my Lord, whereon every atom of the earth hath been made to vibrate and to cry out: “O Thou Who art the Revealer of signs and the King of creation! I, verily, perceive the fragrance of Thy presence. Methinks Thou hast revealed Thyself, and unlocked the door of reunion with Thee before all who are in Thy heaven and all who are on Thy earth. I am persuaded through the fragrance of Thy robe, O my Lord, that the world hath been honored through Thy presence, and hath inhaled the sweet smell of Thy meeting. I know not, however, O Thou the Beloved of the world and the Desire of the nations, the place wherein the throne of Thy majesty hath been established, nor the seat which hath been made Thy footstool, and been illumined with the splendors of the light of Thy face.”

Translation Notes

لآياتِ

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

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

وَسُلْطانَ

s-l-ṭ → “King”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

الكائِناتِ

k-w-n → “creation”

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

إِنِّي

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

أَجِدُ

w-j-d → “perceive” Distinctive

literal: creation; bringing into existence

عَرْفَ

ʿ-r-f → “fragrance”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

وِصالِكَ

w-ṣ-l → “presence”

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

كَأَنَّكَ

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: I, verily; behold I

أَظْهَرْتَ

ẓ-h-r → “hast revealed”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

نَفْسَكَ

n-f-s → “Thyself”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وَفَتَحْتَ

f-t-ḥ → “unlocked” Distinctive

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

بابَ

b-w-b → “door”

literal: door; gate; chapter; way; manner

لِقائِكَ

l-q-y → “Presence”

literal: opposite; facing; in front of; towards

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

مَنْ

m-n → “who” Distinctive

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

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

سَمآئِكَ

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: name; heaven; names

وَأَرْضِكَ،

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y → “O my” Distinctive

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

رَبِّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

قَمِيصِكَ

q-m-ṣ → “robe”

literal: garment; shirt; tunic

أَيْقَنْتُ

y-q-n → “persuaded” Distinctive

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

بِأَنَّ

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: I, verily; behold I

العالَمَ

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

تَشَرَّفَ

sh-r-f → “honored”

literal: honor; nobility; eminence; to honor

بِقُدُومِكَ

q-d-m → “Ancient of Days” Distinctive

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

وَفازَ

f-w-z → “hath inhaled” Distinctive

literal: to attain; to gain; to succeed; to win

بِنَفَحاتِ

n-f-ḥ → “sweet savors” Distinctive

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

وَلكِنْ

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

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

مَحْبُوبَ

ḥ-b-b → “Beloved”

literal: love; affection

وَمَقْصُودَ

q-ṣ-d → “Desire”

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

الأُمَمِ

ʾ-m-m → “nations”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

لَمْ

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

أَدْرِ

d-r-y → “know”

literal: know; in; sea

بِأَيِّ

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

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

مَقامٍ

q-w-m → “place” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

اسْتَقَرَّ

q-r-r → “established”

literal: to settle, to be established, to remain fixed

عَرْشُ

ʿ-r-sh → “throne”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

عَظَمَتِكَ

ʿ-ẓ-m → “majesty”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

وَتَنَوَّرَ

n-w-r → “illumined”

literal: light; illumination

وَجْهِكَ

w-j-h → “face.””

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

وَعِزَّتِكَ

ʿ-z-z

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

مَوْلَى

w-l-y → “Lord”

literal: friend; lord; guardian

وَمالِكَ

m-l-k → “Lord”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

الغَيْبِ

gh-y-b

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

وَالشُّهُودِ

sh-h-d

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

قَدْ

q-d

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

تَحَيَّرَ

ḥ-y-r

literal: bewildered; perplexed; confused; astounded; amazed; bewilderment; perplexity; wonder; amazement

ذِيْ

dh-w-y

literal: possessor; possessor of; possessor/owner

وَكُلُّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

حِكْمَةٍ

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

إِدْراكَ

d-r-k

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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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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

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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 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

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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 ¶

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 ¶