Prayers and Meditations — §763

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 763 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

عَلَى صَفَحاتِ الوَجْهِ كما يَتَحَرَّكَ عَلَى صَفَحاتِ الأَلْواحِ قَلَمُكَ الأَعْلى وَبِها تَضَوَّعَتْ رائِحَةُ مِسْكَ المَعَانِي فِي مَلَكُوتِ الإِنْشآءِ أَنْ تُقيمَنِي عَلَى خِدْمَةِ أَمْرِكَ عَلَى شَأْنٍ لا يَعْقُبُهُ القُعُودُ وَلا تَمْنَعُهُ إِشاراتُ الَّذِينَ جادَلُوا بِآياتِكَ وَأَعْرَضُوا عَنْ وَجْهِكَ، تَرَانِي يا إِلهِي مُتَمَسِّكًا بِاسْمِكَ الأَقْدَسِ الأَنْوَرِ الأَعَزِّ الأَعْظَمِ العَلِيِّ الأَبْهى وَمُتَشَبِّثًا بِذَيْلٍ تَشَبَّث

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy hair which moveth across Thy face, even as Thy most exalted pen moveth across the pages of Thy Tablets, shedding the musk of hidden meanings over the kingdom of Thy creation, so to raise me up to serve Thy Cause that I shall not fall back, nor be hindered by the suggestions of them who have caviled at Thy signs and turned away from Thy face. Thou seest me, O my God, holding to Thy Name, the Most Holy, the Most Luminous, the Most Mighty, the Most Great, the Most Exalted, the Most Glorious, and clinging to the hem of the robe to which have clung all in this world and in the world to come.

Translation Notes

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

صَفَحاتِ

ṣ-f-ḥ → “pages”

literal: page; surface; side

الوَجْهِ

w-j-h → “face” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

كما

k-m → “loss” Distinctive

literal: as; like; how much; lane; street; quarter; abode

يَتَحَرَّكَ

ḥ-r-k → “moveth”

literal: movement; motion; trembling; activity; حراک is unusual; possible typo or dialectal. Standard Arabic would be حرك or اهتزاز for ‘trembling’

الأَلْواحِ

l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

قَلَمُكَ

q-l-m → “pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

وَبِها

b-y-ʾ → “by their aid”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

تَضَوَّعَتْ

ḍ-w-ʿ

literal: emitting fragrance; diffusing; exuding

رائِحَةُ

r-w-ḥ → “spirit” Distinctive

literal: banner; standard; flag; sign; banner, standard, flag, ensign

مِسْكَ

m-s-k → “musk”

literal: musk; to seize; grip; to hold fast; to cling to; to grasp

المَعَانِي

ʿ-n-y → “hidden meanings”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

مَلَكُوتِ

m-l-k → “kingdom”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

الإِنْشآءِ

n-sh-ʾ → “creation”

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

أَنْ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تُقيمَنِي

q-w-m

literal: station; people; place

خِدْمَةِ

kh-d-m

literal: service; servitude; to serve

أَمْرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

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

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يَعْقُبُهُ

ʿ-q-b

literal: behind; heels; height

القُعُودُ

q-ʿ-d

literal: rule; principle; foundation; basis

وَلا

w-l-y → “nor be” Distinctive

literal: friend; lord; guardian

تَمْنَعُهُ

m-n-ʿ → “hindered” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

إِشاراتُ

sh-y-r → “suggestions”

literal: explanation; commentary; to explain; to open

الَّذِينَ

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

جادَلُوا

j-d-l → “conflict” Distinctive

literal: to argue; to dispute; to contend; argument

بِآياتِكَ

ʾ-y-y → “at Thy signs”

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

وَأَعْرَضُوا

ʿ-r-ḍ → “and turned away”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “from Thy”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

تَرَانِي

r-ʾ-y → “Thou seest me”

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

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “O my God”

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

بِاسْمِكَ

s-m-w → “Thy Name”

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint; name; noun; to name, to appoint, to designate

الأَقْدَسِ

q-d-s → “Most Holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

الأَنْوَرِ

n-w-r → “Most Luminous”

literal: light; illumination

الأَعَزِّ

ʿ-z-z → “Most Mighty”

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

الأَعْظَمِ

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

الأَبْهى

b-h-w → “Most Glorious” Distinctive

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

وَمُتَشَبِّثًا

sh-b-th → “clinging to”

literal: to cling to; to grasp; to hold fast

بِذَيْلٍ

dh-y-l → “hem”

literal: hem; skirt; tail; border

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 ¶