Prayers and Meditations — §772

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 772 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

بِذَيْلٍ تَشَبَّثَ بِهِ مَنْ فِي الآخِرَةِ وَالأُولی، أَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْئَلُكَ بِاسْمِكَ الَّذِيْ بِهِ سَمِعْتَ نِدآءَ العاشِقِينَ وَضَجِيْجَ المُشْتاقِينَ وَصِرِيخَ المُقَرَّبِينَ وَحَنِينَ المُخْلِصِينَ وَبِهِ قَضَيْتَ أَمَلَ الآمِلِينَ وَأَعْطَيْتَهُمْ ما أَرادُوا بِفَضْلِكَ وَأَلْطافِكَ وَبِالاسْمِ الَّذِيْ بِهِ ماجَ بَحْرُ الغُفْرانِ أَمامَ وَجْهِكَ وَأَمْطَرَ سَحابُ الكَرَمِ عَلَى أَرِقَّائِكَ أَنْ تَكْتُبَ لِمَنْ أَقْبَلَ إِلَيْكَ وَصَامَ بِأَمْرِكَ أَجْرَ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَتَكَلَّمُوا إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِكَ وَأَلْقَوْا ما عِنْدَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِكَ وَحُبِّكَ،

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy Name through which Thou hast hearkened unto the call of Thy lovers, and the sighs of them that long for Thee, and the cry of them that enjoy near access to Thee, and the groaning of them that are devoted to Thee, and through which Thou hast fulfilled the wishes of them that have set their hopes on Thee, and hast granted them their desires, through Thy grace and Thy favors, and by Thy Name through which the ocean of forgiveness surged before Thy face, and the clouds of Thy generosity rained upon Thy servants, to write down for everyone who hath turned unto Thee, and observed the Fast prescribed by Thee, the recompense decreed for such as speak not except by Thy leave, and who forsook all that they possessed in Thy path and for love of Thee.

Translation Notes

بِذَيْلٍ

dh-y-l

literal: hem; skirt; tail; border

تَشَبَّثَ

sh-b-th

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

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الآخِرَةِ

ʾ-kh-r

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

وَالأُولی،

ʾ-w-l

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

أَللَّهُمَّ

ʾ-l-h → “O my God”

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

إِنِّي

ʾ-n-n → “I beseech Thee”

literal: I, verily; behold I

أَسْئَلُكَ

s-ʾ-l

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

بِاسْمِكَ

s-m-w → “by Thy Name”

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

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “through which”

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

سَمِعْتَ

s-m-ʿ → “Thou hast hearkened” Distinctive

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

نِدآءَ

n-d-y → “call” Distinctive

literal: call; voice; proclamation; forty; forty years

العاشِقِينَ

ʿ-sh-q → “of Thy lovers”

literal: lover; love; lovers

وَضَجِيْجَ

ḍ-j-j → “and the sighs”

literal: clamor; outcry; noise; tumult

المُشْتاقِينَ

sh-w-q → “them that long for Thee”

literal: to encourage; to incite; yearning; enthusiasm

وَصِرِيخَ

ṣ-r-kh → “and the cry”

literal: cry; outcry; clamour; to cry out

المُقَرَّبِينَ

q-r-b → “them that enjoy near access to Thee”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

وَحَنِينَ

ḥ-n-n → “lamentation”

literal: trial, tribulation, ordeal, testing

المُخْلِصِينَ

kh-l-ṣ → “devoted”

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

وَبِهِ

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

قَضَيْتَ

q-ḍ-y → “decree” Distinctive

literal: decree; decree/judgment; decreed

أَمَلَ

ʾ-m-l → “desire”

literal: hope; expectation; aspiration; desire; wish; to hope; to wish

الآمِلِينَ

ʾ-m-l → “them that have set their hopes on Thee” Distinctive

literal: hope; expectation; aspiration; desire; wish; to hope; to wish

وَأَعْطَيْتَهُمْ

ʿ-ṭ-y → “of Thy bounty” Distinctive

literal: giver; give; bounty

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

أَرادُوا

r-y-d

literal: to intend; to will; to desire

بِفَضْلِكَ

f-ḍ-l → “through Thy grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

وَأَلْطافِكَ

l-ṭ-f → “and Thy favors”

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

ماجَ

m-w-j → “ocean of forgiveness surged”

literal: wave; billows; surge

بَحْرُ

b-ḥ-r

literal: sea; ocean

الغُفْرانِ

gh-f-r

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

أَمامَ

ʾ-m-m → “before Thy face”

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

وَجْهِكَ

w-j-h

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

وَأَمْطَرَ

m-ṭ-r → “rained” Distinctive

literal: rain; rains; to rain

سَحابُ

s-ḥ-b

literal: cloud; clouds

الكَرَمِ

k-r-m → “bounty”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

أَرِقَّائِكَ

r-q-y → “ascended”

literal: ascension; ascend; advancement

أَنْ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تَكْتُبَ

k-t-b

literal: book; books; write

لِمَنْ

m-n → “for everyone who” Distinctive

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

أَقْبَلَ

q-b-l → “hath turned”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

وَصَامَ

ṣ-w-m → “and observed the Fast prescribed”

literal: fasting; to abstain from food

بِأَمْرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

أَجْرَ

ʾ-j-r → “recompense”

literal: wage; recompense; reward; wage, reward, recompense

لَمْ

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

يَتَكَلَّمُوا

k-l-m → “speak”

literal: word; words; speak

إِلاَّ

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

بِإِذْنِكَ

ʾ-dh-n → “by Thy leave”

literal: ear; permission; leave; to permit; to allow; to listen

وَأَلْقَوْا

l-q-y → “Presence” Distinctive

literal: meeting; cast; meeting, encounter

عِنْدَهُمْ

ʿ-n-d → “they possessed”

literal: vessel; container; circumstance; adroitness

سَبِيلِكَ

s-b-l → “Thy path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

وَحُبِّكَ،

ḥ-b-b → “and for love of Thee”

literal: love; beloved; beloved ones

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 ¶