Prayers and Meditations — §777

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 777 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

َعْظَمِ وَأَمْرِكَ الأَتَمِّ فَلَمَّا ظَهَرَ اخْتَلَفَتِ الأُمَمُ وَظَهَرَ الانْقِلابُ فِي الأَرْضِ وَالسَّماءِ وَاضْطَرَبَتْ أَرْكانُ الأَشْياءِ، وَبِهِ ظَهَرَتِ الفِتْنَةُ وَفُصِّلَتِ الْكَلِمَةُ وَبِها ظَهَرَ الامْتِيازُ بَيْنَ كُلِّ ذَرَّةٍ مِنْ ذَرَّاتِ الأَشْياءِ وَبِها سُعِّرَتِ الْجَحِيْمُ وَظَهَرَ النَّعِيْمُ، طُوبى لِمَنْ أَقْبَلَ إِلَيْكَ فَوَيْلٌ لِمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْكَ وَكَفَرَ بِكَ وَبِآياتِكَ فِي هذا الْظُهُورِ الَّذِيْ فِيْهِ اسْوَدَّتْ وُجُوهُ مَظاهِرِ النَّفْيِ وَابْيَضَّتْ وُجُوهُ مَطالِعِ الإِثْباتِ يا مالِكَ الأَسْماءِ وَالصِّفاتِ، وَفِي قَبْضَتِكَ زِمامُ المَوْجُوْداتِ عَمَّا خُلِقَ بَيْنَ الأَرَضِينَ وَالسَّمَواتِ.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

No sooner had that Revelation been unveiled to men’s eyes than the signs of universal discord appeared among the peoples of the world, and commotion seized the dwellers of earth and heaven, and the foundations of all things were shaken. The forces of dissension were released, the meaning of the Word was unfolded, and every several atom in all created things acquired its own distinct and separate character. Hell was made to blaze, and the delights of Paradise were uncovered to men’s eyes. Blessed is the man that turneth towards Thee, and woe betide him who standeth aloof from Thee, who denieth Thee and repudiateth Thy signs in this Revelation wherein the faces of the exponents of denial have turned black and the faces of the exponents of truthfulness have turned white, O Thou Who art the Possessor of all names and attributes, Who holdest in Thy grasp the empire of whatever hath been created in heaven and on earth!

Translation Notes

َعْظَمِ

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

وَأَمْرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

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

الأَتَمِّ

t-m-m → “all” Distinctive

literal: mother

فَلَمَّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

ظَهَرَ

ẓ-h-r → “been unveiled” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

اخْتَلَفَتِ

kh-l-f → “contrary” Distinctive

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

الأُمَمُ

ʾ-m-m → “peoples”

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

الانْقِلابُ

q-l-b → “hearts” Distinctive

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

الأَرْضِ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

وَالسَّماءِ

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

وَاضْطَرَبَتْ

ḍ-r-b → “tremble”

literal: to be disturbed; to tremble; to be troubled; to be shaken

أَرْكانُ

r-k-n → “foundations”

literal: pillar; cornerstone; support; fundamental element; limb; member

الأَشْياءِ،

sh-y-ʾ → “things”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

وَبِهِ

b-h

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

الفِتْنَةُ

f-t-n → “sedition”

literal: trial; tribulation; temptation; sedition; discord; strife

وَفُصِّلَتِ

f-ṣ-l → “separated” Distinctive

literal: detail; distinction; differentiation; to detail; to separate

الْكَلِمَةُ

k-l-m → “Word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions

وَبِها

b-y-ʾ

literal: by-it/with-it

الامْتِيازُ

m-y-z → “distinguish”

literal: to distinguish; to differentiate; to discern

بَيْنَ

b-y-n → “in” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

كُلِّ

k-l-l → “every several”

literal: for us; to us

ذَرَّةٍ

dh-r-r → “atom”

literal: atom; particle; mote

سُعِّرَتِ

s-ʿ-r → “hath been made to blaze”

literal: kindled; the blazing fire; kindle

الْجَحِيْمُ

j-ḥ-m → “Hell”

literal: hell; hellfire; hellfire, inferno

النَّعِيْمُ،

n-ʿ-m → “the delights of Paradise” Distinctive

literal: bliss; bounty; grace; comfort; felicity

طُوبى

ṭ-w-b → “Blessed”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

لِمَنْ

m-n → “man” Distinctive

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

أَقْبَلَ

q-b-l → “turneth”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y → “towards Thee” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

فَوَيْلٌ

w-y-l → “woe betide”

literal: woe; alas; grief

أَعْرَضَ

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away”

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

عَنْكَ

ʿ-n → “from Thee” Distinctive

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

وَكَفَرَ

k-f-r → “repudiated”

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

وَبِآياتِكَ

ʾ-y-y → “Thy signs”

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

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “which”

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

اسْوَدَّتْ

s-w-d → “turned black”

literal: blackened; dark; tranquil; at peace; undisturbed

وُجُوهُ

w-j-h → “faces”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

النَّفْيِ

n-f-y → “denial”

literal: is not; not to be; does not exist; negation, denial, banishment; to negate, deny, banish; contradiction; opposition; contrariety

وَابْيَضَّتْ

b-y-ḍ → “have turned white”

literal: white; whiteness; the white

مَطالِعِ

ṭ-l-ʿ → “exponents” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

الإِثْباتِ

th-b-t → “established” Distinctive

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

مالِكَ

m-l-k → “Possessor” Distinctive

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

وَالصِّفاتِ،

w-ṣ-f → “attributes”

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

قَبْضَتِكَ

q-b-ḍ → “grasp”

literal: grasp; grip; control; seize

زِمامُ

z-m-m → “reins”

literal: reins; bridle; control; governance

المَوْجُوْداتِ

w-j-d → “whatever hath been created” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

خُلِقَ

kh-l-q

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

الأَرَضِينَ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “on earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

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 ¶