Prayers and Meditations — §783

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 783 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

بِهِ دارَتْ نُقْطَةُ الْوُجُودِ فِي الْغَيْبِ وَالشُّهُودِ وَجَعَلْتَهُ مَرْجِعًا لِما يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْكَ وَمَظْهَرًا لِما يَظْهَرُ مِنْكَ وَعَلَى حُرُوفاتِهِ مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ ما أَعْرَضُوْا عَنْكَ وَاسْتَقَرُّوْا عَلَى حُبِّكَ وَرِضائِكَ وَعَلَى الَّذِيْنَ هُمْ اسْتُشْهِدُوا فِي سَبِيْلِكَ بِدَوَامِ نَفْسِكَ وَبَقاءِ ذاتِكَ وَإِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الغَفُورُ الرَّحِيْمُ، ثُمَّ أَسْئَلُكَ يا إِلهِي بِالَّذِيْ بَشَّرْتَنا بِهِ فِي كُلِّ أَلْواحِكَ وَكُتُبِكَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Do Thou bless, O Lord my God, the Primal Point, through Whom the point of creation hath been made to revolve in both the visible and invisible worlds, Whom Thou hast designated as the One whereunto should return whatsoever must return unto Thee, and as the Revealer of whatsoever may be manifested by Thee. Do Thou also bless such of His Letters as have not turned away from Thee, who have been firmly established in Thy love, and clung steadfastly to Thy good-pleasure. Bless Thou, likewise, as long as Thine own Self endureth and Thine own Essence doth last, them that have suffered martyrdom in Thy path. Thou art, verily, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Translation Notes

بِهِ

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

دارَتْ

d-w-r → “far” Distinctive

literal: to have; to hold; to possess; to maintain

نُقْطَةُ

n-q-ṭ → “Primal Point”

literal: point; dot; spot; region; area

الْوُجُودِ

w-j-d → “creation”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الْغَيْبِ

gh-y-b → “the visible and invisible”

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

وَالشُّهُودِ

sh-h-d → “witness” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

وَجَعَلْتَهُ

j-ʿ-l → “Whom Thou hast designated” Distinctive

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

مَرْجِعًا

r-j-ʿ → “One whereunto should return” Distinctive

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

لِما

l-m-ʾ → “When”

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

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

وَمَظْهَرًا

ẓ-h-r → “Revealer”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

مِنْكَ

m-n → “by Thee” Distinctive

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

وَعَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

حُرُوفاتِهِ

ḥ-r-f → “His Letters”

literal: letter; character; edge

الَّذِيْنَ

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

ما

m-ʾ

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

أَعْرَضُوْا

ʿ-r-ḍ

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

عَنْكَ

ʿ-n → “from Thee” Distinctive

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

وَاسْتَقَرُّوْا

q-r-r → “have been firmly established”

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

حُبِّكَ

ḥ-b-b → “Thy love”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

وَرِضائِكَ

r-ḍ-y → “Thy good-pleasure”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

هُمْ

h-m-m → “that” Distinctive

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

سَبِيْلِكَ

s-b-l → “Thy path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

بِدَوَامِ

d-w-m → “as long as”

literal: always; continually; perpetually; constantly

نَفْسِكَ

n-f-s → “Thine own Self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وَبَقاءِ

b-q-y → “endureth and” Distinctive

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

ذاتِكَ

dh-w-t → “Thine own Essence”

literal: essence; self; being

وَإِنَّكَ

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أَنْتَ

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

الغَفُورُ

gh-f-r → “the Ever-Forgiving”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

الرَّحِيْمُ،

r-ḥ-m → “the Most Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

ثُمَّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

أَسْئَلُكَ

s-ʾ-l

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “O Lord my God”

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

بِالَّذِيْ

ʾ-l-l → “which”

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

بَشَّرْتَنا

b-sh-r

literal: human; glad-tidings; herald

كُلِّ

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

أَلْواحِكَ

l-w-ḥ

literal: description; tablet; manifesto

وَكُتُبِكَ

k-t-b

literal: book; scripture; writing

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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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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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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 ¶