Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §799

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 799 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

وَحارَبُوا بِنَفْسِكَ، فَوَعِزَّتِكَ يا مَحْبُوبِي لَنْ يَقْدِرَ القَلَمُ أَنْ يَذْكُرَ ما وَرَدَ مِنْهُمْ عَلَى مَظْهَرِ أَمْرِكَ وَمَطْلَعِ وَحْيِكَ وَمَشْرِقِ إِلْهامِكَ، فَلَكَ الحَمْدُ فِي كُلِّ ذلِكَ وَإِنِّي وَعِزَّتِكَ يا إِلهِي قَدْ كُنْتُ مُشْتاقًا لِما قُدِّرَ فِي سَمآءِ قَضائِكَ وَمَلَكُوتِ تَقْدِيْرِكَ لأنَّ ما يَرِدُ عَلَيَّ فِي سَبِيْلِكَ هُو مَحبوبُ ذاتِي وَمَقْصُودُ نَفْسِيْ، وَهذا لَمْ يَكنْ إِلاَّ بِحَوْلِكَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Thy glory beareth me witness, O my Beloved! My pen is powerless to describe what their hands have wrought against Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy Cause, and the Dayspring of Thy Revelation, and the Dawning-Place of Thine inspiration. For all this I give praise to Thee. I swear by Thy glory, O my God! My heart yearneth after the things ordained by Thee in the heaven of Thy decree and the kingdom of Thine appointment. For whatsoever befalleth me in Thy path is the beloved of my soul and the goal of my desire. This, verily, is to be ascribed to naught except Thy power and Thy might.

Translation Notes

وَحارَبُوا
ḥ-r-b

literal: warfare; combat; fighting; hostility

فَوَعِزَّتِكَ
ʿ-z-z → “Thy glory beareth me witness”

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

يا
y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

مَحْبُوبِي
ḥ-b-b → “my Beloved”

literal: love; affection

لَنْ
l-n

literal: will not (negation of future)

يَقْدِرَ
q-d-r → “is powerless” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

القَلَمُ
q-l-m → “My pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

أَنْ
ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

يَذْكُرَ
dh-k-r

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

ما
m-ʾ → “that”

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

وَرَدَ
w-r-d → “have wrought” Distinctive

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

مِنْهُمْ
m-n → “their hands” Distinctive

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

عَلَى
ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

مَظْهَرِ
ẓ-h-r → “Manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

أَمْرِكَ
ʾ-m-r → “Thy Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

وَمَطْلَعِ
ṭ-l-ʿ → “Dayspring”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

وَحْيِكَ
w-ḥ-y → “Thy Revelation”

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

وَمَشْرِقِ
sh-r-q → “Dawning-Place” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

إِلْهامِكَ،
l-h-m → “Thine inspiration”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

فَلَكَ
f-l-k → “I yield”

literal: ship; ark; orbit; sphere; heaven

الحَمْدُ
ḥ-m-d → “give praise”

literal: praise; to praise

فِي
f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

كُلِّ
k-l-l → “all this”

literal: for us; to us

ذلِكَ
dh-l-k

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

وَإِنِّي
ʾ-n-n → “Thee”

literal: I, verily; behold I

إِلهِي
ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

قَدْ
q-d

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

كُنْتُ
k-w-n → “be” Distinctive

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

مُشْتاقًا
sh-w-q → “longing” Distinctive

literal: longing; yearning; desirous

لِما
l-m-ʾ → “When”

literal: when; certainly-not; when, since

سَمآءِ
s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

قَضائِكَ
q-ḍ-y → “Thy decree”

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

وَمَلَكُوتِ
m-l-k → “kingdom”

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

لأنَّ
ʾ-n → “For” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

سَبِيْلِكَ
s-b-l → “Thy path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

هُو
h-w → “is”

literal: He; He is

ذاتِي
dh-w-t → “Essence” Distinctive

literal: essence; self; being

وَمَقْصُودُ
q-ṣ-d → “goal” Distinctive

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

نَفْسِيْ،
n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وَهذا
h-dh-ʾ → “This, verily”

literal: this; that

لَمْ
l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

إِلاَّ
ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

بِحَوْلِكَ
ḥ-w-l → “Thy power and Thy might” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶