Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §81

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 81 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

ْ حُبِّيْ، أَيْ رَبِّ أَسْئَلُكَ بِذِكْرِكَ نَفْسَكَ وَبِثَنائِكَ ذاتَكَ بِأَنْ تَجْعَلَنا مِنَ الَّذِينَ أَقَرُّوا بِكَ وَاعْتَرَفُوا بِسُلْطانِكَ فِيْ أَيَّامِكَ، ثُمَ أَشْرِبْنا يا إِلهِي مِنْ أَصابِعِ الرَّحْمَةِ كَوْثَرَ العِنَايَةِ لِيُغْفِلَنا عَمَّا سِواكَ وَيُشْغِلَنَا بِكَ، وَإِنَّكَ أَنْتَ المُقْتَدِرُ عَلَى ما تَشَاءُ لا إِلهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ العَزِيزُ المُهَيْمِنُ القَيُّومُ وَالحَمْدُ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I beseech Thee, by the praise wherewith Thou praisest Thyself and the glory wherewith Thou glorifiest Thine own Essence, to grant that we may be numbered among them that have recognized Thee and acknowledged Thy sovereignty in Thy days. Help us then to quaff, O my God, from the fingers of mercy the living waters of Thy loving-kindness, that we may utterly forget all else except Thee, and be occupied only with Thy Self. Powerful art Thou to do what Thou willest. No God is there beside Thee, the Mighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

Translation Notes

حُبِّيْ،
ḥ-b-b

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

أَيْ
ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

رَبِّ
r-b-b

literal: Lord; lord; divine

أَسْئَلُكَ
s-ʾ-l

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

بِذِكْرِكَ
dh-k-r → “by the praise”

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

نَفْسَكَ
n-f-s → “wherewith Thou praisest Thyself”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وَبِثَنائِكَ
th-n-y → “and the glory”

literal: praise; commendation; eulogy; glorification; praise, commendation, eulogy

ذاتَكَ
dh-w-t → “Essence”

literal: essence; self; being

بِأَنْ
ʾ-n-n → “to grant that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تَجْعَلَنا
j-ʿ-l → “we may be numbered” Distinctive

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

مِنَ
m-n → “from”

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

الَّذِينَ
l-dh-y → “them that”

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

أَقَرُّوا
q-r-r → “have recognized”

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

وَاعْتَرَفُوا
ʿ-r-f → “and acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

بِسُلْطانِكَ
s-l-ṭ → “Thy sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

فِيْ
f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

أَيَّامِكَ،
y-w-m → “Thy days”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

ثُمَ
th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

أَشْرِبْنا
sh-r-b → “quaffed” Distinctive

literal: to drink; to imbibe

يا
y-ʾ

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

إِلهِي
ʾ-l-h → “O my God”

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

أَصابِعِ
ṣ-b-ʿ → “fingers”

literal: finger; digit

الرَّحْمَةِ
r-ḥ-m → “of mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

كَوْثَرَ
k-w-th-r → “living waters”

literal: abundance; river of paradise; the Kawthar

العِنَايَةِ
ʿ-n-y → “of Thy loving-kindness”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

لِيُغْفِلَنا
gh-f-l → “heedless” Distinctive

literal: heedless; heedlessness; neglect

عَمَّا
ʿ-n → “from”

literal: with them; in their company

سِواكَ
s-w-y → “except Thee”

literal: other than; besides; except; equal; alike

وَيُشْغِلَنَا
sh-gh-l → “and be occupied only”

literal: occupied; busy; occupy

وَإِنَّكَ
ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أَنْتَ
ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

المُقْتَدِرُ
q-d-r → “Powerful art”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

عَلَى
ʿ-l-w → “to do” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ما
m-ʾ → “that”

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

تَشَاءُ
sh-y-ʾ → “Thou willest”

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

لا
l-ʾ → “No”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إِلهَ
ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

إِلاَّ
ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

العَزِيزُ
ʿ-z-z → “Mighty”

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

المُهَيْمِنُ
h-m-n → “the Help in Peril”

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian

القَيُّومُ
q-w-m → “the Self-Subsisting”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

وَالحَمْدُ
ḥ-m-d

literal: praise; to praise

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 ¶