Prayers and Meditations — §832

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 832 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

يَا إِلَهَ الْوُجُوْدِ وَمَالِكَ الْغَيْبِ وَالشُّهُوْدِ تَرَى عَبَرَاتِي وَزَفَرَاتِي وَتَسْمَعُ ضَجِيْجِي وَصَرِيْخِي وَحَنِينَ فُؤآدِي وَعِزَّتِكَ اجْتِرَاحَاتِي أَبْعَدَتْنِي عَنِ الْتَّقَرُّبِ إِلَيْكَ وَجَرِيرَاتِي مَنَعَتْنِي عَنِ الْوُرُوْدِ فِي سَاحَةِ قُدسِكَ. أَيْ رَبِّ حُبُّكَ أَضْنَانِي وَهَجْرُكَ أَهْلَكَنِي وَبُعْدُكَ أَحْرَقَنِي. أَسْأَلُكَ بِمَوْطِيءِ قَدَمَيْكَ فِي هَذَا الْبَيْدَاءِ وَبِلَبَّيْكَ لَبَّيْكَ أَصْفِيْائِكَ فِي هَذَا الْفَضَاءِ وَبِنَفَحَاتِ وَحْيِكَ وَنَسَمَاتِ فَجْرِ ظُهُوْرِكَ بِأَنْ تُقَدِّرَ لِيْ زِيَارَةَ جَمَالِكَ وَالْعَمَلَ بِمَا فِي كِتَابِكِ.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Lord of all being and Possessor of all things visible and invisible! Thou dost perceive my tears and the sighs I utter, and hearest my groaning, and my wailing, and the lamentation of my heart. By Thy might! My trespasses have kept me back from drawing nigh unto Thee; and my sins have held me far from the court of Thy holiness. Thy love, O my Lord, hath enriched me, and separation from Thee hath destroyed me, and remoteness from Thee hath consumed me. I entreat Thee by Thy footsteps in this wilderness, and by the words “Here am I. Here am I” which Thy chosen Ones have uttered in this immensity, and by the breaths of Thy Revelation, and the gentle winds of the Dawn of Thy Manifestation, to ordain that I may gaze on Thy beauty and observe whatsoever is in Thy Book.

Translation Notes

يَا

y-ʾ → “O”

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

إِلَهَ

ʾ-l-h → “Lord”

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

الْوُجُوْدِ

w-j-d → “of all being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

وَمَالِكَ

m-l-k → “Possessor” Distinctive

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

الْغَيْبِ

gh-y-b → “invisible”

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

وَالشُّهُوْدِ

sh-h-d → “things visible and”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

تَرَى

r-ʾ-y → “Thou dost perceive” Distinctive

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

عَبَرَاتِي

ʿ-b-r → “tears”

literal: expression; phrase; utterance; statement; passage; wording

وَزَفَرَاتِي

z-f-r → “sighs”

literal: sigh; sob; lamentation

وَتَسْمَعُ

s-m-ʿ → “hearest”

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

ضَجِيْجِي

ḍ-j-j → “groaning”

literal: clamor; outcry; noise; tumult

وَصَرِيْخِي

ṣ-r-kh → “cry” Distinctive

literal: cry; outcry; clamour; to cry out

وَحَنِينَ

ḥ-n-n → “lamentation”

literal: trial, tribulation, ordeal, testing

فُؤآدِي

f-ʾ-d → “heart”

literal: heart, innermost soul, mind; heart; inner consciousness; mind; one who benefits; advantageous

وَعِزَّتِكَ

ʿ-z-z → “By Thy might”

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

اجْتِرَاحَاتِي

j-r-ḥ → “members” Distinctive

literal: limbs; member; limb, body part

أَبْعَدَتْنِي

b-ʿ-d → “after” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

عَنِ

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

الْتَّقَرُّبِ

q-r-b → “drawing nigh”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

وَجَرِيرَاتِي

j-r-r → “sins”

literal: sin; transgression; crime; that which is drawn or dragged

مَنَعَتْنِي

m-n-ʿ → “have held me far” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

الْوُرُوْدِ

w-r-d

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

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

سَاحَةِ

s-w-ḥ → “court”

literal: court; plaza; courtyard; open space; domain; presence

قُدسِكَ.

q-d-s → “Thy holiness”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

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

رَبِّ

r-b-b

literal: Lord; lord; divine

حُبُّكَ

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

أَضْنَانِي

ḍ-n-n → “hath enriched me”

literal: weaken/sicken

وَهَجْرُكَ

h-j-r → “separation” Distinctive

literal: to emigrate, migrate, forsake; migration, emigration

أَهْلَكَنِي

h-l-k → “consumed”

literal: to destroy; to ruin; to cause to perish; perishing; destroyer; lost

أَحْرَقَنِي.

ḥ-r-q → “hath consumed me”

literal: to burn; to be consumed by fire; burning

أَسْأَلُكَ

s-ʾ-l → “I entreat Thee”

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

بِمَوْطِيءِ

w-ṭ-ʾ

literal: place of stepping, footstool; place

قَدَمَيْكَ

q-d-m → “by Thy footsteps”

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

هَذَا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الْبَيْدَاءِ

b-y-d → “must” Distinctive

literal: must; must, should; awake

وَبِلَبَّيْكَ

l-b-y → “words “Here am”

literal: here-am-I

لَبَّيْكَ

l-b-y → “Here am I””

literal: here-am-I

أَصْفِيْائِكَ

ṣ-f-w → “Thy chosen Ones”

literal: pure one; chosen one; selected one; elite

الْفَضَاءِ

f-ḍ-w → “realm” Distinctive

literal: space; expanse; void

وَبِنَفَحَاتِ

n-f-ḥ → “by the breaths”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

وَحْيِكَ

w-ḥ-y → “Thy Revelation”

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

وَنَسَمَاتِ

n-s-m → “gentle winds” Distinctive

literal: breeze; gentle wind; fragrance

فَجْرِ

f-j-r → “Dawn” Distinctive

literal: dawn; dayspring; to break (of dawn)

ظُهُوْرِكَ

ẓ-h-r → “Thy Manifestation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

بِأَنْ

ʾ-n-n → “to ordain that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تُقَدِّرَ

q-d-r

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

لِيْ

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: for us; to us

زِيَارَةَ

z-w-r → “gaze”

literal: because; since; for; inasmuch as

جَمَالِكَ

j-m-l → “Thy beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

وَالْعَمَلَ

ʿ-m-l → “deeds”

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

بِمَا

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

كِتَابِكِ.

k-t-b → “Thy Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

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 ¶