Prayers and Meditations — §834

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 834 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

يَذُوْبُ كَبِدِيْ وَيَغْلِي الْدَّمُ فِي عُرُوْقِي، وَجَمَالِكَ يَا مَقْصُوْدَ الْعَالَمِ إِنَّ الْوَجْهَ يَسْتَحْيي أَنْ يَتَوَجَّهَ إِلَيْكَ وَأَيَادِي الْرَّجَاءِ تَخْجَلُ أَنْ تَرْتَفِعَ إِلَى سَمَاءِ كَرَمِكَ، تَرَى يَا إِلَهِي عَبَرَاتِي تَمْنَعُنِي عَنِ الذِّكْرِ وَالثَّنَاءِ يَا رَبَّ الْعَرْشِ وَالْثَّرَى، أَسْأَلُكَ بِآيَاتِ مَلَكُوْتِكَ وَأَسْرَارِ جَبَرُوْتِكَ بِأَنْ تَعْمَلَ بِأَوْلِيَائِكَ مَا يَنْبَغِي لِجُوْدِكَ يَا مَالِكَ الْوُجُوْدِ وَيَلِيْقُ لِفَضْلِكَ يَا سُلْطَانَ الْغَيْبِ وَالْشُّهُوْدِ.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O God, my God! My back is bowed by the burden of my sins, and my heedlessness hath destroyed me. Whenever I ponder my evil doings and Thy benevolence, my heart melteth within me, and my blood boileth in my veins. By Thy Beauty, O Thou the Desire of the world! I blush to lift up my face to Thee, and my longing hands are ashamed to stretch forth toward the heaven of Thy bounty. Thou seest, O my God, how my tears prevent me from remembering Thee and from extolling Thy virtues, O Thou the Lord of the Throne on high and of earth below! I implore Thee by the signs of Thy Kingdom and the mysteries of Thy Dominion to do with Thy loved ones as becometh Thy bounty, O Lord of all being, and is worthy of Thy grace, O King of the seen and the unseen!

Translation Notes

يَذُوْبُ

dh-w-b → “consumed” Distinctive

literal: to melt; to waste away

كَبِدِيْ

k-b-d

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

وَيَغْلِي

gh-l-y → “seetheth”

literal: boils

الْدَّمُ

d-m-y

literal: blood

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

عُرُوْقِي،

ʿ-r-q → “vein”

literal: Iraq; sweat

وَجَمَالِكَ

j-m-l → “By Thy Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

يَا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

مَقْصُوْدَ

q-ṣ-d → “Thou the Desire”

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

الْعَالَمِ

ʿ-l-m → “of the world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

أَنْ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الْوَجْهَ

w-j-h → “my face” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

يَسْتَحْيي

ḥ-y-y → “life” Distinctive

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

وَأَيَادِي

y-d-y → “my longing hands”

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

الْرَّجَاءِ

r-j-w

literal: hope; expectation

تَخْجَلُ

kh-j-l → “are ashamed”

literal: shame; ashamed; ashamed, embarrassed

تَرْتَفِعَ

r-f-ʿ → “raised” Distinctive

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

سَمَاءِ

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

كَرَمِكَ،

k-r-m → “of Thy bounty”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

تَرَى

r-ʾ-y → “Thou seest”

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

إِلَهِي

ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

عَبَرَاتِي

ʿ-b-r → “my tears”

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

تَمْنَعُنِي

m-n-ʿ → “prevent me” Distinctive

literal: prevent; prevented; prevention

عَنِ

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

الذِّكْرِ

dh-k-r → “remembering Thee” Distinctive

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

وَالثَّنَاءِ

th-n-y → “from extolling Thy virtues” Distinctive

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

رَبَّ

r-b-b → “Thou the Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

الْعَرْشِ

ʿ-r-sh → “of the Throne”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

وَالْثَّرَى،

th-r-y → “of earth below”

literal: earth; dust; earth/dust

أَسْأَلُكَ

s-ʾ-l → “I implore Thee” Distinctive

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

بِآيَاتِ

ʾ-y-y → “by the signs”

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

مَلَكُوْتِكَ

m-l-k → “of Thy Kingdom”

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

وَأَسْرَارِ

s-r-r → “and the mysteries”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

جَبَرُوْتِكَ

j-b-r → “of Thy Dominion”

literal: compelled; forced; constrained

بِأَنْ

ʾ-n-n → “to” Distinctive

literal: that; indeed; moment

تَعْمَلَ

ʿ-m-l → “do”

literal: deed; deeds; work

بِأَوْلِيَائِكَ

w-l-y → “with Thy loved ones”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

مَا

m-ʾ → “as” Distinctive

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

يَنْبَغِي

n-b-gh → “becometh” Distinctive

literal: it is proper; it is fitting; it is necessary; it behooves

لِجُوْدِكَ

j-w-d → “Thy bounty”

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

الْوُجُوْدِ

w-j-d → “of all being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

وَيَلِيْقُ

l-y-q → “is worthy”

literal: worthy, befitting, appropriate, suitable

لِفَضْلِكَ

f-ḍ-l → “of Thy grace” Distinctive

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

سُلْطَانَ

s-l-ṭ → “King”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

الْغَيْبِ

gh-y-b → “invisible”

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

وَالْشُّهُوْدِ.

sh-h-d → “and the unseen”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

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 ¶