Prayers and Meditations — §836

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 836 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

أَشْهَدُ يَا إِلَهِي بِمَا شَهِدَ بِهِ أَصْفِيَاؤُكَ وَاَعْتَرِفُ بِمَا اعْتَرَفَ بِهِ أَهْلُ الْفِرْدَوْسِ الْأَعْلَى وَالْجَنَّةِ الْعُلْيَا وَالَّذِينَ طَافُواْ عَرْشَكَ الْعَظِيمَ. اَلْمُلْكُ وَالْمَلَكُوْتُ لَكَ يَا إِلَهَ الْعَالَمِينَ.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I testify, O my God, to that whereunto Thy chosen Ones have testified, and acknowledge that which the inmates of the all-highest Paradise and those who have circled round Thy mighty Throne have acknowledged. The kingdoms of earth and heaven are Thine, O Lord of the worlds!

Translation Notes

أَشْهَدُ

sh-h-d → “I testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

يَا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إِلَهِي

ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

بِمَا

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

بِهِ

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

أَصْفِيَاؤُكَ

ṣ-f-w → “Thy chosen Ones”

literal: chosen ones; chosen-ones; purity

وَاَعْتَرِفُ

ʿ-r-f → “and acknowledge” Distinctive

literal: to acknowledge, confess, recognize

أَهْلُ

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

الْفِرْدَوْسِ

f-r-d-w-s → “Paradise”

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

الْأَعْلَى

ʿ-l-w → “all-highest” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

وَالْجَنَّةِ

j-n-n

literal: garden; paradise; heaven

وَالَّذِينَ

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

طَافُواْ

ṭ-w-f → “have circled round”

literal: circle; circling; circumambulate

عَرْشَكَ

ʿ-r-sh → “Thy mighty Throne”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

الْعَظِيمَ.

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

اَلْمُلْكُ

m-l-k → “kingdoms”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

لَكَ

l → “His is”

literal: for; for you; for him

إِلَهَ

ʾ-l-h → “Lord”

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

الْعَالَمِينَ.

ʿ-l-m → “of the worlds”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

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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 ¶

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16 ¶

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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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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 ¶