Prayers and Meditations — §846

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 846 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

امِكَ وَنَزَلَ عَلَى صَفْوَتِكَ مِنْ تَرادُفِ بَلاياكَ وَتَتابُعِ قَضاياكَ وَتَوالِي رزاياكَ، حَيْثُ ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الأَرْضُ وَأَخَذَتْهُمْ شُئُوناتُ قَهْرِكَ مِنْ كُلِّ الجِهاتِ وَآثارُ خَشْيَتِكَ مِنْ كُلِّ الأَقْطارِ، وَسُدَّتْ عَلَى وُجُوهِهِمْ أَبْوابُ رَحْمَتِكَ وَعِنايَتِكَ وَمُنِعَتْ عَنْ رِضْوانِ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَمْطارُ فَيْضِ فَضْلِكَ وَأَلْطافِكَ، أَتَحْرِمُ يا إِلهِي مُحِبِّيكَ عَنْ بَدائِعِ نَصْرِكَ وَانْتِصارِكَ، أَتُخَيِّبُ يا مَحْبُوبِيْ مُخْلِصِيْكَ عَنْ جَوامِعِ جُودِكَ وَإِنْعامِكَ، أَتَمْنَعُ يا سَيِّدِيْ عارِفِيْكَ عَنْ شاطِئِ قُدْسِ عِرْفانِكَ، وَهَلْ تَقْطَعُ عَنْ أَفْئِدَةِ مُرِيدِيكَ أَمْطارَ عِزِّ إِفْضالِكَ؟ لا فَوَعِزَّتِكَ أَشْهَدُ حِيْنَئِذٍ بِأَنَّ رَحْمَتَكَ سَبَقَتِ المُمْكِناتِ وَعِنايَتَكَ أَحاطَتْ كُلَّ مَنْ فِي الأَرَضِينَ وَالسَّمَواتِ، لَمْ تَزَلْ كانَتْ أَبْوابُ جُودِكَ مَفْتُوحَةً عَلَى وَجْهِ عِبادِكَ، وَلا تَزالُ نَسَماتُ فَضْلِكَ سارِيَةً عَلَى قُلُوبِ خَلْقِكَ وَأَمْطارُ مَكْرُمَتِكَ جارِيَةً عَلَى بَرِيَّتِكَ وَأَهْلِ مَمْلَكَتِكَ، وَأَعْلَمُ بِأَنَّكَ تَأَخَّرْتَ ظُهُوراتِ نَصْرِكَ فِي الإِنْشآءِ لِما سَبَقَ بِهِ عِ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God, and my Master! Thou bearest witness, and seest, and knowest the things that have befallen Thy loved ones in Thy days, and the continual trials, and the successive tribulations, and the incessant afflictions, which have been sent down upon Thine elect. Such hath been their plight that the earth became too strait for them, and they were encompassed by the evidences of Thy wrath and the signs of Thy fear in every land, and the doors of Thy mercy and Thy loving-kindness were shut against them, and the garden of their hearts was deprived of the overflowing showers of Thy grace and Thy bountiful favors. Wilt Thou withhold, O my God, from such as love Thee the wonders of Thine ascendancy and triumph? Wilt Thou shatter, O my Beloved, the hopes which they who are devoted to Thee have fixed on Thy manifold bounties and gifts? Wilt Thou keep back, O my Master, those that have recognized Thee from the shores of Thy sanctified knowledge, or wilt Thou cease to rain down upon the hearts of such as desire Thee the showers of Thy transcendent grace? No, no, and to this Thy glory beareth me witness! I testify this very moment that Thy mercy hath surpassed all created things, and Thy loving-kindness encompassed all that are in heaven and all that are on earth. From everlasting the doors of Thy generosity were open to the faces of Thy servants, and the gentle winds of Thy grace were wafted over the hearts of Thy creatures, and the overflowing rains of Thy bounty were showered upon Thy people and the dwellers of Thy realm.

Translation Notes

امِكَ

s-m-w → “name”

literal: mother

وَنَزَلَ

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “upon” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

صَفْوَتِكَ

ṣ-f-w → “Thy chosen ones”

literal: chosen ones; chosen-ones; purity

مِنْ

m-n → “in” Distinctive

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

تَرادُفِ

r-d-f → “rank on rank” Distinctive

literal: succession; following/ranged

بَلاياكَ

b-l-w

literal: affliction; trial; calamity; trial, tribulation, affliction, calamity; yes; indeed; verily

وَتَتابُعِ

t-b-ʿ → “follow” Distinctive

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

قَضاياكَ

q-ḍ-y

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

وَتَوالِي

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: friend; lord; guardian

رزاياكَ،

r-z-y

literal: calamity; calamities; calamity, misfortune

حَيْثُ

ḥ-y-th → “that”

literal: where; in which; inasmuch as; in such wise that; whereby; in that; respect, aspect

ضَاقَتْ

ḍ-y-q → ““oppression”” Distinctive

literal: constricting; narrowing; tightening

عَلَيْهِمُ

ʿ-l-y → “for them” Distinctive

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

الأَرْضُ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “the earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

وَأَخَذَتْهُمْ

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold” Distinctive

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

شُئُوناتُ

sh-ʾ-n → “in such wise” Distinctive

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

قَهْرِكَ

q-h-r → “Thy wrath”

literal: to overpower; to vanquish; wrath; might; force; compulsion; overwhelming

كُلِّ

k-l-l → “every”

literal: for us; to us

الجِهاتِ

j-h-h

literal: direction; aspect; side; regard

وَآثارُ

ʾ-th-r → “signs”

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

خَشْيَتِكَ

kh-sh-y → “Thy fear” Distinctive

literal: fear; fear, awe; fear/dread

الأَقْطارِ،

q-ṭ-r → “land”

literal: drop; region; country; rainfall

وَسُدَّتْ

s-d-d → “closed” Distinctive

literal: closed; barrier; blocked

وُجُوهِهِمْ

w-j-h → “face”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

أَبْوابُ

b-w-b → “doors”

literal: door; gate; chapter; way; manner

رَحْمَتِكَ

r-ḥ-m → “Thy mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

وَعِنايَتِكَ

ʿ-n-y → “Thy loving-kindness”

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

وَمُنِعَتْ

m-n-ʿ → “deprived” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “of”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

رِضْوانِ

r-ḍ-w → “garden” Distinctive

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

قُلُوبِهِمْ

q-l-b → “their hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

أَمْطارُ

m-ṭ-r → “overflowing showers”

literal: rain

فَيْضِ

f-y-ḍ → “grace”

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace; overflowing; emanating; surplus

فَضْلِكَ

f-ḍ-l → “Thy grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

وَأَلْطافِكَ،

l-ṭ-f → “Thy bountiful favors”

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

أَتَحْرِمُ

ḥ-r-m → “Wilt Thou withhold”

literal: deprived; deprive; sanctuary

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “O my God”

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

مُحِبِّيكَ

ḥ-b-b → “such as love Thee” Distinctive

literal: lover; one who loves

بَدائِعِ

b-d-ʿ → “wonders”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

نَصْرِكَ

n-ṣ-r → “Thine ascendancy” Distinctive

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

أَتُخَيِّبُ

kh-y-b → “withhold” Distinctive

literal: disappoint; disappoint, frustrate; disappointed/frustrated

مُخْلِصِيْكَ

kh-l-ṣ → “they who are devoted”

literal: sincere; pure; sincere ones

جَوامِعِ

j-m-ʿ → “all” Distinctive

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

جُودِكَ

j-w-d → “bounty”

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

وَإِنْعامِكَ،

n-ʿ-m → “and gifts”

literal: gift; grant; benefaction

سَيِّدِيْ

s-y-d → “O my Master”

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

عارِفِيْكَ

ʿ-r-f → “those that have recognized Thee”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

شاطِئِ

sh-ṭ-ʾ → “shores”

literal: fitting; suitable; becoming

قُدْسِ

q-d-s → “Thy sanctified” Distinctive

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

وَهَلْ

h-l → “or” Distinctive

literal: interrogative particle; whether

تَقْطَعُ

q-ṭ-ʿ → “wilt Thou cease”

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

أَفْئِدَةِ

f-ʾ-d → “upon the hearts”

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

مُرِيدِيكَ

r-y-d → “such as desire Thee”

literal: want; desire; will

عِزِّ

ʿ-z-z → “Thy transcendent”

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

لا

l-ʾ → “No”

literal: no; not; negation particle

أَشْهَدُ

sh-h-d → “I testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

حِيْنَئِذٍ

ḥ-y-n → “this very moment”

literal: time; moment; while; season

بِأَنَّ

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

سَبَقَتِ

s-b-q → “hath surpassed”

literal: to precede; to surpass; to excel

المُمْكِناتِ

m-k-n → “all created things”

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

أَحاطَتْ

ḥ-w-ṭ → “encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

فِي

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

الأَرَضِينَ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “on earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

لَمْ

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

تَزَلْ

z-w-l → “hath” Distinctive

literal: to pass away; to vanish; to disappear; to cease

كانَتْ

k-w-n → “were”

literal: you (masculine singular)

مَفْتُوحَةً

f-t-ḥ → “open”

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

عِبادِكَ،

ʿ-b-d → “of Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

نَسَماتُ

n-s-m → “gentle winds” Distinctive

literal: breeze; gentle wind; fragrance

سارِيَةً

s-r-y → “were wafted”

literal: captive; prisoner; captivity; to journey; to move; course

خَلْقِكَ

kh-l-q → “of Thy creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

مَكْرُمَتِكَ

k-r-m → “of Thy bounty” Distinctive

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

جارِيَةً

j-r-y → “flow”

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

بَرِيَّتِكَ

b-r-ʾ → “Thy people”

literal: to create; to create anew; to be free from; innocent; free from; clear of; to cure; to heal; to clear

وَأَهْلِ

ʾ-h-l → “and the dwellers” Distinctive

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

مَمْلَكَتِكَ،

m-l-k → “of Thy realm”

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

وَأَعْلَمُ

ʿ-l-m → “knowest”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بِأَنَّكَ

ʾ-n-n → “Thee”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تَأَخَّرْتَ

ʾ-kh-r

literal: hereafter; other; last

ظُهُوراتِ

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

الإِنْشآءِ

n-sh-ʾ

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

لِما

l-m-ʾ

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

بِهِ

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

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 ¶