Prayers and Meditations — §89

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 89 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

كَمْ مِنْ مَخْمُودٍ يا إِلهِي اشْتَعَلَ مِنْ نَارِ أَمْرِكَ، وَكَمْ مِنْ راقِدٍ انْتَبَهَ مِنْ حَلاوَةِ نِدَائِكَ، كَمْ مِنْ غَرِيبٍ اسْتَوْطَنَ فِيْ ظِلِّ سِدْرَةِ فَرْدانِيَّتِكَ، وَكَمْ مِنْ ظَمْآنٍ أَرادَ كَوْثَرَ الحَيَوانِ فِيْ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Many a chilled heart, O my God, hath been set ablaze with the fire of Thy Cause, and many a slumberer hath been wakened by the sweetness of Thy voice. How many are the strangers who have sought shelter beneath the shadow of the tree of Thy oneness, and how numerous the thirsty ones who have panted after the fountain of Thy living waters in Thy days!

Translation Notes

كَمْ

k-m-m → “Many”

literal: how many; how much

مِنْ

m-n → “a”

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

مَخْمُودٍ

kh-m-d → “quench” Distinctive

literal: extinguish; extinguished; extinguishing

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

اشْتَعَلَ

sh-ʿ-l → “kindled”

literal: to kindle, burn, be inflamed; to blaze

نَارِ

n-ʾ-r → “fire”

literal: light; illumination

أَمْرِكَ،

ʾ-m-r → “Thy Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

راقِدٍ

r-q-d → “slumberer”

literal: to sleep; to slumber; sleeping

انْتَبَهَ

n-b-h → “awakening” Distinctive

literal: to awaken; to alert; to warn

حَلاوَةِ

ḥ-l-w → “sweetness”

literal: sweetest; most sweet; most pleasant

نِدَائِكَ،

n-d-y → “Thy voice”

literal: call; voice; cry; summons

غَرِيبٍ

gh-r-b → “West” Distinctive

literal: west; sunset; place of setting

اسْتَوْطَنَ

w-ṭ-n → “country” Distinctive

literal: homeland; homeland, home; land

فِيْ

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

ظِلِّ

ẓ-l-l → “shadow”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

سِدْرَةِ

s-d-r → “tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

فَرْدانِيَّتِكَ،

f-r-d → “Thy oneness”

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

ظَمْآنٍ

ẓ-m-ʾ → “thirsty”

literal: thirsty; thirst

أَرادَ

r-y-d → “have panted” Distinctive

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

كَوْثَرَ

k-w-th-r → “living waters”

literal: abundance; river of paradise; the Kawthar

الحَيَوانِ

ḥ-y-w → “life”

literal: life; living being; animal

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Fire Tablet

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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.

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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 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

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16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

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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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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

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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

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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 ¶