Tablet of Carmel — §2

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 2 of 5.

Source (Arabic)

اِذاً اخذها اهْتِزاز السُّرُور وَ نادَت باعْلی النِّداء نفسْی لإقبالِکَ الفِداء وَ لعنايتکَ الفِداء وَ لِتَوجُّهِکَ الفِداء قَدْ اَهْلکنی يا مَطْلَع الحَيوة فراقکَ وَ احْرقنی هجرک لکَ الحَمد بما اَسمَعتَنی ندائکَ وَ شرّفتَنی بِقُدُومکَ وَ احيَيتنی مِنْ نفحات اَيّامکَ وَ صَرير قلمکَ الَّذی جَعَلْتَه صوراً بينَ عبادِک فَلمّا جاء امرک المُبرم نَفَخْتَ فيه اِذاً قامتِ القيمة الکُبری وَ ظَهَرت الاسْرار المکنُونة فی خزائن مالِک الأَشيآء

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Seized with transports of joy, and raising high her voice, she thus exclaimed: ‘May my life be a sacrifice to Thee, inasmuch as Thou hast fixed Thy gaze upon me, hast bestowed upon me Thy bounty, and hast directed towards me Thy steps. Separation from Thee, O Thou Source of everlasting life, hath well nigh consumed me, and my remoteness from Thy presence hath burned away my soul. All praise be to Thee for having enabled me to hearken to Thy call, for having honoured me with Thy footsteps, and for having quickened my soul through the vitalizing fragrance of Thy Day and the shrilling voice of Thy Pen, a voice Thou didst ordain as Thy trumpet-call amidst Thy people. And when the hour at which Thy resistless Faith was to be made manifest did strike, Thou didst breathe a breath of Thy spirit into Thy Pen, and lo, the entire creation shook to its very foundations, unveiling to mankind such mysteries as lay hidden within the treasuries of Him Who is the Possessor of all created things.’

Translation Notes

اِذاً

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

اخذها

ʾ-kh-dh → “Seized”

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

اهْتِزاز

h-z-z → “transports”

literal: to shake, quiver, vibrate, tremble with emotion

السُّرُور

s-r-r → “joy”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

نادَت

n-d-y → “voice” Distinctive

literal: you (singular/plural pronoun)

باعْلی

ʿ-l-w → “high”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

نفسْی

n-f-s → “my life” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

لإقبالِکَ

q-b-l → “before” Distinctive

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

الفِداء

f-d-y → “sacrifice”

literal: to sacrifice; to ransom; to redeem

لعنايتکَ

ʿ-n-y → “bestowed upon me Thy bounty” Distinctive

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

لِتَوجُّهِکَ

w-j-h → “directed towards me Thy steps”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

قَدْ

q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

اَهْلکنی

h-l-k → “consumed”

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

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

مَطْلَع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Source” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

الحَيوة

ḥ-y-w → “life”

literal: life; life, living; animal

فراقکَ

f-r-q → “Separation from Thee”

literal: faction; sect; group; company

احْرقنی

ḥ-r-q → “burned”

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

هجرک

h-j-r → “remoteness from Thy presence”

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

لکَ

l → “His is”

literal: for; for you; for him

الحَمد

ḥ-m-d → “praise”

literal: praise; to praise

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

اَسمَعتَنی

s-m-ʿ → “hearken to Thy call”

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

شرّفتَنی

sh-r-f → “honoured me with Thy footsteps”

literal: honor; nobility; eminence; to honor

بِقُدُومکَ

q-d-m

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

احيَيتنی

ḥ-y-y → “quickened my soul”

literal: life; living; shame

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

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

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “fragrance”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

اَيّامکَ

y-w-m → “Day”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

صَرير

ṣ-r-r → “shrilling voice”

literal: creaking sound; shrill voice; grating noise

قلمکَ

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

الَّذی

l-dh-y → “a” Distinctive

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

جَعَلْتَه

j-ʿ-l → “ordain”

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

صوراً

ṣ-w-r → “trumpet-call”

literal: to imagine; to conceive; to suppose

بينَ

b-y-n → “amidst”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

عبادِک

ʿ-b-d → “people” Distinctive

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

فَلمّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

جاء

j-y-ʾ → “strike”

literal: to come; to arrive; to happen

امرک

ʾ-m-r → “Faith” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

المُبرم

b-r-m → “resistless”

literal: to bind firmly; compelling, irresistible, immovable

نَفَخْتَ

n-f-kh → “breathe”

literal: breath; breathed; blown

فيه

f-y → “in” Distinctive

literal: alas; woe; oh

قامتِ

q-w-m → “shook”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

الکُبری

k-b-r → “grandeur” Distinctive

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

ظَهَرت

ẓ-h-r → “unveiling”

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

المکنُونة

k-n-n → “hidden”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

خزائن

kh-z-n → “treasuries”

literal: to store, to treasure; storehouse, depository, treasury

مالِک

m-l-k → “Possessor” Distinctive

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

الأَشيآء

sh-y-ʾ → “created things.’”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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.

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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 ¶

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59 ¶