“Lauded be Thy Name, O Thou Who art the Ocean of Faithfulness! I beseech Thee by Thine Own Self…”

What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a prayer revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for Mír ‘Abdu’r-Raḥím, an early believer who resided in the city of Qamṣar in Iran. The original text was kindly provided to me by Amir Vojdani, the great-great-grandson of Mír ‘Abdu’r-Raḥím. The text has also been published in Áthár-i-Qalam-i-A‘lá: Majmúʻiy-i-Munáját, vol. 2, pp. 9394.

Qamṣar

For Áqá Siyyid ‘Abdu’r-Raḥím, upon him be the Glory of God, that he may commit it to memory and recite it

In My Name, the Most Glorious

Lauded be Thy Name, O Thou Who art the Ocean of Faithfulness! I beseech Thee by Thine Own Self, which Thou hast named “the Most Glorious,” to guide Thy servants unto the horizon of Thy Revelation, drawing them nigh unto the Dawning-Place of Thy knowledge and the Dayspring of Thy Cause.

O Lord! The Morn of Revelation hath broken; the trumpet-blast hath been sounded, and all that are in heaven and on earth have swooned away, save those on whom the hand of Thy might hath laid hold as a token of Thy bounty.

This, O Lord, is the day whereon Thou hast shed the splendor of Thy most excellent names upon all who dwell in Thy heaven and upon Thine earth, and in which Thou hast opened the gate to Thy presence before the faces of Thy servants. O Lord of all Being, Thou Who art the Possessor of all things visible and invisible! Debar not Thy servants from that for which Thou didst create them. Make known unto them, O my God, the Path to reunion with Thee, and ordain for them what beseemeth the sea of Thy bounty. Thou, verily, art He Who hath ever lain above all other names and their kingdoms, and overshadowed all created things and their realms.

I beseech Thee, O Lord, by the light of Thy power and the lamp of Thy Countenance, to inspire Thy servants with Thy remembrance and praise, as well as that which will bring them nearer to the horizon of Thy grace. Thou, in truth, art the Lord of the world, Who art mentioned with the Greatest Name and art supremely powerful over all the peoples of the earth. No God is there but Thee, the All-Possessing, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, the Almighty, the Most Great.

A typescript of the original Arabic text of the prayer appears below (all punctuation and vowel marks mine).

قمصر

جنابِ آقا سیّد عبدالرّحیم، عَلَیْهِ بَهَاءُ اللهِ، لِیَحْفَظَهُ وَ یَقْرَئَهُ

بِسْمِي الأَبْهَى

سُبْحَانَكَ يَا بَحْرَ الْوَفَاءِ، أَسْأَلُكَ بِنَفْسِكَ الَّتِي سَمَّيْتَهَا بِالْبَهَاءِ بِأَنْ يَهْدِيَ عِبَادَكَ إِلَى أُفُقِ ظُهُورِكَ وَ تُقَرِّبَهُمْ إِلَى مَشْرِقِ عِلْمِكَ وَ مَطْلَعِ أَمْرِكَ. أَيْ رَبِّ، قَدْ ظَهَرَ فَجْرُ الظُّهُورِ وَ نُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ وَ انْصَعَقَ مَنْ فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَ الأَرْضِ إِلَّا مَنْ أَخَذَتْهُ يَدُ اقْتِدَارِكَ فَضْلاً مِنْ عِنْدِكَ. أَيْ رَبِّ، هَذَا يَوْمٌ فِيهِ تَجَلَّيْتَ بِأَسْمَائِكَ الْحُسْنَى عَلَى مَنْ فِي سَمَائِكَ وَ أَرْضِكَ وَ فَتَحْتَ عَلَى وُجُوهِ عِبَادِكَ بَابَ لِقَائِكَ. يَا إِلَهَ الْوُجُودِ وَ مَالِكَ الْغَيْبِ وَ الشُّهُودِ، لَا تَمْنَعْ عِبَادَكَ عَمَّا خَلَقْتَهُمْ لَهُ. عَرِّفْهُمْ يَا إِلَهِي سَبِيلَ وِصَالِكَ وَ قَدِّرْ لَهُمْ مَا يَنْبَغِي لِبَحْرِ عَطَائِكَ. إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الَّذِي كُنْتَ قَيُّومًا عَلَى الأَسْمَاءِ وَ مَلَكُوتِهَا وَ مُهَيْمِنًا عَلَى الأَشْيَاءِ وَ جَبَرُوتِهَا. أَيْ رَبِّ، أَسْأَلُكَ بِسِرَاجِ قُدْرَتِكَ وَ مِصْبَاحِ وَجْهِكَ بِأَنْ تُلْهِمَ عِبَادَكَ ذِكْرَكَ وَ ثَنَاءَكَ وَ مَا يُقَرِّبُهُمْ إِلَى أُفُقِ فَضْلِكَ. إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ مَوْلَى الْعَالَمِ وَ الْمَذْكُورُ بِالِاسْمِ الأَعْظَمِ وَ الْمُقْتَدِرُ عَلَى الأُمَمِ. لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ الْغَنِيُّ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ الْعَزِيزُ الْعَظِيمُ.