Prayers and Meditations
Prayers and Meditations is a compilation of English translations of writings of Bahá’u’lláh translated by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. It was first published in 1938.[1]
Background[edit]
The compilation consists of translations of 184 prayers and supplications revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. The majority of the works included were originally revealed in Arabic with a smaller number having been originally revealed in Persian. Alí Nakhjavání notes that the translations can be considered to each fall into one of four categories[2]:
- Prayers for special occasions, such as funerals, the Fast, and Holy Days.
- Prayers for Holy Days related to Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb including their Tablets of Visitation.
- Prayers for specific circumstances, such as prayers for children, travelling, detachment, praising God and others.
- Meditations on the nature of God.
The works were translated by Shoghi Effendi and when completed he sent the manuscript to George Townshend requesting his input before it was published,[2] and Townshend wrote the following regarding the work after its publication:
". . . the Guardian has given us in the volume, Prayers and Meditations, a number of other prayers of a different origin — prayers made by Bahá’u’lláh for His own use, acts of communion between the Prophet Himself and the Most High."[3]
The following was written in a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to Jessie Revell following the publication of the compilation:
“... He is indeed pleased to know that the book of Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh has been out in time to enable the friends to read it during the Fast, and he has every hope that the perusal of such a precious volume will help to deepen, more than any other publication, the spirit of devotion and faith in the friends, and thus charge them with all the spiritual power they require for the accomplishment of their tremendous duties towards the Cause....”[4]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Prayers and Meditations at bahai-library.com
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 `Alí Nakhjavání 2006, p. 62
- ↑ Baha'i News (1965). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 408, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (October 1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 212, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
References[edit]
- `Alí Nakhjavání (2006). Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of His Pen. Casa Editrice Bahá'í.
External links[edit]
- Prayers and Meditations at the official Bahá’í Reference Library.
