Rivers of God's might and Unity flowing through everything
"Make manifest the rivers of Thy sovereign might..." by Bahá’u’lláh
Transliteration by Daniel Azim Pschaida:
fasubḥánaka’llahumma yá iláhí
fa’aẓ’hir anhára qudratika
liyajrí ma’ul-aḥadíyati
fí haqáíqi kulli shay’in
ḥattá yastarfi‘a bidhálika a‘lámu hidáyatika
fí malakúti amrika
wa yusha‘shi‘a anjumu nawwáríyatika
fí samáwáti majdika
idh innaka anta’l-muqtadiru ‘alá má tashá’u
wa innaka anta’l-muhayminu’l-qayyúm
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Original Arabic from Ad’íyyah Mubárakah, Volume 3, Number
140, by |
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Daniel
Pschaida transliteration = DP |
DP: fasubḥánaka’llahumma yá iláhí
BA: Glory be to Thee, O Lord my
God!
JH: Glory be to Thee, O Lord my God!
DP: fa’aẓ’hir anhára qudratika
BA: Make manifest the rivers of Thy sovereign might,
JH: Do Thou reveal the rivers of Thy sovereign might
DP: liyajrí ma’ul-aḥadíyati BA: that the waters
of Thy Unity may flow
JH: that the water of
unity may flow
DP: liyajrí ma’ul-aḥadíyati
DP: fí ḥaqáíqi kulli
shay’in 
BA: through the inmost realities of all things,
JH: within the inmost realities
of all things,
BA: in such wise that the banner of Thine unfailing guidance may be raised aloft
JH: in such wise that the ensigns of Thy guidance will be upraised
DP: fí malakúti amrika
BA: in the kingdom of Thy command
JH: will be upraised in the kingdom of Thy
Cause
DP: wa yusha‘shi‘a anjumu
nawwáríyatika
BA: and the stars of Thy divine splendor may shine
brightly
JH: and the stars of Thy luminescence will shine with a scintillating
splendor
DP: fí samáwáti majdika
BA: in the heaven of Thy majesty.
JH: in the heavens of Thy glory.
DP: idh innaka anta’l-muqtadiru ‘alá má tashá’u,
BA: Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee.
JH: Potent art Thou
to do what pleaseth Thee.
DP: wa innaka
anta’l-muhayminu’l-qayyúm
BA: Thou, verily, art the
Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
JH: Verily, Thou art the
Help in peril, the Self-Subsisting.
My Reflection:
DP: fasubḥánaka’llahumma yá iláhí
BA: Glory be to Thee, O Lord my
God!
JH: Glory be to Thee, O Lord my God!
This prayer sets the stage as a contemplation of God's glory with "Glory be to Thee, O Lord my God!" Subḥánaka (Glory be to Thee) is common Arabic language to praise God, including repeated many times by Muslims with prayer-beads/tasbiḥ to ingrain such an attitude in one's own mental/heart structures. Indeed, when I say this prayer, often just pausing on this first line, meditating and repeating it multiple times, before moving on to the next one, prepares me better to understand the next lines. 1 Cor. 10:31 of the Bible says, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
Bahá’u’lláh says in another prayer, "O Thou the Lord of the visible and the invisible, and the Enlightener of all creation! I beseech Thee, by Thy sovereignty which is hid from the eyes of men, to reveal in all directions the signs of Thy manifold blessings and the tokens of Thy loving-kindness, that I may arise with exultation and rapture and extol Thy wondrous virtues, O Thou the Most Merciful, and stir up by Thy name all created things, and so kindle the fire of Thy glorification amidst Thy creatures, that all the world may be filled with the brightness of the light of Thy glory, and all existence be inflamed with the fire of Thy Cause." --Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 69
St. Augustine believed that the heart of sin is delighting in the world or in our actions or achievements apart from loving and praising God for such Divine blessings. Arrogating ourselves independence, apart from what God has given us, creates of one's own self as an idol. As a basketball player points skyward after making a great shot or as Muslims glorify God--What God willed! (Ma sha' Allah)--for some good or beauty someone has performed, rather praising the person directly, so too can we make our attitudes in all things. As the Dao De Jing speaks to: the valley must be made low for all good to flow into it, even as the shadow bows low before that which it is only modestly in the shape of; our good deeds and achievements are only a pale reflection of God's own goodness and achievements, which is the true Source of all good.
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DP: fa’aẓ’hir anhára qudratika
BA: Make manifest the rivers of Thy sovereign might,
JH: Do Thou reveal the rivers of Thy sovereign might
God's "sovereign might" is always manifest; qudratika, in its kindred Arabic root Q-D-R refers to "can" or "be able to," and we know that all things are able to do what they do because God has endowed such abilities. So what this prayer seems to be asking is that God opens up our minds and hearts to perceive what is always there. In The Seven Valleys, Baha'u'llah says of the "Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness": "In this city, even the veils of light are split asunder and vanish away... How strange that while the Beloved is visible as the sun, yet the heedless still hunt after tinsel and base metal. Yea, the intensity of His revelation hath covered Him, and the fullness of His shining forth hath hidden Him." (The Seven Valleys, p. 38) The brightness of God's light seems to create a blindness in us that prevents us from seeing God's splendor as it shines each moment, in and through all things at all times. "Make manifest" asks to increase our spiritual sight that we can indeed see the light.
God's "rivers of...sovereign might" is very powerful invitation not to get fixated on a single moment or reification of God's glory; rather, keep the heart open to the constantly shifting and present gift of now of God's every ever-flowing bounties. Buddhism and Navajo philosophy both remind us that it is a fool's errand to try to hold onto the smooth sand of then/before or of the future or believe that everything does/can stay the same. Rather, now is a good time to glorify the ever-flowing gifts of God's loving-kindness in myself, in others, in the world.
Rivers carry the second (after oxygen) most basic stuff of life--water. Within are fish human beings have been nourished by from time immemorial. Humans can journey up/down rivers. Humans can transport goods up and down rivers. Our bodies are mostly made up of water and full of blood streams that carry vital nutrients to each and every cell. All are rivers of God's sovereign might and manifestations of God's all-encompassing loving-kindness.
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DP: liyajrí ma’ul-aḥadíyati
BA: that the waters
of Thy Unity may flow
In amazing succinct language, this line brings our heart and sight back to the Source of all bounties, virtue, and good in existence, ever flowing in and through and with all things. All are manifestations, emanations, tokens, or expressions of God's one, dynamic Being. This one Point is the Fountain-head of all existence and the very Center of our hearts.
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DP: fí ḥaqáíqi kulli shay’in
BA: through the inmost realities of all things,
JH: within the inmost realities of all things,
BA: through the inmost realities of all things,
JH: within the inmost realities of all things,
All are indeed manifestations of God's Unity, giving glory to their one Source, if we truly see the truth/ḥaqq of that reality, and ḥaqáíq ("inmost realities") directs us to see the truth and reality of each thing as that being their ultimate beginning, mode of existence, and end. Still, discerning the precise mode of the waters of God's unity flowing with/through/by that thing is a challenge and invitation to prayerfully enact our God-given powers of soul-intellect to perceive. Does the rivers of God's sovereign might flow differently through a leaf than a butterfly? Does the waters of His unity flow distinctively through a ladybug than an ant? Discerning and distinguishing each is an amazing challenge and opportunity!
DP: ḥattá yastarfi‘a bidhálika a‘lámu hidáyatika
BA: in such wise that the banner of Thine unfailing guidance may be raised aloft
JH: in such wise that the ensigns of Thy guidance will be upraised
BA: in such wise that the banner of Thine unfailing guidance may be raised aloft
JH: in such wise that the ensigns of Thy guidance will be upraised
When judged aright, all parts of creation are banners or ensigns that glorify, honor, and give homage to their Creator and when seen in this holistic sense guide us to grow and learn and keep on improving in thoughts, words, and comportment that our inner and outer lives are a a kind of flag, ensign, or banner that too glorifies our Creator and guides others also in this path.
(To be continued)
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