Prayers on Fiftieth Anniversary of Shoghi Effendi's Passing
By John Taylor; 2007 Nov 05, 02 Qudrat, 164 BE
Yesterday marked a half century since the Guardian died of heart failure in
At our Feast yesterday a brief tribute was read, and as I listened I thought that it would be nice to hear some of the Guardian's prayers. It took less than a minute to Google them when I got home. Unfortunately, only a handful of Shoghi Effendi's prayers have been translated. This is good in a way, since the number is manageable and can easily be read in less than five minutes. Could be that just saying them will help understand him better. He himself wrote,
"The inspiration received through meditation is of a nature that one cannot measure or determine. God can inspire into our minds things that we had no previous knowledge of, if He desires to do so." (LG, 455)
He would be a hundred and ten years old had he lived to this day. Anyway, to read the Guardian's prayers seems like the best way to commemorate the anniversary of his passing, so to make it more convenient I have collected the prayers together and placed them at the end of this mailing.
Who was Shoghi Effendi? He was in the eyes of the Master both a sign and a proof of God. As a former atheist, it is a high compliment for me to say that someone's life stands as a proof of the existence of God (for that reason I named my only son "Hujjat," Arabic for proof), and Shoghi Effendi's life was supremely that, a proof that God lives and breathes in our life and breath. Marzieh Gail, who met him in the flesh, wrote just that about Shoghi Effendi,
"In that age of dictators (where many countries took to multiplying ad nauseam the likenesses of their local secular deity), Shoghi Effendi did not wish his picture displayed. In spite of his modesty, however, the believers could not be long in his presence without sensing that here was one different from all the rest. To many, he was all the proof one needed that God exists: indeed, the Will refers to him as 'blest' and 'sacred', and as Ayatollah, 'the sign of God'. To many, of all the paths in the world, this path of Baha'u'llah was the one to follow, because he had chosen it." (Marzieh Gail, Arches of the Years, p. 291-292)
What a nicer world it would have been if the only Ayatollah the world ever heard of was the true sign of God, Shoghi Effendi! Instead that holy title, Sign of God, was dragged through the mud by a murderous Islamo-fascist who succeeded in associating the word "Ayatollah" with the likes of Hitler and Stalin in the popular imagination. But nothing can stain the name of God, and this too will pass.
When Shoghi Effendi was a child, Abdu'l-Baha gave him a high honor by revealing the following prayer for him,
"...O God! This is a branch sprung from the tree of Thy mercy. Through Thy grace and bounty enable him to grow and through the showers of Thy generosity cause him to become a verdant, flourishing, blossoming and fruitful branch. Gladden the eyes of his parents, Thou Who giveth to whomsoever Thou willest, and bestow upon him the name Shoghi so that he may yearn for Thy Kingdom and soar into the realms of the unseen!" (Adib Taherzadeh, Covenant of Baha'u'llah, 280)
When the Master referred to Shoghi Effendi's "yearning for the Kingdom," He was nodding to the signification of the Arabic word, "Shogh," meaning "zeal" or "eagerness." I think it is well to remember this when we think of the Guardian's life, because although the common stereotype is that he was the consummate planner and the ultimate administrator, and it is true that this does fit most of his historic contribution to the development of the Cause, at heart to think of him this way is to distort who he was, deep down. No, it was the reverse, almost, his quality of impetuous enthusiasm, of purity and impulse to God, as pointed out by the Master who named him Shoghi (in our tradition that would make Abdu'l-Baha his godfather. Funny thought that, the Master as Baha'i godfather...) that drove the man forward to all that he did. This was Shoghi, the person behind the institution of the Guardian.
It was very early in his Guardianship, on
"Not by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organised campaign of teaching -- no matter how worldwide and elaborate in its character -- not even by the staunchness of our faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and sceptical age the supreme claim of the Abha Revelation. One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendour of those eternal principles proclaimed by Baha'u'llah." (Shoghi Effendi, Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha'i Community, 28)
We would all do well to memorize this, for it sums up not only how the enthusiasm of Shoghi resolved into the Effendi, the Guardian, how the man shouldered the plan, but also how you and I can and must do the same, how the "I" becomes the "Baha'i." Through purity and prayer we take faith and enthusiasm and make it into a sun, a mirror of splendour, of Baha. If we fail, well, just think about it, the notorious Ayatollah, Ruhullah Khomeini, he too was staunch, he was as exalted in his enthusiasm as any of us, but he resolved into darkness nonetheless. He did not have the "eternal principles proclaimed by Baha'u'llah" to brighten his spiritual innards, and as a result nothing could stop him from soaking his hands and his title, Ayatollah, with innocent blood.
In any case, here are the prayers. Let us pray that the time will come when the rest of the Guardian's prayers will be made available to English speakers.
Prayers of Shoghi Effendi
"He is God"
"O Mighty Lord! Thou seest what hath befallen Thy helpless lovers in this darkest of long nights; Thou knowest how, in all these years of separation from Thy Beauty, the confidants of Thy mysteries have ever been acquainted with burning grief."
"O Powerful Master! Suffer not Thy wayfarers to be abased and brought low; succor this handful of feeble creatures with the potency of Thy might. Exalt Thy loved ones before the assemblage of man, and grant them strength. Allow those broken-winged beings to raise their heads and glory in the fulfilment of their hopes, that we in these brief days of life may gaze with our physical eyes on the elevation and exaltation of Thy Faith, and soar up to Thee with gladdened souls and blissful hearts.
"Thou knowest that, since Thy ascension, we seek no name or fame, that in this swiftly passing world we wish henceforth no joy, no delight and no good fortune.
"Then keep Thy word, and exhilarate once more the lives of these, Thy sick at heart. Bring light to our expectant eyes, balm to our stricken breasts. Lead Thou the caravans of the city of Thy love swiftly to their intended goal. Draw those who sorrow after Thee into the high court of reunion with Thee. For in this world below we ask for nothing but the triumph of Thy Cause. And within the precincts of Thy boundless mercy we hope for nothing but Thy presence.
"Thou art the Witness, the Haven, the Refuge; Thou art He who rendereth victorious this band of the innocent.
(Shoghi Effendi, in The Baha'i World, XVIII, 1979-1983, p. 35)
O God! Thy nearness is my hope,
And to commune with Thee, my joy;
Thy love is my comfort
And Thy name, my prayer
(Shoghi Effendi, quoted in Marcus Bach, Shoghi Effendi: An Appreciation)
(the following prayer (is) by the Guardian to the Master. It is an excerpt from a longer prayer/apostrophe addressed to the Greatest Holy Leaf, shortly after her passing)
"Intercede, O noble and well-favored scion of a heavenly Father, for me no less than for the toiling masses of Thy ardent lovers, who have sworn undying allegiance to Thy memory, whose souls have been nourished by the energies of Thy love, whose conduct has been moulded by the inspiring example of Thy life, and whose imaginations are fired by the imperishable evidences of Thy lively faith, thy unshakable constancy, Thy invincible heroism, Thy great renunciation."
(Baha'i Administration, p.196)
These come from a letter of the UHJ written on
<http://bahai-library.com/file.php5?file=shoghieffendi_prayers&language=All>
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