art ~ spirit ~ transformation
e*lix*ir

e*lix*ir   #6
autumn 2017
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Editorial

  • His Pen

  • Translations

  • O Nightingales!
    by Nader Saiedi and Anthony A. Lee
  • Tablet addressed to Ali
    by Nader Saiedi
  • Arabic Devotional Writings
    by Stephen Lambden
  • Tablet of the Sun of Reality
    by Stephen Lambden

  • Essays

  • The Art of Translation
    by Brian Miller
  • Signs: Quranic Themes in the Writings of the Báb
    by Todd Lawson

  • Personal Reflections on Bahá’í Texts

  • O Pen!
    by Sandra Lynn Hutchison

  • Photo Narrative

  • Bahá’u’lláh in the Holy Land: Dwellings, Gardens, and Resting Place
    by Dean Wilkey

  • Voices of Iran

  • A Glimpse of the Glorious Landscape of Freedom
    by Rojin Ghavami

  • Art

  • Calligraphy
    by Dr. Muhammad Afnan

  • Looking Back on Books

  • Days of Remembrance: Selections from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh for Bahá’í Holy Days


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    Metal pen nib belonging to Bahá’u’lláh
    Photo Credit: © Bahá’í International Community

    Arabic Devotional Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

    Provisional Translations by Stephen Lambden

    Excerpt from a Tablet Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh

    Say: O my God! O my God! I beseech Thee by the blood of Thy chosen ones, through which the faces of the Supreme Concourse and the companions of the Crimson Ark hath been dyed crimson, to make me one who crieth out in Thy Name and is steadfast in the Cause. Thou art indeed One Mighty, Powerful, Bounteous.

    Prayer of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed for Jinab-i Aqa Mirza Aqa

    He is the All-Hearing, the Listener!

    Say: Glorified be Thou, O my God! I beseech Thee by Thy Bounty and by means of Thy hosts and by virtue of the Light which sheds splendor upon the Cities of Thy Knowledge and of Thy Wisdom, that Thou may ordain for me that which will draw me nigh unto Thee! Then write down for me that which will make me one that singeth out Thy melodies and is one firmly established in Thy love. Thou art indeed One All-Powerful, Mighty and Most Excellent.

    Lovers, look! Your Beloved just unveiled her face!

    Prayer of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Revealed for a Physician

    Jinab-i Aqa Mirza Habib, the Doctor, Upon him be the Glory of God, the All-Glorious!

    He is God!

    O my God, O my God! I verily have turned unto Thee and my whole being is thoroughly imbued through the oceans of Thy healing. O Lord, assist me in the service of Thy servants and the treatment of Thy dependents. Assist me likewise, to sacrifice myself for the healing of every malady, the quenching of every thirst, and the soothing of every agony. And if Thou dost not assist me in my sacrifice, I would be naught but the fountainhead of disease and be one unable to cure the infirmities of a single soul. Lord, Lord! Assist me and magnify my ability in Thy healing of the sick. Thou verily art the Healer, the Sufficer, the One Who Cures every sickness and disease. Thou art indeed One supremely Powerful over all things.



    Bio:   Dr. Stephen Lambden received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2002, where he submitted a thesis about Islamo-biblica (Isra’iliyyat, Israelitica) and the emergence of the Bábí-Bahá’í Interpretation of the Bible. He has specialized in Abrahamic religious texts and Semitic languages (Hebrew, Arabic, etc) and has lectured in Bábí-Bahá’í Studies at Newcastle University and elsewhere. He is currently a Research Scholar at University of California, Merced. Among his many publications are contributions to Encyclopedia Iranica, Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, and a recent contribution on “Islam” to the Blackwell Companion to the Bible and Culture (Oxford, 2006).