Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §105

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 105 of 268.

Source (Persian)

* يا اصحاب المجالس هناک و فی ديار اخری تدبّروا و تکلّموا فيما يصلح به العالم و حاله لو کنتم من المتوسّمين * انظروا العالم کهيکل انسان انّه خلق صحيحا کاملا اعترته الامراض بالاسباب المختلفة المتغايرة و ما طابت نفسه يوما بل اشتدّ مرضه بما وقع تحت تصرّف المتطبّبين الّذين رکبوا مطيّة الهوی و کانوا من الهائمين الّا من شاء اللّه ربّ العالمين * و ان طاب عضو من اعضائه فی عصر من الاعصار بطبيب حاذق بقيت اعضاءٌ اخری فيما کان * کذلک ينبئکم العليم الخبير * و اليوم نراه تحت ايادي الّذين اخذهم سکر خمر الغرور بحيث لا يعرفون خير انفسهم فکيف هذا الامر الاوعر الخطير

Shoghi Effendi Translation

"O ye members of Assemblies in that land and in other countries! Take ye counsel together, and let your concern be only for that which profiteth mankind and bettereth the condition thereof; if ye be of them that scan heedfully. Regard the world as the human body which, though at its creation whole and perfect, hath been afflicted, through various causes, with grave disorders and maladies. Not for one day did it gain ease, nay, its sickness waxed more severe, as it fell under the treatment of ignorant physicians, who gave full rein to their personal desires, and have erred grievously. And if at one time, through the care of an able physician, a member of that body was healed, the rest remained afflicted as before. Thus informeth you the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of rulers, so drunk with pride that they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage, much less recognize a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as this."

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

اصحاب

ṣ-ḥ-b → “companions”

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

المجالس

j-l-s → “of”

literal: council; assembly; gathering; session

هناک

h-n-k → “Assemblies”

literal: there; in that place; happy; congratulation

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in a day; during a day; one day after another

ديار

d-w-r → “land”

literal: land; region; place; abode; dwelling

اخری

ʾ-kh-r → “other”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

تدبّروا

d-b-r → “Take ye counsel together”

literal: deliberation; consideration; prudence; management; planning; counsel

تکلّموا

k-l-m

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

يصلح

ṣ-l-ḥ → “profiteth”

literal: peace; reconciliation

به

b-h → “for” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

العالم

ʿ-l-m → “mankind” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

حاله

ḥ-w-l → “condition thereof” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

کنتم

k-w-n → “ye be”

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

من

m-n → “of”

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

المتوسّمين

w-s-m → “them that scan heedfully”

literal: to discern; to observe; to recognize; to perceive

انظروا

n-ẓ-r → “Regard”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

کهيکل

h-y-k-l → “form” Distinctive

literal: temple; structure; form; body

انسان

ʾ-n-s

literal: man; human being; mankind

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: I, verily; behold I

خلق

kh-l-q → “creation”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

صحيحا

ṣ-ḥ-ḥ → “whole”

literal: sound; correct; whole; healthy; perfect

کاملا

k-m-l → “perfect”

literal: perfection; completeness; fully; with full; in complete; to complete, perfect, fulfill

اعترته

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away” Distinctive

literal: to befall, afflict, overcome

الامراض

m-r-ḍ → “maladies”

literal: illness, disease; sickness

بالاسباب

s-b-b → “through various causes”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

المختلفة

kh-l-f

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

المتغايرة

gh-y-r

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

literal: what; which; that which; relative pronoun; interrogative

طابت

ṭ-y-b → “goodly” Distinctive

literal: good; pure; sweet; fragrant; virtuous

نفسه

n-f-s → “it” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

يوما

y-w-m → “day”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

بل

b-l → “nay”

literal: rather; but; rather/nay

اشتدّ

sh-d-d → “waxed more severe”

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

وقع

w-q-ʿ → “fell”

literal: to fall, to occur, to happen; incident, event

تحت

t-ḥ-t → “under”

literal: under; under, beneath; beneath

تصرّف

ṣ-r-f → “treatment”

literal: to turn; to dispose; to manage affairs

المتطبّبين

ṭ-b-b → “physicians”

literal: physician, doctor; one who practices medicine

الّذين

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

رکبوا

r-k-b → “gave full rein”

literal: to ride; to commit; to undertake

مطيّة

ṭ-y-y → “traverse”

literal: mount; the letter Ta; traverse

الهوی

h-w-y → “desires”

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

الهائمين

h-y-m → “them that rove distraught”

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian; inspiration; revelation; intuition

شاء

sh-y-ʾ

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

اللّه

ʾ-l-h

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

ربّ

r-b-b

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

عضو

ʿ-ḍ-w → “member”

literal: limb; member; organ

عصر

ʿ-ṣ-r → “time”

literal: age; era; century; period of time

حاذق

ḥ-dh-q → “able”

literal: skilled; expert; proficient; dexterous

بقيت

b-q-y → “remained”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

کذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: thus; likewise; also

ينبئکم

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets” Distinctive

literal: prophet; messenger

الخبير

kh-b-r → “the All-Informed”

literal: all-knowing; aware; well-informed; omniscient

نراه

r-ʾ-y → “We behold it”

literal: way; path; road

ايادي

y-d-y

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

اخذهم

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold”

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

سکر

s-k-r

literal: to become drunk; intoxication; inebriation

خمر

kh-m-r

literal: to drink; to imbibe

الغرور

gh-r-r → “pride”

literal: delusion, deceit; deluded, deceived

بحيث

ḥ-y-th → “that they”

literal: where; in which; inasmuch as; in such wise that; whereby; in that; respect, aspect

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يعرفون

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

خير

kh-y-r → “best advantage” Distinctive

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

فکيف

k-y-f → “much less recognize” Distinctive

literal: how; in what manner

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this.””

literal: this; that

الامر

ʾ-m-r → “Revelation”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair

الاوعر

w-ʿ-r → “bewildering and challenging”

literal: more difficult; more dangerous; more perilous; more arduous

الخطير

kh-ṭ-r → “momentous”

literal: danger; peril; risk; to cross the mind

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in late 1871 during a period of severe hardship in ‘Akká, this Tablet takes the form of an anguished dialogue between Bahá’u’lláh and God. Questions about the sufferings of the faithful are answered with divine assurances, building to a crescendo of triumph over tribulation.

50 ¶

Gleanings

Bahá’u’lláh

A compilation of 166 selections from Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets, spanning the Baghdad, Adrianople, and ‘Akká periods (1853–1892). George Townshend assisted with English refinement. Shoghi Effendi wrote that it gives the friends a splendid opportunity to acquire knowledge and understanding of the Faith.

729 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

Bahá’u’lláh

The Book of the Covenant — Bahá’u’lláh’s Will and Testament, written entirely in His own hand and unsealed on the ninth day after His ascension. It designates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and establishes what Shoghi Effendi called the mightiest Covenant in all religious history.

16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Bahá’u’lláh

The principal doctrinal work of the Faith, revealed in Baghdad within the space of two days and two nights in response to questions from the Báb’s maternal uncle. Shoghi Effendi described it as occupying a position unequalled by any work except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas — a model of Persian prose, at once original, chaste, vigorous, and remarkably lucid.

291 ¶

Prayers and Meditations

Bahá’u’lláh

Published in 1938, this companion volume to Gleanings contains 184 prayers and meditations selected by Shoghi Effendi from Bahá’u’lláh’s devotional writings revealed across successive exiles from Baghdad to ‘Akká. Shoghi Effendi described it as a volume whose perusal would deepen the spirit of devotion and faith.

858 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in Adrianople and addressed to a believer named Aḥmad, this Tablet has been invested by Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency and significance. Its central imagery draws on the metaphor of fire and water: “Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones.”

17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed during a visit to Mount Carmel, this Tablet addresses the mountain directly and prophesies its future as the world spiritual and administrative center of the Faith. Shoghi Effendi designated it one of three foundational Charters. Its imagery of the Ark and the dwellers therein prefigures the Universal House of Justice.

5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

Bahá’u’lláh

Chanted aloud in the outskirts of Baghdad just weeks before the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván, its gloomy prognostications aroused the grave apprehensions of all who heard it. Only the Arabic portion has an authorized translation; the Persian portion remains untranslated.

57 ¶

The Hidden Words

Bahá’u’lláh

Seventy-one Arabic and eighty-two Persian aphorisms revealed around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. Originally designated the “Hidden Book of Fáṭimih,” Shoghi Effendi described it as a marvelous collection of gem-like utterances occupying a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Faith.

160 ¶

Will and Testament

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in three parts between 1901 and 1908, opened and read after His passing on 28 November 1921. Shoghi Effendi designated it the Charter of the New World Order — the mightiest instrument forged to ensure the continuity of the three ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.

59 ¶