Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §106

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 106 of 268.

Source (Persian)

( الی ان قلنا ) و ما جعله اللّه الدّرياق الاعظم و السّبب الاتمّ لصحّته هو اتّحاد من علی الارض علی امر واحد و شريعة واحدة * هذا لا يمکن ابدا الّا بطبيب حاذق کامل مؤيّد * لعمری هذا هو الحقّ و ما بعده الّا الضّلال المبين * کلّما اتی ذاک السّبب الاعظم و اشرق ذاک النّور من مشرق القدم منعه المتطبّبون و صاروا سحابا بينه و بين العالم لذا ما طاب مرضه و بَقِیَ فی سقمه الی الحين * انّهم لم يقدروا علی حفظه و صحّته و الّذی کان مظهر القدرة بين البريّة منع عمّا اراد بما اکتسبت ايدی المتطبّبين

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And further We have said: "That which God hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful, and inspired Physician. By My life! This is the truth, and all else naught but error. Each time that Most Mighty Instrument hath come, and that Light shone forth from the Ancient Dayspring, He was withheld by ignorant physicians who, even as clouds, interposed themselves between Him and the world. It failed therefore, to recover, and its sickness hath persisted until this day. They indeed were powerless to protect it, or to effect a cure, whilst He Who hath been the Manifestation of Power amongst men was withheld from achieving His purpose, by reason of what the hands of the ignorant physicians have wrought.

Translation Notes

الی

ʾ-l-y → “until this”

literal: to; to, toward; to, until

ان

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

قلنا

q-w-l → “We have said”

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

جعله

j-ʿ-l → “hath ordained”

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

الدّرياق

d-r-y-q → “sovereign remedy”

literal: antidote; remedy; panacea

الاعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

السّبب

s-b-b → “mightiest instrument” Distinctive

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

الاتمّ

t-m-m

literal: mother

لصحّته

ṣ-ḥ-ḥ → “for the healing”

literal: sound; correct; whole; healthy; perfect

هو

h-w → “is”

literal: He; He is

اتّحاد

w-ḥ-d → “one” Distinctive

literal: unity; union; unification

من

m-n → “of all”

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

علی

ʿ-l-w → “in” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “the world” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

شريعة

sh-r-ʿ → “Faith”

literal: law; legislation; religious law; canon; ordinance

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This can”

literal: this; that

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يمکن

m-k-n → “be achieved”

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

ابدا

ʾ-b-d

literal: in place of; instead of; to change; to alter (preposition or verb stem)

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

بطبيب

ṭ-b-b → “Physician”

literal: physician, doctor; one who practices medicine

حاذق

ḥ-dh-q → “skilled”

literal: skilled; expert; proficient; dexterous

کامل

k-m-l → “perfect”

literal: desire; appetite; lust; will; heap; hill; mound

مؤيّد

ʾ-y-d → “inspired”

literal: to support; to assist; to strengthen; to confirm

لعمری

ʿ-m-r → “By My life”

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

الحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “the truth”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

بعده

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

الضّلال

ḍ-l-l → “error”

literal: error; straying; misguidance; delusion; falsehood

کلّما

k-l-l → “all” Distinctive

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

اتی

ʾ-t-y

literal: to come; to arrive; to bring; to go; coming; arrival; the one coming; to give; Revelation; came; gave; brought

ذاک

dh-l-k → “that”

literal: that; thus; by-that

اشرق

sh-r-q → “shone forth”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

النّور

n-w-r → “Light”

literal: light; illumination

القدم

q-d-m → “Ancient of Days”

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

منعه

m-n-ʿ → “was withheld” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

صاروا

ṣ-y-r → “interposed themselves”

literal: become; became; becomes

سحابا

s-ḥ-b → “clouds”

literal: cloud; clouds

بينه

b-y-n → “between Him” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

العالم

ʿ-l-m

literal: world; universe; the worlds

لذا

l-dh-ʾ → “therefore”

literal: therefore; for this reason; hence; so

طاب

ṭ-y-b → “goodly” Distinctive

literal: good; pure; sweet; fragrant; virtuous

مرضه

m-r-ḍ

literal: illness, disease; sickness

بَقِیَ

b-q-y → “eternal” Distinctive

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

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

سقمه

s-q-m → “its sickness”

literal: sickness; disease; ailment

الحين

ḥ-y-n → “moment”

literal: time; moment; while; season

انّهم

ʾ-n-n → “They indeed”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

لم

l-y-s

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

يقدروا

q-d-r → “were powerless”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

حفظه

ḥ-f-ẓ → “to protect”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

الّذی

l-dh-y → “which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

کان

k-w-n → “hath been”

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

مظهر

ẓ-h-r → “Manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

البريّة

b-r-ʾ → “men”

literal: high; exalted; upper; to adorn; to arrange; to prepare; banners; standards

عمّا

ʿ-n → “from achieving”

literal: with them; in their company

اراد

r-y-d → “His purpose” Distinctive

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

اکتسبت

k-s-b → “have wrought”

literal: to acquire, earn, gain; to bring upon (oneself); to gain; to acquire; earning; livelihood

ايدی

y-d-y → “hands”

literal: hand; power; action; possession

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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶