Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §114

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 114 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا شيخ انّ قلمی ينوح لنفسی و اللّوح يبکی بما ورد عَلَیَّ من الّذی حفظناه فی سنين متواليات و کان ان يخدم امام وجهی فی اللّيالی و الايّام الی ان اغواه احد خدّامی الّذی سُمِّیَ بسيّد محمّد يشهد بذلک عباد موقنون الّذين هاجروا معی من الزّوراء الی ان وردنا فی هذا السّجن العظيم * و ورد منهما عَلَیَّ ما صاح به کلّ عالم و ناح به کلّ عارف و ذرفت دموع المنصفين * نسأل اللّه ان يؤيّد الغافلين علی العدل و الانصاف و يعرّفهم ما غفلوا عنه انّه هو الفضّال الکريم *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Shaykh! My Pen, verily, lamenteth over Mine own Self, and My Tablet weepeth sore over what hath befallen Me at the hands of one (Mírzá Yaḥyá) over whom We watched for successive years, and who, day and night, served in My presence, until he was made to err by one of My servants, named Siyyid Muḥammad. Unto this bear witness My believing servants who accompanied Me in My exile from Baghdád to this, the Most Great Prison. And there befell Me at the hands of both of them that which made every man of understanding to cry out, and he who is endued with insight to groan aloud, and the tears of the fair-minded to flow.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

انّ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

قلمی

q-l-m → “My Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

ينوح

n-w-ḥ → “lamenteth”

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

لنفسی

n-f-s → “over Mine own Self” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche

اللّوح

l-w-ḥ → “My Tablet”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

يبکی

b-k-y → “weepeth”

literal: to wade; to plunge into; to engage in

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

ورد

w-r-d → “hath befallen”

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

عَلَیَّ

ʿ-l-w → “Me at the hands of” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

من

m-n → “from”

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

الّذی

l-dh-y → “which”

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

حفظناه

ḥ-f-ẓ → “protect” Distinctive

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

فی

f-y → “for” Distinctive

literal: in; in-it; in it

سنين

s-n-n → “years”

literal: year; years

متواليات

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

کان

k-w-n → “he was”

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

يخدم

kh-d-m → “served”

literal: service; servitude; to serve

امام

ʾ-m-m → “before”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

وجهی

w-j-h

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

اللّيالی

l-y-l → “night”

literal: night; darkness

الايّام

y-w-m → “day and”

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

الی

ʾ-l-y → “to”

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

اغواه

gh-w-y → “Desire” Distinctive

literal: to seduce; to tempt; to deceive; to lead astray; to beguile

احد

ʾ-ḥ-d → “one”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

سُمِّیَ

s-m-y → “named”

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint; name; noun; to name, to appoint, to designate

بسيّد

s-y-d

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

محمّد

ḥ-m-d → “thanks”

literal: praise; Muhammad; praised

يشهد

sh-h-d → “bear witness” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

بذلک

dh-l-k → “Unto this”

literal: that; this; it; by that

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “My believing servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

موقنون

y-q-n

literal: to be certain; to know with certainty

هاجروا

h-j-r → “remoteness” Distinctive

literal: to emigrate, migrate, forsake; migration, emigration

معی

m-ʿ → “notwithstanding” Distinctive

literal: with; together with; alongside

الزّوراء

z-w-r → “visit”

literal: falsification; distortion; forgery

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this, the”

literal: this; that

السّجن

s-j-n → “Most Great Prison”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

العظيم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

صاح

ṣ-w-ḥ → “cry out”

literal: to cry out; to shout; to clamor; cry, shout, outcry

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

کلّ

k-l-l → “every”

literal: for us; to us

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “man of understanding” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

عارف

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ذرفت

dh-r-f → “to flow”

literal: to shed, to pour forth (tears, etc.)

دموع

d-m-ʿ → “tears”

literal: tears

المنصفين

n-ṣ-f → “of the fair-minded”

literal: justice; fairness; equity

نسأل

s-ʾ-l

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

اللّه

ʾ-l-h

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

يؤيّد

ʾ-y-d

literal: support; strengthen; assist

الغافلين

gh-f-l

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

العدل

ʿ-d-l

literal: justice; equity

عنه

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “he”

literal: I, verily; behold I

هو

h-w

literal: He; He is

الفضّال

f-ḍ-l

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

الکريم

k-r-m

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

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 ¶