Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §118

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 118 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا شيخ قلم حيا ميکند از ذکر انچه واقع شده * و در ارض صاد نار ظلم مشتعل بشانيکه هر منصفی نوحه نمود * لعمرک از مدائن علم و معرفت نحيب و بکاء مرتفع بقسميکه اکباد اهل برّ و تقوی محترق * نورين نيّرين حسنين در ان ارض رايگان جان فدا نمودند دولت و ثروت و عزّت ايشانرا منع ننمود * اللّه يعلم ما ورد عليهما و القوم اکثرهم لا يعلمون *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Shaykh! My Pen is abashed to recount what actually took place. In the land of Sad (Iṣfahán) the fire of tyranny burned with such a hot flame that every fair-minded person groaned aloud. By thy life! The cities of knowledge and of understanding wept with such a weeping that the souls of the pious and of the God-fearing were melted. The twin shining lights, Ḥasan and Ḥusayn (The King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs) offered up spontaneously their lives in that city. Neither fortune, nor wealth, nor glory, could deter them! God knoweth the things which befell them and yet the people are, for the most part, unaware!

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

قلم

q-l-m → “My Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

حيا

ḥ-y-y → “life” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

ميکند

k-r-d

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

از

ʾ-z → “to” Distinctive

literal: from

ذکر

dh-k-r → “recount” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

انچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

واقع

w-q-ʿ → “occurred”

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

شده

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

در

d-r-r → “In”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “land”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

صاد

ṣ-d-r → “breasts”

literal: intention; purpose; direction; to intend; to aim at

نار

n-ʾ-r → “fire”

literal: light; illumination

ظلم

ẓ-l-m → “tyranny”

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

مشتعل

sh-ʿ-l → “burned”

literal: to burn; to be inflamed; to kindle; burning; blazing

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

منصفی

n-ṣ-f → “fair-minded person”

literal: justice; fairness; equity

نوحه

n-w-ḥ → “groaned”

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

نمود

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: is not; not to be; does not exist; negation, denial, banishment; to negate, deny, banish; contradiction; opposition; contrariety

لعمرک

ʿ-m-r → “By thy life”

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

مدائن

m-d-n → “cities”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

علم

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

معرفت

ʿ-r-f → “understanding”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

نحيب

n-ḥ-b → “weeping”

literal: lamentation; weeping; wailing

بکاء

b-k-y

literal: to weep; to cry; to lament

مرتفع

r-f-ʿ → “raised”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

بقسميکه

q-s-m

literal: manner; oath; oath, swear

اکباد

k-b-d → “souls”

literal: liver; soul; essence

اهل

ʾ-h-l

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

برّ

b-r-r → “righteous” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

تقوی

w-q-y → “God-fearing”

literal: to protect, safeguard, shield

محترق

ḥ-r-q → “were melted”

literal: to burn; to be consumed by fire; burning

نورين

n-w-r → “light” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

نيّرين

n-y-r → “Day-Star” Distinctive

literal: fires; blazes; luminary; celestial body; light-giver

حسنين

ḥ-s-n → “most excellent”

literal: goodness; beauty; excellence; good deed

رايگان

r-y-g → “willingly”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

جان

j-ʾ-n → “their lives”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

فدا

f-d-y → “offered up”

literal: to sacrifice; to ransom; to redeem

نمودند

n-m-ود → “hath” Distinctive

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

دولت

d-w-l → “government”

literal: state; government; dynasty; period of rule; dominion

ثروت

th-r-w → “wealth”

literal: wealth, riches, affluence

عزّت

ʿ-z-z → “glory”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

منع

m-n-ʿ → “could deter” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

ورد

w-r-d → “befell”

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

عليهما

ʿ-l-y → “them” Distinctive

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

القوم

q-w-m → “the people”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

اکثرهم

k-th-r → “for the most part”

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶