Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §138

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 138 of 268.

Source (Persian)

عند ذلک ارتفع نداء الفطرة مرّة اخری و حنينها و تقول انّ الطّور ينادی و يقول يا ملأ البيان اتّقوا الرّحمن انّی فزت بمکلّمی و اخذ جذب فرحی حصاة الارض و ترابها و السّدرة تقول يا ملأ البيان انصفوا فيما ظهر بالحقّ قد ظهرت النّار الّتی اظهرها اللّه للکليم يشهد بذلک کلّ ذی بصر عليم *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Thereupon hath the cry and the lamentation of the true Faith been raised once again, saying: "Verily, Sinai calleth aloud and saith: \‘O people of the Bayán! Fear ye the Merciful. Indeed have I attained unto Him Who conversed upon me, and the ecstasies of my joy have seized the pebbles of the earth and the dust thereof.' And the Bush exclaimeth: \‘O people of the Bayán! Judge ye fairly that which hath in truth been manifested. Verily the Fire which God revealed unto the One Who conversed with Him is now manifested. Unto this beareth witness every man of insight and understanding.'"

Translation Notes

عند

ʿ-n-d → “Thereupon”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

ذلک

dh-l-k → “Thereupon”

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

ارتفع

r-f-ʿ → “been raised”

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

نداء

n-d-y → “cry” Distinctive

literal: call; voice; proclamation; forty; forty years

الفطرة

f-ṭ-r → “true Faith”

literal: creator; the one who splits/creates

مرّة

m-r-r → “once”

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

اخری

ʾ-kh-r → “again”

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

حنينها

ḥ-n-n → “lamentation”

literal: trial, tribulation, ordeal, testing

تقول

q-w-l → “saying”

literal: to say; to speak; saying

انّ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الطّور

ṭ-w-r → “rustling” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; stages; modes; phases; manner

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

ملأ

m-l-ʾ → “people of” Distinctive

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

البيان

b-y-n → “Bayán”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

اتّقوا

w-q-y → “Fear”

literal: to fear; to frighten; afraid

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

انّی

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

فزت

f-w-z → “attained”

literal: to attain; to gain; to succeed; to win

بمکلّمی

k-l-m → “Him Who conversed”

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

اخذ

ʾ-kh-dh → “seized”

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

جذب

j-dh-b → “ecstasies”

literal: to draw, attract, pull; to be enraptured

فرحی

f-r-ḥ → “joy”

literal: to rejoice; to be glad; joy

حصاة

ḥ-ṣ-y → “reckon” Distinctive

literal: count; enumerate; enumeration

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

ترابها

t-r-b → “dust”

literal: dust; earth; soil

السّدرة

s-d-r → “Bush”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

انصفوا

n-ṣ-f → “Judge ye fairly”

literal: justice; fairness; equity

فيما

f-y → “in”

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

ظهر

ẓ-h-r → “been manifested”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

بالحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “in truth”

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

قد

q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

النّار

n-ʾ-r → “Fire”

literal: light; illumination

الّتی

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

يشهد

sh-h-d → “beareth witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

کلّ

k-l-l → “every”

literal: for us; to us

ذی

dh-w-y → “and” Distinctive

literal: possessor; possessor of; possessor/owner

بصر

b-ṣ-r → “insight”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

عليم

ʿ-l-m → “understanding” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Fire Tablet

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶