Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §14

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 14 of 268.

Source (Persian)

حال بهتر انکه ان جناب خود را بماء انقطاع که از معين قلم اعلی جاری شده طاهر نمايند و لوجه اللّه در انچه از قبل و بعد ظاهر شده و يا نازل گشته تفکّر کنند و بعد بحکمت و بيان در اخماد نار ضغينه و بغضاء که در قلوب احزاب عالم مکنون است بقدر مقدور ساعی و جاهد شوند * مقصود از ارسال رسل و انزال کتب معرفة اللّه و الفت و اتّحاد عباد بوده * حال ملاحظه ميشود شريعت الهی را سبب و علّت بغضاء و عناد نموده‌اند * زهی حسرت و ندامت که اکثری بما عندهم متمسّک و مشغول و از ما عند اللّه غافل و محجوب *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Now is the moment in which to cleanse thyself with the waters of detachment that have flowed out from the Supreme Pen, and to ponder, wholly for the sake of God, those things which, time and again, have been sent down or manifested, and then to strive, as much as lieth in thee, to quench, through the power of wisdom and the force of thy utterance, the fire of enmity and hatred which smouldereth in the hearts of the peoples of the world. The Divine Messengers have been sent down, and their Books were revealed, for the purpose of promoting the knowledge of God, and of furthering unity and fellowship amongst men. But now behold, how they have made the Law of God a cause and pretext for perversity and hatred. How pitiful, how regrettable, that most men are cleaving fast to, and have busied themselves with, the things they possess, and are unaware of, and shut out as by a veil from, the things God possesseth!

Translation Notes

حال

ḥ-w-l → “Now is the moment”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

بهتر

b-h-t-r

literal: better; best

انکه

ʾ-n → “to” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

جناب

j-n-b → “thyself”

literal: to avoid; to shun; to keep away from

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بماء

m-w-h → “with the waters”

literal: water

انقطاع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “of detachment”

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

معين

ʿ-y-n

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence

قلم

q-l-m → “Supreme Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

اعلی

ʿ-l-w → “the” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

جاری

j-r-y → “have flowed” Distinctive

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

شده

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

طاهر

ṭ-h-r → “to cleanse”

literal: to purify; to cleanse

نمايند

n-m-ʾ

literal: do; show; make

لوجه

w-j-h → “wholly for the sake”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

قبل

q-b-l

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “then” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “manifested”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

يا

y-ʾ → “or”

literal: O; or

نازل

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

گشته

g-sh-t → “were”

literal: become; became; to become

تفکّر

f-k-r → “to ponder”

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions; to think; to reflect; to contemplate

کنند

k-r-d

literal: do; to do; do, make

بحکمت

ḥ-k-m → “through the power of wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

بيان

b-y-n → “force of thy utterance”

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

اخماد

kh-m-d → “to quench”

literal: to extinguish, quench, suppress

نار

n-ʾ-r → “fire”

literal: light; illumination

ضغينه

ḍ-gh-n → “of enmity”

literal: rancor, hatred, malice, spite

بغضاء

b-gh-ḍ → “hatred”

literal: hatred; enmity; animosity

قلوب

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

احزاب

ḥ-z-b → “of the peoples”

literal: party; people; community

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “of the world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

مکنون

k-n-n → “concealed”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

بقدر

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

ساعی

s-ʿ-y → “to strive”

literal: endeavor; effort; striving; exertion; endeavour

جاهد

j-h-d

literal: effort; striving; exertion; endeavor

شوند

sh-w-d

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

ارسال

r-s-l → “sent down”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

کتب

k-t-b → “their Books”

literal: book; scripture; writing

معرفة

ʿ-r-f → “promoting the knowledge”

literal: knowledge; know; knower

الفت

ʾ-l-f → “thousand” Distinctive

literal: word; expression; utterance; to reconcile; to compose; to compile; to unite

اتّحاد

w-ḥ-d → “one” Distinctive

literal: unity; union; unification

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “amongst men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

بوده

b-w-d → “have been” Distinctive

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “behold” Distinctive

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

شريعت

sh-r-ʿ → “Law”

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

سبب

s-b-b → “cause”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

علّت

ʿ-l-l → “cause”

literal: for us; to us

عناد

ʿ-n-d → “possess” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

نموده‌اند

n-m-w → “how they have made”

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

زهی

z-h-y → “How pitiful”

literal: splendor, glory, manifestation; to shine

حسرت

ḥ-s-r → “how regrettable”

literal: regret; sorrow; vexation; lamentation

ندامت

n-d-m

literal: regret; repentance; remorse; lamentation

اکثری

k-th-r → “most men”

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

متمسّک

m-s-k → “are cleaving fast”

literal: musk; to seize; grip; to hold fast; to cling to; to grasp

مشغول

sh-gh-l → “have busied themselves”

literal: to occupy; to engage; to busy; occupation

غافل

gh-f-l → “are unaware”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

محجوب

ḥ-j-b → “veil”

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

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 ¶