Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §141

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 141 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا هادی نزد اخوی رفتی و ديدی حال بساحت مظلوم توجّه نما شايد نفحات وحی و فوحات الهام ترا تاييد نمايد و بمقصود فائز گرداند * هر نفسی اليوم بمشاهده اثار فائز شود حقّ را از باطل بمثابه شمس از ظلّ تميز دهد و بمقصود اگاه گردد * حقّ شاهد و گواه که انچه ذکر شده لوجه اللّه بوده که شايد ان جناب سبب هدايت خلق شوند و احزاب عالم را از ظنون و اوهام نجات بخشند * سبحان اللّه الی حين معرضين و منکرين نميدانند انچه نزد مبشّر يعنی نقطه رفته از که بوده العلم عند اللّه ربّ العالمين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Hádí! Thou hast gone unto My brother and hast seen him. Set now thy face towards the court of this Wronged One, that haply the breezes of Revelation and the breaths of inspiration may assist thee and enable thee to attain thy goal. Whoever gazeth this day on My signs will distinguish truth from falsehood as the sun from shadow, and will be made cognizant of the goal. God is aware and beareth Me witness that whatever hath been mentioned was for the sake of God, that haply thou mayest be the cause of the guidance of men, and mayest deliver the peoples of the world from idle fancies and vain imaginings. Gracious God! Until now they that have turned aside and denied Me have failed to recognize Who despatched that which was delivered unto the Herald - the Primal Point! The knowledge of it is with God, the Lord of the worlds.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

هادی

h-d-y → “guidance”

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

نزد

n-z-d → “unto My”

literal: near; beside; with; in the presence of

اخوی

ʾ-kh-w → “brother”

literal: brother; اخواني (my brethren) is from أ-خ-و (brother), not خ-و-ن (blood/treachery)

رفتی

r-w-d → “hast gone”

literal: to go; to pass; to have gone

ديدی

d-y-d → “hast seen”

literal: Persian verb دیدن (to see), not Arabic د-ي-د

حال

ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

بساحت

s-w-ḥ → “court”

literal: court; plaza; courtyard; open space; domain; presence

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One”

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

توجّه

w-j-h → “thy face” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

نما

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

شايد

sh-y-d → “haply”

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

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “breezes”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

وحی

w-ḥ-y → “Revelation”

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

فوحات

f-w-ḥ → “breaths”

literal: breaths; exhalations; wafts

الهام

l-h-m → “inspiration”

literal: inspiration; divine inspiration; revelation

ترا

t-r-r → “thee”

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

تاييد

ʾ-y-d → “assist”

literal: to support, assist, strengthen, confirm; to support; to assist; to strengthen; to aid; confirmation; support; strengthening

بمقصود

q-ṣ-d → “thy goal” Distinctive

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

فائز

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: benefit, profit, advantage; usefulness; bounty; effusion; grace

گرداند

g-r-d → “was” Distinctive

literal: to become; to happen; to come to pass

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

نفسی

n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

اليوم

y-w-m → “this day”

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

بمشاهده

sh-h-d → “on My” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

اثار

ʾ-th-r → “signs”

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint

شود

sh-w-d → “will be made cognizant”

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “truth”

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

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

باطل

b-ṭ-l → “falsehood”

literal: falsehood, false; vain, null

بمثابه

m-th-l → “as”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

شمس

sh-m-s → “sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

ظلّ

ẓ-l-l → “shadow”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

تميز

m-y-z

literal: to distinguish; to differentiate; to discern

دهد

d-h

literal: to give; to grant; to yield

اگاه

ʾ-g-h

literal: aware; cognizant; informed; apprised; awareness; knowledge; consciousness

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

انچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ذکر

dh-k-r → “mentioned”

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

شده

sh-d → “hath been”

literal: to become; to be

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

بوده

b-w-d → “was”

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

جناب

j-n-b → “thou”

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

سبب

s-b-b → “cause”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

خلق

kh-l-q → “men” Distinctive

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

احزاب

ḥ-z-b → “peoples”

literal: party; people; community

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

ظنون

ẓ-n-n → “idle fancies”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

اوهام

w-h-m → “vain imaginings”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

نجات

n-j-w → “deliver”

literal: you (singular/plural pronoun)

بخشند

b-kh-sh

literal: to grant; to give; to forgive; to bestow

سبحان

s-b-ḥ → “Gracious God”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

الی

ʾ-l-y → “Until now”

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

حين

ḥ-y-n

literal: time; moment; while; season

معرضين

ʿ-r-ḍ → “they that have turned” Distinctive

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

منکرين

n-k-r → “denied”

literal: denial; rejection; repudiation

نميدانند

d-n → “have failed to recognize”

literal: know; know/regard

مبشّر

b-sh-r → “Herald”

literal: human; mankind; human nature

يعنی

ʿ-n-y → “- the” Distinctive

literal: that is; meaning; i.e.

نقطه

n-q-ṭ → “Primal Point”

literal: point; dot; spot; region; area

رفته

r-f-t

literal: to go; to pass; to have gone

عند

ʿ-n-d → “is with” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

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 ¶