Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §142

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 142 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا شيخ همّت کن و بر خدمت امر قيام نما امروز رحيق مختوم امام وجوه ظاهر خذه باسم ربّک ثمّ اشربه بذکره العزيز البديع * اين مظلوم در ليالی و ايّام بتاليف قلوب و تهذيب نفوس مشغول * امورات واقعه در ايران در سنين اوّليّه فی الحقيقه سبب حزن مقرّبين و مخلصين بوده و در هر سنه قتل و غارت و تاراج و سفک دماء موجود * يک سنه در زنجان ظاهر شد انچه که سبب فزع اکبر بود و همچنين يک سنه در نيريز و سنه ديگر در طبرسی تا انکه واقعه ارض طا واقع و از ان ببعد اين مظلوم باعانت حقّ جلّ جلاله اين حزب مظلوم را بما ينبغی اگاه نمود کلّ از ما عندهم و ما عند القوم مقدّس و بما عند اللّه متشبّث و ناظر *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Exert thyself, O Shaykh, and arise to serve this Cause. The Sealed Wine is disclosed in this day before the faces of men. Seize it in the name of thy Lord, and quaff thy fill in remembrance of Him Who is the Mighty, the Incomparable. Night and day hath this Wronged One been occupied in that which would unite the hearts, and edify the souls of men. The events that have happened in Persia during the early years have truly saddened the well-favored and sincere ones. Each year witnessed a fresh massacre, pillage, plunder, and shedding of blood. At one time there appeared in Zanjan that which caused the greatest consternation; at another in Nayríz, and at yet another in Ṭabarsí, and finally there occurred the episode of the Land of Ta (Ṭihrán). From that time onwards this Wronged One, assisted by the One True God - exalted be His glory - acquainted this oppressed people with the things which beseemed them. All have sanctified themselves from the things which they and others possess, and have clung unto, and fixed their eyes upon that which pertaineth unto God.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

همّت

h-m-m → “Exert”

literal: them (feminine or general); by them; through them

کن

k-w-n

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

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

خدمت

kh-d-m → “serve”

literal: service; servitude; to serve

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

قيام

q-w-m → “arise”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

نما

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

امروز

r-w-z → “this day”

literal: day; today; that-day

رحيق

r-ḥ-q → “Wine”

literal: wine; pure drink; choice beverage (metaphorical for divine knowledge and love)

مختوم

kh-t-m → “Sealed”

literal: to seal; to conclude; to end; seal

امام

ʾ-m-m → “before”

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

وجوه

w-j-h → “faces of men”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “disclosed” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

خذه

kh-dh → “Seize it”

literal: to take; to seize; to grasp

باسم

s-m-w → “in the name”

literal: harm; strength; blame; hardship, adversity, tribulation, distress

ربّک

r-b-b → “thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اشربه

sh-r-b → “quaff thy fill”

literal: to drink; to imbibe

بذکره

dh-k-r → “in remembrance” Distinctive

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

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “Mighty”

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

البديع

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “this Wronged One”

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

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ليالی

l-ʾ-l → “pearls”

literal: night; darkness

ايّام

y-w-m

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

بتاليف

ʾ-l-f → “thousand” Distinctive

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

قلوب

q-l-b

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

تهذيب

h-dh-b → “edify the souls of men”

literal: refinement; polishing; edification; edifying; cultivation

نفوس

n-f-s → “thyself” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

مشغول

sh-gh-l → “been occupied”

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

واقعه

w-q-ʿ → “occurred”

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

سنين

s-n-n → “early years”

literal: year; years

اوّليّه

ʾ-w-l → “first” Distinctive

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

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الحقيقه

ḥ-q-q → “truly”

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

سبب

s-b-b → “caused”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

حزن

ḥ-z-n → “saddened” Distinctive

literal: sorrow; grief; sadness; anguish; to grieve; to sorrow; to be sad

مقرّبين

q-r-b → “well-favored and sincere ones”

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

مخلصين

kh-l-ṣ → “wholly”

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

بوده

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

هر

h-r

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

سنه

s-n-h → “year”

literal: year; way; tradition; custom

قتل

q-t-l → “massacre”

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

غارت

gh-r-t → “pillage”

literal: plunder; spoliation; robbery; pillage

تاراج

t-r-j → “robbed”

literal: to plunder, rob, ransack; plundering, robbery

سفک

s-f-k → “shedding of blood”

literal: to shed; to spill; bloodshed; to shed (blood)

دماء

d-m-y

literal: blood

موجود

w-j-d

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

يک

y-k → “one time”

literal: one; a single

شد

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

انچه

ʾ-n → “that which”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

فزع

f-z-ʿ → “caused”

literal: to fear; to be terrified; terror, fright

اکبر

k-b-r → “greatest” Distinctive

literal: great; grand; mighty; large

همچنين

ch-n-n → “likewise”

literal: always; ever; forever; at all times; constantly

ديگر

d-g-r

literal: home; place; land; abode

تا

t-y-y

literal: so that/until

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “Land”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

از

ʾ-z → “From”

literal: from

ببعد

b-ʿ-d

literal: after; behind; distance

باعانت

ʿ-w-n → “aid”

literal: help; aid; helper; supporter

جلّ

j-l-l → “exalted”

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

حزب

ḥ-z-b

literal: party; people; community

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

ينبغی

n-b-gh

literal: it is proper; it is fitting; it is necessary; it behooves

اگاه

ʾ-g-h → “acquainted”

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

کلّ

k-l-l → “All”

literal: for us; to us

عندهم

ʿ-n-d → “possess”

literal: vessel; container; circumstance; adroitness

مقدّس

q-d-s → “sanctified”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

اللّه

ʾ-l-h

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

متشبّث

sh-b-th → “clung unto” Distinctive

literal: to cling to; to grasp; to hold fast

ناظر

n-ẓ-r → “fixed their eyes upon” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

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 ¶