Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §144

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 144 of 268.

Source (Persian)

الهی الهی و سيّدی و سندی و مقصودی و محبوبی * اسألک بالاسرار الّتی کانت مکنونة فی علمک و بالآيات الّتی منها تضوّع عرف عنايتک و بامواج بحر عطائک و سماء فضلک و کرمک و بالدّماء الّتی سفکت فی سبيلک و بالاکباد الّتی ذابت فی حبّک ان تؤيّد حضرة السّلطان بقدرتک و سلطانک ليظهر منه ما يکون باقيا فی کتبک و صحفک و الواحک * ای ربّ خذ يده بيد اقتدارک و نوّره بنور معرفتک و زيّنه بطراز اخلاقک انّک انت المقتدر علی ما تشاء و فی قبضتک زمام الاشياء لا اله الّا انت الغفور الکريم *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O God, my God, and my Master, and my Mainstay, and my Desire, and my Beloved! I ask Thee by the mysteries which were hid in Thy knowledge, and by the signs which have diffused the fragrance of Thy loving-kindness, and by the billows of the ocean of Thy bounty, and by the heaven of Thy grace and generosity, and by the blood spilt in Thy path, and by the hearts consumed in their love for Thee, to assist His Majesty the Sháh with Thy power and Thy sovereignty, that from him may be manifested that which will everlastingly endure in Thy Books, and Thy Scriptures, and Thy Tablets. Hold Thou his hand, O my Lord, with the hand of Thine omnipotence, and illuminate him with the light of Thy knowledge, and adorn him with the adornment of Thy virtues. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee, and in Thy grasp are the reins of all created things. No God is there but Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bounteous.

Translation Notes

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “O”

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

سيّدی

s-y-d → “Master”

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

سندی

s-n-d → “Mainstay”

literal: mainstay; support; prop; document

مقصودی

q-ṣ-d → “Desire”

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

محبوبی

ḥ-b-b → “Beloved”

literal: love; affection

اسألک

s-ʾ-l → “I ask Thee”

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

بالاسرار

s-r-r → “by the mysteries”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

الّتی

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

کانت

k-w-n → “were”

literal: you (masculine singular)

مکنونة

k-n-n → “hid”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

علمک

ʿ-l-m → “Thy knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بالآيات

ʾ-y-y → “by the signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

منها

m-n → “of” Distinctive

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

تضوّع

ḍ-w-ʿ → “have diffused”

literal: emitting fragrance; diffusing; exuding

عرف

ʿ-r-f → “fragrance”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

عنايتک

ʿ-n-y → “Thy loving-kindness”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

بامواج

m-w-j → “by the billows”

literal: wave; billows; surge

بحر

b-ḥ-r → “of the ocean”

literal: sea; ocean

عطائک

ʿ-ṭ-w → “of Thy bounty”

literal: the letter Ṭá; refers to Ṭihrán (also spelled Ṭehran)

سماء

s-m-w → “by the heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

فضلک

f-ḍ-l → “of Thy grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

کرمک

k-r-m → “generosity”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

بالدّماء

d-m-y → “by the blood”

literal: breath; moment; instant

سفکت

s-f-k → “spilt”

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

سبيلک

s-b-l → “Thy path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

بالاکباد

k-b-d → “by the hearts”

literal: liver; soul; essence

ذابت

dh-w-b → “consumed”

literal: to melt; to waste away

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تؤيّد

ʾ-y-d → “inspired” Distinctive

literal: to grant; to give; to bestow; to support, aid

حضرة

ḥ-ḍ-r → “His Majesty”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

السّلطان

s-l-ṭ → “the Sháh”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

بقدرتک

q-d-r → “with Thy power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

ليظهر

ẓ-h-r → “may be manifested” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

باقيا

b-q-y

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal

کتبک

k-t-b → “Thy Books”

literal: book; scripture; writing

صحفک

ṣ-ḥ-f → “Thy Scriptures”

literal: page; tablet; scroll; book

الواحک

l-w-ḥ → “Thy Tablets”

literal: description; tablet; manifesto

ربّ

r-b-b → “my Lord”

literal: Lord; lord; divine

خذ

ʾ-kh-dh → “Hold”

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

يده

y-d-y → “his hand”

literal: hand; power; control

نوّره

n-w-r → “illuminate” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

زيّنه

z-y-n → “adorn”

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty; adornment; embellishment; decoration

بطراز

ṭ-r-z → “with the adornment”

literal: ornament; adornment; embroidery; stripe

اخلاقک

kh-l-q → “Thy creatures” Distinctive

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

انّک

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; indeed; verily

انت

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you

علی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

تشاء

sh-y-ʾ → “to do” Distinctive

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

قبضتک

q-b-ḍ → “Thy grasp”

literal: grasp; grip; control; seize

زمام

z-m-m → “reins”

literal: reins; bridle; control; governance

لا

l-ʾ → “No”

literal: no; not; negation particle

اله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “but” Distinctive

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

الغفور

gh-f-r → “the Ever-Forgiving”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

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 ¶