Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §155

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 155 of 268.

Source (Persian)

اقرأ کتاب الايقان و ما انزله الرّحمن لملک باريس و امثاله لتطّلع بما قضی من قبل و توقن بانّا ما اردنا الفساد فی الارض بعد اصلاحها * انّما نذکّر العباد خالصا لوجه اللّه من شاء فليقبل و من شاء فليعرض انّ ربّنا الرّحمن لهو الغنیّ الحميد * يا معشر الاحزاب هذا يوم لا ينفعکم شیء من الاشياء و لا اسم من الاسماء الّا بهذا الاسم الّذی جعله اللّه مظهر امره و مطلع اسمائه الحسنی لمن فی ملکوت الانشاء نعيما لمن وجد عرف الرّحمن و کان من الرّاسخين و لا يغنيکم اليوم علومکم و فنونکم و لا زخارفکم و عزّکم دعوا الکلّ وراءکم مقبلين الی الکلمة العليا الّتی بها فصّلت الزّبر و الصّحف و هذا الکتاب المبين * يا قوم ضعوا ما الّفتموه من قلم الظّنون و الاوهام تاللّه قد اشرقت شمس العلم من افق اليقين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

"Peruse thou the Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certitude) and that which the All-Merciful hath sent down unto the King of Paris (Napoleon III) and to such as are like him, that thou mayest be made aware of the things that have happened in the past, and be persuaded that We have not sought to spread disorder in the land after it had been well-ordered. We exhort, wholly for the sake of God, His servants. Let him who wisheth turn unto Him, and him who wisheth turn aside. Our Lord, the Merciful, is verily the All-Sufficing, the All-Praised. O concourse of the kindreds of the earth! This is the day whereon nothing amongst all things, nor any name amongst all names, can profit you save through this Name which God hath made the Manifestation of His Cause and the Dayspring of His Most Excellent Titles unto all who are in the kingdom of creation. Blessed is that man that hath recognized the fragrance of the All-Merciful and been numbered with the steadfast. Your sciences shall not profit you in this day, nor your arts, nor your treasures, nor your glory. Cast them all behind your backs, and set your faces towards the Most Sublime Word through which the Scriptures and the Books and this lucid Tablet have been distinctly set forth. Cast away, O people, the things ye have composed with the pen of your idle fancies and vain imaginings. By God! The Day-Star of Knowledge hath shone forth above the horizon of certitude.

Translation Notes

اقرأ

q-r-ʾ → “read” Distinctive

literal: Qur’an; recitation; to read, recite; to read; to recite

کتاب

k-t-b → “Kitáb-i-Íqán” Distinctive

literal: book; scripture; writing

الايقان

y-q-n → “of Certitude)”

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

انزله

n-z-l → “hath sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “the All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

لملک

m-l-k → “unto the King”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

امثاله

m-th-l → “like”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

لتطّلع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “be made aware” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

قضی

q-ḍ-y → “that have happened”

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

من

m-n → “in” Distinctive

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

قبل

q-b-l → “past” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

بانّا

ʾ-n → “that We”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

اردنا

r-w-d → “not sought”

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

الفساد

f-s-d → “mischief” Distinctive

literal: corruption; ruin; discord; mischief; decay

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “the land” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after it”

literal: after; behind; distance

اصلاحها

ṣ-l-ḥ → “had been well-ordered”

literal: peace; reconciliation

نذکّر

dh-k-r → “mention”

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

العباد

ʿ-b-d → “His servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

خالصا

kh-l-ṣ → “wholly for”

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

لوجه

w-j-h → “sake”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

شاء

sh-y-ʾ → “wisheth turn”

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

فليعرض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away” Distinctive

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

ربّنا

r-b-b → “Our Lord”

literal: Lord; Master; Sustainer; Cherisher

لهو

h-w → “is”

literal: to distract; to divert; to amuse

الغنیّ

gh-n-y → “wealth” Distinctive

literal: to be independent of; to be in no need of; to dispense with; rich; wealthy; needless

الحميد

ḥ-m-d → “the All-Praised”

literal: praise; to praise

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

معشر

ʿ-sh-r → “concourse of”

literal: association; companionship; social interaction; عشرين (twenty) is from numeral root ع-ش-ر, distinct from ‘association’ meaning

الاحزاب

ḥ-z-b → “the kindreds of the earth”

literal: party; people; community

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This is”

literal: this; that

يوم

y-w-m → “day”

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

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

ينفعکم

n-f-ʿ → “can profit you”

literal: benefits; profits; advantages

اسم

s-m-w → “any name”

literal: name; title; designation

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

الّذی

l-dh-y → “which God”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

جعله

j-ʿ-l → “hath made”

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

مظهر

ẓ-h-r → “Manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

امره

ʾ-m-r → “of His Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

الحسنی

ḥ-s-n → “profit” Distinctive

literal: goodness; beauty; excellence; good deed

الانشاء

n-sh-ʾ → “of creation”

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

نعيما

n-ʿ-m → “Blessed is”

literal: bliss; bounty; grace; comfort; felicity

وجد

w-j-d → “hath recognized”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

عرف

ʿ-r-f → “fragrance”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

کان

k-w-n → “been numbered”

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

الرّاسخين

r-s-kh → “the steadfast”

literal: steadfast; firm; firmly rooted; established

علومکم

ʿ-l-m → “Your sciences”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

فنونکم

f-n-n → “Afnán” Distinctive

literal: twigs; branches

زخارفکم

z-kh-r-f → “vanities” Distinctive

literal: ornament; adornment; decoration; falsehood

عزّکم

ʿ-z-z → “your glory”

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

دعوا

w-d-ʿ → “Cast them”

literal: call, invocation, summons; to call, invite, summon

الکلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

وراءکم

w-r-ʾ → “behind your backs”

literal: mankind; people; human beings; behind; after

الی

ʾ-l-y

literal: to; to, toward; to, until

الکلمة

k-l-m → “Most Sublime Word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions

العليا

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الّتی

ʾ-l-l → “through which”

literal: who; which/that; which

بها

b-h-w → “All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

فصّلت

f-ṣ-l → “have been distinctly set forth”

literal: detail; distinction; differentiation; to detail; to separate

الزّبر

z-b-r → “the Scriptures”

literal: writing; inscription; divine writ

الصّحف

ṣ-ḥ-f → “the Books”

literal: page; tablet; scroll; book

المبين

b-y-n

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

قوم

q-w-m → “O people”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ضعوا

w-ḍ-ʿ → “Cast away”

literal: place; lowly; put down

الّفتموه

ʾ-l-f → “ye have composed”

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

قلم

q-l-m → “with the pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

الظّنون

ẓ-n-n → “of your idle fancies”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

الاوهام

w-h-m → “and vain imaginings”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

قد

q-d

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

اشرقت

sh-r-q → “hath shone forth”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

شمس

sh-m-s → “Day-Star” Distinctive

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

افق

ʾ-f-q → “horizon”

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

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 ¶