Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §163

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 163 of 268.

Source (Persian)

عن قريب انچه در افئده و قلوب مستور مشاهده گردد * يوم يوميست که حضرت لقمان از برای ابنش ذکر فرموده و ربّ العزّه از ان خبر داده و حبيبش را اگاه نموده بقوله تعالی ﴿ يَا بُنَیَّ إِنَّهَا إِنْ تَکُنْ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ فَتَکُنْ فِی صَخْرَةٍ أَوْ فِی السَّمَوَاتِ أَوْ فِی الأَرْضِ يَأْتِ بِهَا اللّهُ إِنَّ اللّهَ لَطِيفٌ خَبِيرٌ ﴾ * امروز خائنه اعين و خافيه صدور کلّ امام کرسيّ ظهور ظاهر و هويدا لا يعزب عن علمه من شیء يسمع و يری و هو السّميع البصير * بسيار عجبست که امين و خائن را از هم فرقی نه *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The time is at hand when whatsoever lieth hid in the souls and hearts of men will be disclosed. This Day is the Day whereof Luqman spoke unto his son, the Day which the Lord of Glory announced and with which He acquainted Him Who was His Friend (Muḥammad) through these, His words - exalted be He: - "O my son! Verily, God will bring everything to light, though it were but the weight of a grain of mustard-seed, and hidden in a rock or in the heavens or in the earth; for God is Subtile, informed of all." This Day the deceitful of eye, and all that men's breasts conceal, are made known and laid bare before the throne of His Revelation. Nothing whatsoever can escape His knowledge. He heareth and seeth, and He, in truth, is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. How very strange that they discern not between the trustworthy and the treacherous!

Translation Notes

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

قريب

q-r-b → “nearness” Distinctive

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

انچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

افئده

f-ʾ-d → “souls”

literal: heart, innermost soul, mind; heart; inner consciousness; mind; one who benefits; advantageous

قلوب

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

مستور

s-t-r → “hid”

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

گردد

g-r-d → “was” Distinctive

literal: become; to become; make

يوم

y-w-m → “This Day”

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

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “Him”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

لقمان

q-w-m → “people”

literal: station; people; place

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

برای

b-r-y

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

ابنش

b-n-y → “son”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

ذکر

dh-k-r → “mention”

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

فرموده

f-r-m → “He” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العزّه

ʿ-z-z → “Glory”

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

خبر

kh-b-r → “announced” Distinctive

literal: all-knowing; aware; well-informed; omniscient

داده

d-ʾ-d

literal: below; lower than; beneath

حبيبش

ḥ-b-b → “Friend”

literal: love; affection

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

اگاه

ʾ-g-h → “acquainted”

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

نموده

n-m-ود → “they” Distinctive

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

بقوله

q-w-l → “words”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

تعالی

ʿ-l-w → “exalted be He”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

يَا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إِنَّهَا

null → ““death””

literal: that, it; to be; indeed

تَکُنْ

k-w-n → “were”

literal: to be; existence

مِثْقَالَ

m-th-l → “as” Distinctive

literal: weight; heavy; weighty testimony

مِنْ

m-n → “of”

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

خَرْدَلٍ

kh-r-d → “purchased” Distinctive

literal: smallness, littleness, minuteness; childhood

فِی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

صَخْرَةٍ

ṣ-kh-r → “rock”

literal: rock

أَوْ

h-w-w → “or” Distinctive

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

السَّمَوَاتِ

s-m-w → “heavens”

literal: heaven; sky

الأَرْضِ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

يَأْتِ

ʾ-t-y → “will bring”

literal: come; came; bring

بِهَا

b-h-w

literal: by it; by him; with it

اللّهُ

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

لَطِيفٌ

l-ṭ-f → “Subtile”

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

امروز

r-w-z → “This Day”

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

خائنه

kh-w-n → “disloyalty” Distinctive

literal: betrayal, treachery, disloyalty; betraying; treachery; betrayal; unfaithfulness

اعين

ʿ-y-n → “eye”

literal: eye; eyes; appointed

خافيه

kh-f-y → “conceal”

literal: hidden; concealment; hidden things/secrets

صدور

ṣ-d-r → “breasts”

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

امام

ʾ-m-m → “before”

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

کرسيّ

k-r-s → “seat”

literal: throne, seat; chair

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

هويدا

h-w-y → “desire” Distinctive

literal: cradle; bed; couch; resting place

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يعزب

ʿ-z-b → “escape”

literal: to escape; to be hidden from; to be distant from

علمه

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

شیء

sh-y-ʾ → “whatsoever”

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

يسمع

s-m-ʿ → “heareth”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

يری

r-ʾ-y → “seeth”

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

هو

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

البصير

b-ṣ-r → “All-Seeing”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

بسيار

b-s-r → “SON” Distinctive

literal: much; many; very; greatly

عجبست

ʿ-j-b → “strange”

literal: wonder; amazement; marvelous; strange

امين

ʾ-m-n → “trustworthy”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure

هم

h-m-m

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

فرقی

f-r-q → “discern”

literal: faction; sect; group; company

نه

n-h-y → “not” Distinctive

literal: end; ended; utmost

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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50 ¶

Gleanings

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶