Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §164

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 164 of 268.

Source (Persian)

ای کاش حضرت پادشاه ممالک ايران ادام اللّه سلطانه از قناسل دولت عليّه ايران که در اين جهات بوده‌اند استفسار فرمايند تا بر افعال و اعمال اين مظلوم اگاه شوند * باری جمعی را از اختر و غيره برانگيختند و در انتشار مفتريات مشغول * اين بسی واضح و معلوم نفسی را که مردود عباد و مطرود بلاد مشاهده نمايند با سيف ضغينه و سهام بغضاء احاطه کنند * ليس هذا اوّل امر ظهر بالظّلم و لا اوّل قارورة کسرت و لا اوّل ستر هتک فی سبيل اللّه ربّ العالمين * و اين مظلوم ساکتا صامتا در سجن اعظم بخود مشغول و از غير اللّه منقطع * ظلم بمقامی رسيده که اقلام عالم از تحرير ان عاجز و قاصر است *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Would that His Majesty the Sháh of Persia - may God perpetuate His sovereignty - would inquire from the Consuls of the honored Persian Government who have been in this country, that he might become acquainted with the activities and behavior of this Wronged One. Briefly, they have incited a great many such as Akhtar and others, and are busying themselves in spreading calumnies. It is clear and evident that they will surround with their swords of hatred and their shafts of enmity the one whom they knew to be an outcast among men and to have been banished from one country to another. This is not the first time that such iniquity hath been perpetrated, nor the first goblet that hath been dashed to the ground, nor the first veil that hath been rent in twain in the path of God, the Lord of the worlds. This Wronged One, however, remained calm and silent in the Most Great Prison, busying Himself with His own affairs, and completely detached from all else but God. Iniquity waxed so grievous that the pens of the world are powerless to record it.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

کاش

k-ʾ-sh → “that”

literal: would that; O that; if only

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “Majesty”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

پادشاه

p-ʾ-d-sh-ʾ-h → “Sháh”

literal: king; monarch; shah

ممالک

m-l-k

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

ادام

d-y-m → “may God perpetuate”

literal: perpetuate, continue

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

سلطانه

s-l-ṭ → “sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

دولت

d-w-l → “Government”

literal: state; government; dynasty; period of rule; dominion

عليّه

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

جهات

j-h-t → “side”

literal: direction; aspect; side; regard

بوده‌اند

b-w-d → “have been”

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

استفسار

f-s-r → “interpreted” Distinctive

literal: interpretation; inquiry; commentary

فرمايند

f-r-m → “he” Distinctive

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

تا

t-y-y → “that”

literal: so that/until

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

افعال

f-ʿ-l → “activities” Distinctive

literal: to do, act, make; deed, action

اعمال

ʿ-m-l → “behavior” Distinctive

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One”

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

اگاه

ʾ-g-h → “become acquainted”

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

شوند

sh-w-d

literal: become; to become; became

باری

b-r-y → “Briefly”

literal: well; cistern; pit

جمعی

j-m-ʿ → “great many”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

اختر

kh-y-r → “good” Distinctive

literal: good; better; choose

غيره

gh-y-r → “others”

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

برانگيختند

r-ʾ-n-g → “roused”

literal: rouse

انتشار

n-sh-r → “spreading”

literal: to scatter; to spread; to unfold; to disseminate

مفتريات

f-r-y → “calumnies”

literal: slander; calumny; fabrication; false accusation

مشغول

sh-gh-l → “busying”

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

بسی

b-s-y

literal: many; much; very

واضح

w-ḍ-ḥ → “clear”

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

معلوم

ʿ-l-m → “evident”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

نفسی

n-f-s → “one”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

مردود

r-d-d → “reject”

literal: rejected; repudiated

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

مطرود

ṭ-r-d → “Cast me” Distinctive

literal: cast out; driven away; expelled

بلاد

b-l-d → “city” Distinctive

literal: city; land; country

مشاهده

sh-h-d

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

نمايند

n-m-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

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

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

سيف

s-y-f → “swords”

literal: sword

ضغينه

ḍ-gh-n → “hatred”

literal: rancor, hatred, malice, spite

سهام

s-h-m → “shafts”

literal: arrow; dart; shaft; portion; share

بغضاء

b-gh-ḍ → “enmity”

literal: hatred; enmity; animosity

احاطه

ḥ-w-ṭ → “encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

کنند

k-r-d

literal: do; to do; do, make

ليس

l-y-s → “not”

literal: is not; to be not

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This”

literal: this; that

اوّل

ʾ-w-l → “first”

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

امر

ʾ-m-r

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

ظهر

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

لا

l-ʾ → “nor”

literal: no; not; negation particle

قارورة

q-r-w-r → “goblet”

literal: bottle, goblet

کسرت

k-s-r → “degradation” Distinctive

literal: breaking; ravening; destructive

ستر

s-t-r → “veil”

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

هتک

h-t-k → “dishonor”

literal: to tear, rend, violate, break; desecration

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

سبيل

s-b-l → “path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

ساکتا

s-k-t → “calm”

literal: silent; quiet; reticent; keeping silence

صامتا

ṣ-m-t → “silent”

literal: silence; to be silent

سجن

s-j-n → “Prison”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

بخود

kh-w-d → “with His own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

غير

gh-y-r → “all else” Distinctive

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

منقطع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “completely detached”

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

بمقامی

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

رسيده

r-s-d → “reached”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

اقلام

q-l-m → “pens”

literal: pen; writing instrument

تحرير

ḥ-r-r → “heat” Distinctive

literal: to set free; to write down; to compose; حرارة (heat) is from ح-ر-ر but distinct semantic development from ‘free/write’

ان

ʾ-n → “it” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

عاجز

ʿ-j-z → “powerless”

literal: to be unable; to fail; to be exhausted; impotence; أعجاز (roots of trees/extremities) is Pattern II plural, distinct from ‘inability’ forms

قاصر

q-ṣ-r

literal: shortcoming; negligence; falling short; to be deficient

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet

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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 ¶