Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §166

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 166 of 268.

Source (Persian)

حال جناب شيخ در نفوذ کلمه تفکّر نمايد شايد از شمال وهم بيمين يقين توجّه کند * اين مظلوم در امر الهی با احدی مداهنه ننموده و کلمه حقّ را امام وجوه خلق باعلی النّداء ذکر کرده من شاء فليقبل و من شاء فليعرض * و لکن اگر اين امور ظاهره واضحه مشهوده انکار شود چه امری نزد متبصّرين بطراز قبول و اقرار مزيّن گردد ؟ انّا نسأل اللّه تبارک و تعالی ان يغفر للمذکور و يبدّل سيّئاته بالحسنات انّه هو المقتدر العزيز الوهّاب *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Ponder, now, O Shaykh, the influence of the word of God, that haply thou mayest turn from the left hand of idle fancy unto the right hand of certitude. This Wronged One hath never acted hypocritically towards any one, in the Cause of God, and hath loudly proclaimed the Word of God before the face of His creatures. Let him who wisheth turn thereunto, and let him who wisheth turn aside. If these things, however, that are so clear, so manifest and indubitable, be denied, what else can be deemed acceptable and worthy of credence in the estimation of men of insight? We beseech God - blessed and glorified be He - to forgive the aforementioned person (Ḥájí Shaykh Muḥammad-‘Alí), and change his evil deeds into good ones. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the All-Bounteous.

Translation Notes

حال

ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

جناب

j-n-b → “thee”

literal: to avoid; to shun; to keep away from

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

نفوذ

n-f-dh → “irresistible” Distinctive

literal: penetrating, effective; piercing; decisive

کلمه

k-l-m → “word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

تفکّر

f-k-r → “Ponder”

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions; to think; to reflect; to contemplate

نمايد

n-m-ʾ → “thou mayest turn”

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

شايد

sh-y-d → “haply”

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

شمال

sh-m-l → “left hand”

literal: to comprehend; to include; whole; all

وهم

w-h-m → “idle fancy”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

بيمين

y-m-n → “right hand”

literal: right hand; oath; right side

يقين

y-q-n → “certitude”

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

کند

k-r-d → “hath” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to act; to dig, excavate; slow

اين

ʾ-y-n → “This”

literal: this; these

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One”

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

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

احدی

ʾ-ḥ-d → “any one” Distinctive

literal: oneness; unity; absolute unicity; singleness of divine essence

مداهنه

d-h-n → “oil” Distinctive

literal: they give; they provide; they attribute

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “of God”

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

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

امام

ʾ-m-m → “before”

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

وجوه

w-j-h → “face”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

خلق

kh-l-q → “His creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

باعلی

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

النّداء

n-d-y

literal: call; voice; proclamation; forty; forty years

من

m-n → “him who wisheth” Distinctive

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

شاء

sh-y-ʾ

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

فليقبل

q-b-l → “turn thereunto”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

فليعرض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turn aside”

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

لکن

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

ظاهره

ẓ-h-r → “manifest”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

واضحه

w-ḍ-ḥ → “clear”

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

مشهوده

sh-h-d → “witness” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

انکار

n-k-r → “denied”

literal: denial; rejection; repudiation; wrong; evil; to deny; to reject

شود

sh-w-d → “be”

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

چه

ch-h → “For”

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

امری

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

نزد

n-z-d → “unto”

literal: near; beside; with; in the presence of

متبصّرين

b-ṣ-r → “men of insight”

literal: sight; insight; eyes

بطراز

ṭ-r-z

literal: ornament; adornment; embroidery; stripe

اقرار

q-r-r → “acknowledged”

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

مزيّن

z-y-n

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

گردد

g-r-d

literal: become; to become; make

انّا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

نسأل

s-ʾ-l → “beseech”

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

تبارک

b-r-k → “blessed”

literal: blessed; auspicious; fruitful; blest; blessed word

يغفر

gh-f-r → “forgive”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

للمذکور

dh-k-r → “aforementioned”

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

يبدّل

b-d-l → “change”

literal: change; transformation; exchange

سيّئاته

s-w-ʾ → “evil deeds”

literal: evil deed; sin; transgression; evil deed, wickedness, wrong action

بالحسنات

ḥ-s-n → “good ones”

literal: goodness; beauty; excellence; good deed

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “He”

literal: I, verily; behold I

هو

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

المقتدر

q-d-r → “All-Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “Almighty”

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

الوهّاب

w-h-b → “All-Bounteous”

literal: gift; grant; bestowal

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

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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

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

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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 ¶