Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §17

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 17 of 268.

Source (Persian)

در يکی از الواح از قلم مظلوم اين کلمات جاری حقّ جلّ جلاله از برای ظهور جواهر معانی از معدن انسانی امده يعنی مشارق امر و مخازن لالی علم او چه که انّه تعالی غيبٌ مکنونٌ مستورٌ عن الانظار * انظر ما انزله الرّحمن فی الفرقان ﴿لَا تُدْرِکُهُ الأَبْصَارُ وَ هُوَ يُدْرِکُ الأَبْصَارَ وَ هُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الخَبِيرُ﴾ *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

These words have streamed from the pen of this Wronged One in one of His Tablets: "The purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, hath been to bring forth the Mystic Gems out of the mine of man - they Who are the Dawning-Places of His Cause and the Repositories of the pearls of His knowledge; for, God Himself, glorified be He, is the Unseen, the One concealed and hidden from the eyes of men. Consider what the Merciful hath revealed in the Qur’án: No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision, and He is the Subtile, the All-Informed!"

Translation Notes

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

يکی

w-ḥ-d → “one of”

literal: one; any; each

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

الواح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

قلم

q-l-m → “pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One”

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

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

کلمات

k-l-m → “words”

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

جاری

j-r-y → “streamed”

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “true God”

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

جلّ

j-l-l → “exalted be”

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

برای

b-r-y → “for, God Himself”

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

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “bring forth” Distinctive

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

جواهر

j-w-h-r → “Mystic Gems”

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

معانی

ʿ-n-y → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

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

معدن

ʿ-d-n → “mine”

literal: mine; source; origin; repository

انسانی

ʾ-n-s → “man”

literal: human; mankind; of humanity

امده

ʾ-m-d

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

يعنی

ʿ-n-y → “they Who are”

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

مشارق

sh-r-q → “Dawning-Places” Distinctive

literal: honor; nobility; eminence; to honor

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

مخازن

kh-z-n → “Repositories”

literal: to store, to treasure; storehouse, depository, treasury

لالی

l-ʾ-l → “pearls”

literal: pearls; gems; precious things

علم

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

او

h-w-w

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

چه

ch-h

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

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

انّه

ʾ-n-n

literal: I, verily; behold I

تعالی

ʿ-l-w → “glorified be He”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

غيبٌ

gh-y-b → “Unseen”

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

مکنونٌ

k-n-n → “concealed”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

مستورٌ

s-t-r → “hidden”

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

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

الانظار

n-ẓ-r → “eyes”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

انزله

n-z-l → “hath revealed” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الفرقان

f-r-q → “Qur’án”

literal: faction; sect; group; company

﴿لَا

l-ʾ → “No”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تُدْرِکُهُ

d-r-k → “taketh in”

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

الأَبْصَارُ

b-ṣ-r → “vision” Distinctive

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

هُوَ

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

يُدْرِکُ

d-r-k → “taketh in” Distinctive

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

اللَّطِيفُ

l-ṭ-f → “Subtile”

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

الخَبِيرُ﴾

kh-b-r → “All-Informed”

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

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 ¶