Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §170

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 170 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا شيخ نفحات وحی بدونش مشتبه نشده و نميشود * حال سدره منتهی با اثمار لا تحصی امام وجهت حاضر خود را باوهام مثل حزب قبل ميالای * از نفس بيان فطرة اللّه ظاهر و مشهود اوست گواه کلّ در اثبات ظهورش باحدی محتاج نبوده و نيست * حال قريب صد جلد آيات باهرات و کلمات محکمات از سماء مشيّت منزل آيات نازل و حاضر لک ان تقصد المقصد الاقصی و الغاية القصوی و الذّروة العليا لتسمع و تری ما ظهر من لدی اللّه ربّ العالمين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Shaykh! The breezes of Revelation can never be confounded with other breezes. Now the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing standeth laden with countless fruits before thy face; besmirch not thyself with idle fancies, as have done the people aforetime. These utterances themselves proclaim the true nature of the Faith of God. He it is Who witnesseth unto all things. To demonstrate the truth of His Revelation He hath not been, nor is He, dependent upon any one. Well nigh a hundred volumes of luminous verses and perspicuous words have already been sent down from the heaven of the will of Him Who is the Revealer of signs, and are available unto all. It is for thee to direct thyself towards the Ultimate Goal, and the Supreme End, and the Most Sublime Pinnacle, that thou mayest hear and behold what hath been revealed by God, the Lord of the worlds.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “breezes”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

وحی

w-ḥ-y → “Revelation”

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

بدونش

d-w-n → “except Thee” Distinctive

literal: below; lower than; beneath

مشتبه

sh-b-h → “doubt” Distinctive

literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance

نشده

sh-d → “be” Distinctive

literal: to become; to happen; to occur

نميشود

sh-w-d → “be” Distinctive

literal: to not become; to not be

حال

ḥ-w-l → “Now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

سدره

s-d-r → “Lote-Tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

منتهی

n-h-y

literal: stinking, foul-smelling; stench

با

b-ʾ-ʾ → “with”

literal: to; with; by

اثمار

th-m-r → “fruits”

literal: fruit; the fruit

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تحصی

ḥ-ṣ-y → “countless”

literal: unnumbered, innumerable, countless, beyond count; to count; to enumerate; to be reckoned

امام

ʾ-m-m → “before”

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

وجهت

w-j-h → “face”

literal: direction; aspect; side; regard

حاضر

ḥ-ḍ-r → “His Majesty” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

خود

kh-w-d → “their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

باوهام

w-h-m → “idle fancies”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

مثل

m-th-l → “as”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

حزب

ḥ-z-b → “people”

literal: party; people; community

قبل

q-b-l → “aforetime” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

ميالای

ʾ-l-y → “besmirch”

literal: to befoul; to besmirch; to defile; to soil; to stain; to; unto; towards

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

نفس

n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

بيان

b-y-n → “utterances”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

فطرة

f-ṭ-r → “true nature”

literal: creator; nature; nature, creation

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “proclaim” Distinctive

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

اوست

h-s-t → “is”

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

گواه

sh-h-d → “witnesseth”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اثبات

th-b-t → “demonstrate”

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

باحدی

ʾ-ḥ-d → “any”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

محتاج

ḥ-w-j → “need”

literal: needy, in need, requiring, dependent

نبوده

b-w-d → “been”

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

قريب

q-r-b → “nigh”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

صد

ṣ-d → “hundred”

literal: hundred

جلد

j-l-d → “volumes”

literal: skin; hide; binding; urgency; haste

آيات

ʾ-y-y → “verses”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

باهرات

b-h-r → “resplendent”

literal: portion, share; for the sake of; spring (season)

کلمات

k-l-m → “words”

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

محکمات

ḥ-k-m → “perspicuous”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

سماء

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

مشيّت

sh-y-ʾ → “will”

literal: way; manner; gait; to walk; to go; to proceed

منزل

n-z-l → “sent down” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

لک

l → “His is”

literal: for us; to us

ان

ʾ-n → “that thou mayest”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تقصد

q-ṣ-d → “direct”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

الاقصی

q-ṣ-w

literal: farthest; furthest; utmost; most distant

الغاية

gh-w-y → “Desire”

literal: goal; lead astray; end/limit/height

الذّروة

dh-r-w → “Most Sublime Pinnacle”

literal: peak; apex; pinnacle; summit

العليا

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

لتسمع

s-m-ʿ → “hear”

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

تری

r-ʾ-y → “behold”

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

من

m-n → “by” Distinctive

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

لدی

l-d-y

literal: with; in the presence of; from; by

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العالمين

ʿ-l-m → “worlds”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

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 ¶