Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §174

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 174 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا شيخ در حزب شيعه تفکّر نما چه مقدار عمارتها که بايادی ظنون و اوهام تعمير نمودند و چه شهرها بنا نهادند بالآخره ان اوهام برصاص تبديل شد و بر سيّد عالم وارد و يکنفس از رؤسای ان حزب در يوم ظهور اقبال ننمود * نزد ذکر اسم مبارک کلّ بعجّل اللّه فرجه ناطق و لکن در يوم ظهور ان شمس حقيقت کلّ بعجّل اللّه فی نقمته متکلّم و ناطق چنانچه ديده شد ساذج وجود و مالک غيب و شهود را اويختند و عمل نمودند انچه را که لوح گريست و قلم نوحه نمود و زفرات مخلصين مرتفع و عبرات مقرّبين نازل *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Reflect, O Shaykh, upon the Shí‘ah sect. How many the edifices which they reared with the hands of idle fancies and vain imaginings, and how numerous the cities which they built! At length those vain imaginings were converted into bullets and aimed at Him Who is the Prince of the world. Not one single soul among the leaders of that sect acknowledged Him in the Day of His Revelation! Whenever His blessed name was mentioned, all would say: "May God hasten the joy His coming will bring!" On the day of the Revelation of that Sun of Truth, however, all, as hath been observed, have exclaimed, saying: "May God hasten His chastisement!" He Who was the Essence of being and Lord of the seen and unseen they suspended, and committed what made the Tablet to weep, and the Pen to groan, and the cries of the sincere to break forth, and the tears of the favored ones to flow.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

در

d-r-r → “upon”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

حزب

ḥ-z-b → “Shí‘ah sect”

literal: party; people; community

شيعه

sh-y-ʿ

literal: Shia; followers; follower

تفکّر

f-k-r

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

نما

n-m-ʾ → “May” Distinctive

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

چه

ch-h → “For”

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

مقدار

q-d-r → “many”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

عمارتها

ʿ-m-r → “By My life” Distinctive

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

بايادی

y-d-y → “with the hands”

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

ظنون

ẓ-n-n → “idle fancies”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

اوهام

w-h-m → “vain imaginings”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

نمودند

n-m-ود → “they”

literal: do; to do; do/make

شهرها

sh-h-r → “well-known” Distinctive

literal: city; month; fame, renown

بنا

b-n-y

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

نهادند

n-h-d → “built”

literal: to place; to lay down; to set; to submit

بالآخره

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

برصاص

r-ṣ-ṣ → “bullets”

literal: lead (metal)

تبديل

b-d-l → “change”

literal: in place of; instead of; to change; to alter (preposition or verb stem)

شد

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

بر

b-r-r → “righteous” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

سيّد

s-y-d → “my Master” Distinctive

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “of the world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وارد

w-r-d → “hath befallen” Distinctive

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

يکنفس

n-f-s → “Not one single soul”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

رؤسای

r-ʾ-s → “leadership” Distinctive

literal: chief; leader; head; president; beginning

يوم

y-w-m → “Day”

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

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

اقبال

q-b-l → “before” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

نزد

n-z-d → “unto”

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

ذکر

dh-k-r → “mentioned”

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

اسم

s-m-w → “name”

literal: name; title; designation

مبارک

b-r-k → “blessed”

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

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

بعجّل

ʿ-j-l → “hasten”

literal: haste; calf

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

فرجه

f-r-j → “joy”

literal: relief; opening; distinction

ناطق

n-ṭ-q → “spoken” Distinctive

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

لکن

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

شمس

sh-m-s → “Sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

حقيقت

ḥ-q-q → “Truth”

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

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

نقمته

n-q-m → “chastisement”

literal: punishment; vengeance; retribution

متکلّم

k-l-m → “words” Distinctive

literal: word; words; speech

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

ديده

d-y-d

literal: to give; to grant; to present; justice; judgment; to see; sight; eye; seen

ساذج

s-dh-j → “Essence”

literal: simplicity, artlessness, plainness; simple soul or being

وجود

w-j-d → “being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

مالک

m-l-k → “Lord”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

غيب

gh-y-b → “unseen”

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

شهود

sh-h-d → “seen”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

اويختند

w-y-kh → “suspended”

literal: hang

عمل

ʿ-m-l → “committed” Distinctive

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

لوح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablet”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

گريست

g-r-y → “weep”

literal: to weep; to cry; to lament

قلم

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

نوحه

n-w-ḥ → “groan”

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

زفرات

z-f-r → “sighs”

literal: sigh; sob; lamentation

مخلصين

kh-l-ṣ → “sincere”

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

مرتفع

r-f-ʿ → “raised”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

عبرات

ʿ-b-r → “tears”

literal: expression; phrase; utterance; statement; passage; wording

مقرّبين

q-r-b → “favored”

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

نازل

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

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 ¶