Skip to main content

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §178

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 178 of 268.

Source (Persian)

* حال نفس غافل بحبل روضه خوانی تمسّک جسته لعمر اللّه انّه فی کذب مبين * چه که اين حزب را اعتقاد انکه در ظهور حضرت قائم ائمّه سلام اللّه عليهم از قبور بر خاسته‌اند هذا حقّ لا ريب فيه * از حقّ ميطلبيم متوهّمين را از کوثر ايقان که از معين قلم اعلی جاريست قسمت عطا فرمايد تا کلّ فائز شوند بانچه که سزاوار ايّام اوست *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

This heedless one hath now clung to the practice of Rawdih-khani (traditional lamentation for the Imam Ḥusayn). He - I swear by God - is in evident error. For it is the belief of this people that during the Revelation of the Qá’im, the Imams - may the peace of God be upon them - have arisen from their sepulchres. This verily is the truth, and no doubt is there about it. We beseech God to bestow upon the superstitious a portion of the living waters of certitude which are streaming from the wellspring of the Most Sublime Pen, that all may attain unto that which becometh these days.

Translation Notes

غافل
gháfl gh-f-l

literal: heedless; heedlessness; neglect

SE rendered حال (ḥál)نفس (nfs)غافل (gháfl)بحبل (bḥbl)روضه (rúḍh)خوانی (khúání) as “now, This heedless one, clung to, practice of Rawdih-khani”

heedless 33% oblivious 26% unaware 14% who 5% one 5% erred 5% forgetful 5% hath 2% strayed 2% disregard 2%
روضه
rúḍh r-w-ḍ

literal: garden; gardens; garden/lamentation

SE rendered حال (ḥál)نفس (nfs)غافل (gháfl)بحبل (bḥbl)روضه (rúḍh)خوانی (khúání)تمسّک (tmssk)جسته (jsth)لعمر (lʿmr)اللّه (al-lh) as “now, This heedless one, clung to, practice of Rawdih-khani, I swear, God”

garden 67% holy 33%
تمسّک
tmssk m-s-k

literal: hold fast; clinging; cling

SE rendered حال (ḥál)نفس (nfs)غافل (gháfl)بحبل (bḥbl)روضه (rúḍh)خوانی (khúání)تمسّک (tmssk)جسته (jsth)لعمر (lʿmr)اللّه (al-lh)کذب (kdhb) as “now, This heedless one, clung to, practice of Rawdih-khani, I swear, God, evident error”

cleave 29% clung 23% cleaveth 11% take 9% hold 9% have 6% lay 6% laid 3% will 3% seized 3%
جسته
jsth j-s-t

literal: seek; sought; to seek

SE rendered بحبل (bḥbl)روضه (rúḍh)خوانی (khúání)تمسّک (tmssk)جسته (jsth)لعمر (lʿmr)اللّه (al-lh)کذب (kdhb) as “clung to, practice of Rawdih-khani, I swear, God, evident error”

ascended 20% clinging 20% cling 20% turned 20% moses 20%
مبين
mbín b-y-n

literal: utterance

SE rendered لعمر (lʿmr)اللّه (al-lh)کذب (kdhb)مبين (mbín)چه (chh)حزب (ḥzb)اعتقاد (iʿtqád) as “I swear, God, evident error, For, people, belief”

چه
chh ch-h “for”

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

SE rendered لعمر (lʿmr)اللّه (al-lh)کذب (kdhb)مبين (mbín)چه (chh)حزب (ḥzb)اعتقاد (iʿtqád)انکه (inkh) as “I swear, God, evident error, For, people, belief”

what 50% whatsoever 50%
انکه
inkh ʾ-n

literal: that; indeed; that, to

SE rendered چه (chh)حزب (ḥzb)اعتقاد (iʿtqád)انکه (inkh)ظهور (ẓhúr)حضرت (ḥḍrt)قائم (qáʾm)ائمّه (iʾmmh)سلام (slám) as “For, people, belief, Revelation, Qá’im, Imams, peace”

have 10% behold 10% will 10% such 10% either 10% \‘verily 10% verily 10% truth 10% \‘they 10% although 10%
حضرت
ḥḍrt ḥ-ḍ-r

literal: presence, majesty

SE rendered حزب (ḥzb)اعتقاد (iʿtqád)انکه (inkh)ظهور (ẓhúr)حضرت (ḥḍrt)قائم (qáʾm)ائمّه (iʾmmh)سلام (slám)اللّه (al-lh)عليهم (ʿlíhm) as “people, belief, Revelation, Qá’im, Imams, peace, God, be upon them”

majesty 37% muhammad 16% honor 9% great 9% holiness 7% commander 6% who 4% jesus 4% ‘alí 4% imam 3%
فرمايد
frmáyd f-r-m

literal: say; says

SE rendered معين (mʿín)قلم (qlm)اعلی (iʿlí)جاريست (járíst)قسمت (qsmt)عطا (ʿṭá)فرمايد (frmáyd)فائز (fáʾz)شوند (shúnd)بانچه (bánchh) as “wellspring, Pen, Most Sublime, are streaming, portion, bestow, attain, that which”

saith 42% said 15% revealed 14% hath 11% spoken 4% recorded 4% may 3% conferreth 3% say 3% referred 3%
شوند
shúnd sh-w-d

literal: become; to become; became

SE rendered قسمت (qsmt)عطا (ʿṭá)فرمايد (frmáyd)فائز (fáʾz)شوند (shúnd)بانچه (bánchh)سزاوار (száwár)ايّام (iyyám)اوست (iwst) as “portion, bestow, attain, that which, becometh, days, hath”

again 14% would 14% feed 14% unraveling 14% will 14% therein 14% intervening 14%
بانچه

literal: by what

1 occurrence in corpus

Source: Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶