Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §182

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 182 of 268.

Source (Persian)

در وصف اهل بها از قلم اعلی اين کلمات نازل * انّهم رجال لو يمرّون علی مدائن الذّهب لا يلتفتون اليها و لو يمرّون علی ملکوت الجمال لا يتوجّهون اليه کذلک نزّل من القلم الاعلی لاهل البهاء من لدن ناصح عليم * و در آخر لوح حضرت امپراطور پاريس اين کلمه عليا نازل * هل تفرح بما عندک من الزّخارف بعد اذ تعلم انّها ستفنی او تسرّ بما تحکم علی شبر من الارض بعد اذ کلّها لم تکن عند اهل البهاء الّا کسواد عين نملة ميّتة ؟ دعها لاهلها ثمّ اقبل الی مقصود العالمين

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Describing the people of Bahá, the Most Sublime Pen hath sent down these words: "These, verily, are men who if they come to cities of pure gold will consider them not; and if they meet the fairest and most comely of women will turn aside." Thus hath it been sent down by the Most Sublime Pen for the people of Bahá, on the part of Him Who is the Counsellor, the Omniscient. In the concluding passages of the Tablet to His Majesty the Emperor of Paris (Napoleon III) these exalted words have been revealed: "Exultest thou over the treasures thou dost possess, knowing they shall perish? Rejoicest thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of the people of Bahá, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant? Abandon it unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is the Desire of the world."

Translation Notes

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

وصف

w-ṣ-f → “attributes” Distinctive

literal: to describe, characterize; description

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people of Bahá”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

قلم

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

اعلی

ʿ-l-w → “Most Sublime” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اين

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

کلمات

k-l-m → “words”

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

نازل

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

انّهم

ʾ-n-n → ““These, verily, are”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

رجال

r-j-l → “men”

literal: man; men; person

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

يمرّون

m-r-r → “At one time” Distinctive

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

مدائن

m-d-n → “cities”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

الذّهب

dh-h-b → “gold”

literal: religion; creed; doctrine; belief; sect

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يلتفتون

l-f-t → “turn” Distinctive

literal: to turn; to attend; to heed

اليها

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: to; to him; besmirch

ملکوت

m-l-k

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

الجمال

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

يتوجّهون

w-j-h → “turn aside”

literal: face; attention; turning

اليه

ʾ-l-y

literal: to; to him; besmirch

کذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: thus; likewise; also

من

m-n

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

لاهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

البهاء

b-h-w → “the All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

لدن

l-d-n → “by”

literal: from; on the part of; from before; near

ناصح

n-ṣ-ḥ → “Counsellor”

literal: counsel; advice; admonition

عليم

ʿ-l-m → “Omniscient”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

آخر

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

لوح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablet”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “His Majesty”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

امپراطور

ʾ-m-b-r → “Czar of Russia”

literal: emperor

کلمه

k-l-m → “words”

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

هل

h-l → “people” Distinctive

literal: interrogative particle; whether; is it that

تفرح

f-r-ḥ

literal: to rejoice; to be glad; joy

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

عندک

ʿ-n-d → “possess”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

الزّخارف

z-kh-r-f → “vanities”

literal: ornament; adornment; decoration; falsehood

بعد

b-ʿ-d

literal: after; behind; distance

اذ

ʾ-dh-dh

literal: when; since

انّها

null → ““death””

literal: that, it; to be; indeed

ستفنی

f-n-y → “shall perish”

literal: annihilation; perish; perishing

او

h-w-w

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

تسرّ

s-r-r → “mysteries” Distinctive

literal: secret; secrets; secret, mystery

تحکم

ḥ-k-m → “rulest”

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

شبر

sh-b-r → “span”

literal: span (unit of measurement)

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

کلّها

k-l-l → “whole world”

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

لم

l-y-s

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

تکن

k-w-n → “be”

literal: to be; existence

کسواد

s-w-d → “black”

literal: blackened; dark; tranquil; at peace; undisturbed

عين

ʿ-y-n → “eye”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

نملة

n-m-l → “ant”

literal: ant

ميّتة

m-w-t → “dead”

literal: death; dead; to die

دعها

w-d-ʿ → “Abandon”

literal: to let, allow, leave

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اقبل

q-b-l → “turn”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “Desire”

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

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 ¶