Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §188

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 188 of 268.

Source (Persian)

در اکثری از الواح اين نصيحت کبری از سماء رحمت سابقه نازل قلنا يا معشر الامراء و العلماء اسمعوا النّداء من افق عکّاء انّه يرشدکم و يقرّبکم و يهديکم الی مقام جعله اللّه مطلع الوحی و مشرق الانوار * يا اهل العالم قد اتی الاسم الاعظم من لدن مالک القدم و بشّر العباد بهذا الظّهور الّذی کان مکنونا فی العلم و مخزونا فی کنز العصمة و مرقوما من القلم الاعلی فی صحف اللّه ربّ الارباب * يا اهل الشّين أنسيتم عنايتی و رحمتی الّتی سبقت الاشياء من لدی اللّه مالک الرّقاب ؟

Shoghi Effendi Translation

In most of Our Tablets this most weighty exhortation hath been sent down from the heaven of His all-encompassing mercy. We said: "O concourse of rulers and divines! Incline your ears unto the Voice calling from the horizon of ‘Akká. Verily, it aideth you to proceed aright, and draweth you nigh unto Him, and directeth your steps towards the station which God hath made the dayspring of His Revelation and the Dawning-Place of His splendors. O peoples of the world! He Who is the Most Great Name is come, on the part of the Ancient King, and hath announced unto men this Revelation which lay hid in His knowledge, and was preserved in the treasury of His protection, and was written down by the Most Sublime Pen in the Books of God, the Lord of Lords. O people of Shin (Shíráz)! Have ye forgotten My loving-kindness and My mercy that have surpassed all created things, and which proceeded from God Who layeth low the necks of men?"

Translation Notes

در

d-r-r → “In”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اکثری

k-th-r → “most”

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

الواح

l-w-ḥ → “Our Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

نصيحت

n-ṣ-ḥ → “exhortation”

literal: counsel; advice; admonition

کبری

k-b-r → “pride” Distinctive

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

سماء

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

رحمت

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

سابقه

s-b-q → “hath surpassed” Distinctive

literal: to precede; to surpass; to excel

نازل

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

قلنا

q-w-l → “We said”

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

معشر

ʿ-sh-r → “concourse”

literal: association; companionship; social interaction; عشرين (twenty) is from numeral root ع-ش-ر, distinct from ‘association’ meaning

الامراء

ʾ-m-r → “rulers”

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

العلماء

ʿ-l-m → “divines”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

اسمعوا

s-m-ʿ → “Incline your ears”

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

النّداء

n-d-y → “Voice”

literal: call; voice; proclamation; forty; forty years

من

m-n → “from”

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

افق

ʾ-f-q → “horizon”

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “it” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

يرشدکم

r-sh-d → “illumined” Distinctive

literal: truthfulness; righteousness; right guidance

يقرّبکم

q-r-b → “draweth you nigh”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

يهديکم

h-d-y → “guidance” Distinctive

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

مقام

q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

جعله

j-ʿ-l → “hath made”

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

مطلع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “dayspring”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

الوحی

w-ḥ-y → “Revelation”

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

مشرق

sh-r-q → “Dawning-Place” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

الانوار

n-w-r → “splendors”

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “peoples”

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

قد

q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

اتی

ʾ-t-y → “come”

literal: to come; to arrive; to bring; to go; coming; arrival; the one coming; to give; Revelation; came; gave; brought

الاعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

لدن

l-d-n → “of” Distinctive

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

مالک

m-l-k → “King”

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

القدم

q-d-m → “Ancient”

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

بشّر

b-sh-r → “announced unto men” Distinctive

literal: human; mankind; human nature

العباد

ʿ-b-d → “men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

بهذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الظّهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

الّذی

l-dh-y → “which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

کان

k-w-n → “lay” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

مکنونا

k-n-n → “hid”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

مخزونا

kh-z-n → “preserved”

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

کنز

k-n-z → “treasury”

literal: treasure; treasure-trove; hidden store; treasury

العصمة

ʿ-ṣ-m → “protection”

literal: immaculate; protected; infallible

مرقوما

r-q-m → “written”

literal: written; inscribed; marked; recorded

القلم

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

الاعلی

ʿ-l-w → “Most Sublime” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

صحف

ṣ-ḥ-f → “Books”

literal: page; tablet; scroll; book

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

أنسيتم

n-s-y → “Have ye forgotten”

literal: forget; forgot; forgetfulness

عنايتی

ʿ-n-y → “loving-kindness”

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

الّتی

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

الاشياء

sh-y-ʾ → “all created things”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

لدی

l-d-y → “from” Distinctive

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

الرّقاب

r-q-b → “necks”

literal: neck; slaves; those held in bonds

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 ¶