Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §191

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 191 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا شيخ احضر لتری ما لا رأت عيون الابداع و تسمع ما لا سمعت آذان الاختراع لعلّک تخلّص نفسک من طين الاوهام و تتوجّه الی المقام الاعلی الّذی فيه ينادی المظلوم الملک للّه العزيز الحميد * اميد انکه بهمّت ان جناب اجنحه عباد از طين نفس و هواء مطهّر شود و قابل طيران در هواء محبّت الهی گردد پرهای بطين الوده قادر بر طيران نبوده و نيست * يشهد بذلک مظاهر العدل و الانصاف و لکنّ القوم فی ريب مبين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Shaykh! Enter thou My presence, that thou mayest behold what the eye of the universe hath never beheld, and hear that which the ear of the whole creation hath never heard, that haply thou mayest free thyself from the mire of vague fancies, and set thy face towards the Most Sublime Station, wherein this Wronged One calleth aloud: "The Kingdom is God's, the Almighty, the All-Praised!" We fain would hope that through thine exertions the wings of men may be sanctified from the mire of self and desire, and be made worthy to soar in the atmosphere of God's love. Wings that are besmirched with mire can never soar. Unto this testify they who are the exponents of justice and equity, and yet the people are in evident doubt.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

احضر

ḥ-ḍ-r → “Enter thou My presence”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

لتری

r-ʾ-y → “that thou mayest behold” Distinctive

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

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

عيون

ʿ-y-n → “eye”

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

الابداع

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous” Distinctive

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

تسمع

s-m-ʿ → “hear that which”

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

آذان

ʾ-dh-n → “ear”

literal: ear; permission; leave; to permit; to allow; to listen

الاختراع

kh-r-ʿ → “the whole creation”

literal: invention; creation; origination

لعلّک

l-ʿ-l → “that haply”

literal: cause; reason; illness; defect

تخلّص

kh-l-ṣ → “wholly” Distinctive

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

من

m-n → “from”

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

طين

ṭ-y-n → “mire”

literal: clay; mire; mud

الاوهام

w-h-m → “of vague fancies” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

تتوجّه

w-j-h → “set thy face”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

المقام

q-w-m → “the Most Sublime Station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

الاعلی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الّذی

l-dh-y → “which”

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

ينادی

n-d-y → “calleth aloud”

literal: call; voice; cry; summons; to call; to proclaim; to cry out; to summon

المظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “this Wronged One”

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

الملک

m-l-k → ““The Kingdom”

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

للّه

ʾ-l-h → “God’s”

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

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “the Almighty”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

الحميد

ḥ-m-d → “the All-Praised”

literal: praise; to praise

اميد

ʾ-m-d → “We fain would hope”

literal: to remain; to stay; to be left

انکه

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

بهمّت

h-m-m → “through thine exertions”

literal: intention; endeavor; determination; zeal

جناب

j-n-b → “thou”

literal: to avoid; to shun; to keep away from

اجنحه

j-n-ḥ → “wings”

literal: wing; side; shelter; protection

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

نفس

n-f-s → “self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

هواء

h-w-y → “desire” Distinctive

literal: air; atmosphere; void

مطهّر

ṭ-h-r → “pure” Distinctive

literal: to purify; to cleanse

شود

sh-w-d

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

قابل

q-b-l → “made worthy”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

طيران

ṭ-y-r → “to soar”

literal: bird; birds; flying creature; flying; flight

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

محبّت

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

گردد

g-r-d

literal: become; to become; make

پرهای

p-r → “Wings that”

literal: feather; flying; full

الوده

ʾ-l-w-d

literal: soiled; defiled

قادر

q-d-r → “can never” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

بر

b-r-r

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

نبوده

b-w-d → “are” Distinctive

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

يشهد

sh-h-d → “Unto this testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

بذلک

dh-l-k

literal: that; this; it; by that

مظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “they who are the exponents”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

العدل

ʿ-d-l → “justice”

literal: justice; equity

الانصاف

n-ṣ-f → “equity”

literal: justice; fairness; equity

لکنّ

l-k-n → “yet”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

ريب

r-y-b → “evident doubt”

literal: doubt, suspicion, uncertainty; doubt; suspicion

مبين

b-y-n

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

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 ¶