Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §195

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 195 of 268.

Source (Persian)

انّا وصّينا اولياءنا بتقوی اللّه الّذی کان مطلع الاعمال و الاخلاق * انّه قائد جنود العدل فی مدينة البهاء * طوبی لمن دخل فی ظلّ رايته النّوراء و تمسّک به انّه من اصحاب السّفينة الحمراء الّتی نزّل ذکرها فی قيّوم الاسماء *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

We have admonished Our loved ones to fear God, a fear which is the fountain-head of all goodly deeds and virtues. It is the commander of the hosts of justice in the city of Bahá. Happy the man that hath entered the shadow of its luminous standard, and laid fast hold thereon. He, verily, is of the Companions of the Crimson Ark, which hath been mentioned in the Qayyum-i-Asmá’.

Translation Notes

انّا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

وصّينا

w-ṣ-y → “have admonished”

literal: counsel; commandment; bequest

اولياءنا

w-l-y → “Our loved ones”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

بتقوی

t-q-y → “to fear God”

literal: strength; power; might; piety; fear of God; godliness

اللّه

ʾ-l-h

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

الّذی

l-dh-y → “which”

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

کان

k-w-n → “is”

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

مطلع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “fountain-head” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

الاعمال

ʿ-m-l → “deeds”

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

الاخلاق

kh-l-q → “Thy creatures” Distinctive

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “It” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

قائد

q-w-d → “commander”

literal: leader, commander, guide

جنود

j-n-d → “hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

العدل

ʿ-d-l → “justice”

literal: justice; equity

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

مدينة

m-d-n → “city”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

البهاء

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

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Happy”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

لمن

m-n → “man that” Distinctive

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

دخل

d-kh-l → “hath entered” Distinctive

literal: to enter; to admit; to bring in

ظلّ

ẓ-l-l → “shadow”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

رايته

r-w-y → “standard”

literal: banner; standard; flag; sign; banner, standard, flag, ensign

النّوراء

n-w-r → “luminous”

literal: light; illumination

تمسّک

m-s-k → “laid fast hold thereon” Distinctive

literal: musk; to seize; grip

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

اصحاب

ṣ-ḥ-b → “Companions”

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

السّفينة

s-f-n → “Ark”

literal: ship; ship/ark; ship, ark

الحمراء

ḥ-m-r → “Crimson”

literal: to be red; to redden

الّتی

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

نزّل

n-z-l → “hath been mentioned” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

ذکرها

dh-k-r

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

قيّوم

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

الاسماء

s-m-w

literal: heaven; sky

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 ¶