Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §196

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 196 of 268.

Source (Persian)

قل يا حزب اللّه زيّنوا هياکلکم بطراز الامانة و الدّيانة ثمّ انصروا ربّکم بجنود الاعمال و الاخلاق * انّا منعناکم عن الفساد و الجدال فی کتبی و صحفی و زبری و الواحی و ما اردنا بذلک الّا علوّکم و سموّکم * تشهد بذلک السّماء و انجمها و الشّمس و اشراقها و الاشجار و اوراقها و البحار و امواجها و الارض و کنوزها * نسأل اللّه ان يمدّ اولياءه و يؤيّدهم علی ما ينبغی لهم فی هذا المقام المبارک العزيز البديع *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: O people of God! Adorn your temples with the adornment of trustworthiness and piety. Help, then, your Lord with the hosts of goodly deeds and a praiseworthy character. We have forbidden you dissension and conflict in My Books, and My Scriptures, and My Scrolls, and My Tablets, and have wished thereby naught else save your exaltation and advancement. Unto this testify the heavens and the stars thereof, and the sun and the radiance thereof, and the trees and the leaves thereof, and the seas and the waves thereof, and the earth and the treasures thereof. We pray God to assist His loved ones, and aid them in that which beseemeth them in this blest, this mighty, and wondrous station.

Translation Notes

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

حزب

ḥ-z-b → “people”

literal: party; people; community

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of”

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

زيّنوا

z-y-n → “adorn”

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty; adornment; embellishment; decoration

هياکلکم

h-y-k → “temple of righteousness” Distinctive

literal: temple; body; edifice; structure

بطراز

ṭ-r-z → “with the ornament”

literal: ornament; adornment; embroidery; stripe

الامانة

ʾ-m-n → “trustworthy”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

الدّيانة

d-y-n → “Faith”

literal: religion; faith; creed

ثمّ

th-m-m → “of” Distinctive

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

انصروا

n-ṣ-r → “aid”

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

ربّکم

r-b-b → “and”

literal: Lord; Master; Sustainer; Cherisher

بجنود

j-n-d → “hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

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

انّا

ʾ-n → “with” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

منعناکم

m-n-ʿ → “hinder” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

عن

ʿ-n → “of”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

الفساد

f-s-d → “mischief” Distinctive

literal: corruption; ruin; discord; mischief; decay

الجدال

j-d-l → “a” Distinctive

literal: to argue; to dispute; to contend; argument

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

کتبی

k-t-b → “Book” Distinctive

literal: book; scripture; writing

صحفی

ṣ-ḥ-f → “Scriptures” Distinctive

literal: page; tablet; scroll; book

زبری

z-b-r → “and”

literal: writing; inscription; divine writ

الواحی

l-w-ḥ → “in”

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

ما

m-ʾ → “and” Distinctive

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

اردنا

r-w-d → “desire” Distinctive

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

بذلک

dh-l-k → “and” Distinctive

literal: that; this; it; by that

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

علوّکم

ʿ-l-w → “and”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

سموّکم

s-m-w → “and”

literal: heaven; sky

تشهد

sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

انجمها

n-j-m → “stars” Distinctive

literal: star

الشّمس

sh-m-s → “sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

اشراقها

sh-r-q → “and”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

الاشجار

sh-j-r → “and”

literal: tree

اوراقها

w-r-q → “and”

literal: leaf, page, sheet, parchment, document

البحار

b-ḥ-r → “and”

literal: sea; ocean

امواجها

m-w-j → “and”

literal: wave; billows; surge

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “and” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

کنوزها

k-n-z → “and”

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

نسأل

s-ʾ-l → “and” Distinctive

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

يمدّ

m-d-d → “ink” Distinctive

literal: extended; outstretched; sustained

اولياءه

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

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

يؤيّدهم

ʾ-y-d → “to”

literal: to support, assist, strengthen, confirm; to support; to assist; to strengthen; to aid; confirmation; support; strengthening

ينبغی

n-b-gh → “behooveth”

literal: it is proper; it is fitting; it is necessary; it behooves

لهم

l-h-m → “inspiration” Distinctive

literal: inspiration; divine inspiration; revelation

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

المقام

q-w-m → “them” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

المبارک

b-r-k → “in this” Distinctive

literal: blessed; auspicious; fruitful; blest; blessed word

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “glory” Distinctive

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

البديع

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

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 ¶