Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §2

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 2 of 268.

Source (Persian)

الحمد للّه الباقی بلا فناء و الدّائم بلا زوال و القائم بلا انتقال المهيمن بسلطانه و الظّاهر بآياته و الباطن باسراره الّذی بامره ارتفعت راية الکلمة العليا فی ناسوت الانشاء و نصب علم يفعل ما يشاء بين الوری * هو الّذی اظهر امره لهداية خلقه و انزل آياته اظهارا لحجّته و برهانه و زيّن ديباج کتاب الانسان بالبيان بقوله ﴿الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَّمَ القُرانَ خَلَقَ الإِنْسَانَ عَلَّمَهُ البَيَانَ﴾ لا اله الّا هو الفرد الواحد المقتدر العزيز المنّان *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Praise be to God, the Eternal that perisheth not, the Everlasting that declineth not, the Self-Subsisting that altereth not. He it is Who is transcendent in His sovereignty, Who is manifest through His signs, and is hidden through His mysteries. He it is at Whose bidding the standard of the Most Exalted Word hath been lifted up in the world of creation, and the banner of "He doeth whatsoever He willeth" raised amidst all peoples. He it is Who hath revealed His Cause for the guidance of His creatures, and sent down His verses to demonstrate His Proof and His Testimony, and embellished the preface of the Book of Man with the ornament of utterance through His saying: "The God of Mercy hath taught the Qur’án, hath created man, and taught him articulate speech." No God is there but Him, the One, the Peerless, the Powerful, the Mighty, the Beneficent.

Translation Notes

الحمد

ḥ-m-d → “Praise”

literal: praise; to praise

للّه

ʾ-l-h → “to God”

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

الباقی

b-q-y → “Eternal”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal

بلا

b-l-w

literal: tribulation; affliction; trial

فناء

f-n-y → “perisheth not”

literal: to annihilate; to disappear; annihilation

الدّائم

d-w-m → “Everlasting”

literal: always; continually; perpetually; constantly

زوال

z-w-l → “at all times” Distinctive

literal: to pass away; to vanish; to disappear; to cease

القائم

q-w-m → “Self-Subsisting” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

انتقال

n-q-l → “altereth not”

literal: removal; transition; displacement; migration; transfer; change

المهيمن

h-m-n → “the Help in Peril”

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian; inspiration; revelation; intuition

بسلطانه

s-l-ṭ → “His sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

الظّاهر

ẓ-h-r → “manifest”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

بآياته

ʾ-y-y → “His signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

الباطن

b-ṭ-n → “hidden”

literal: inner; hidden; inward; esoteric

باسراره

s-r-r → “His mysteries”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

الّذی

l-dh-y → “which”

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

بامره

ʾ-m-r → “Whose bidding” Distinctive

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

ارتفعت

r-f-ʿ → “hath been lifted up”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

راية

r-w-y → “standard”

literal: standard; banner; flag; ensign; opinion; counsel; judgment; to see; to view; to perceive

الکلمة

k-l-m → “Word”

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

العليا

ʿ-l-w → “Most Exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

ناسوت

n-w-s → “men” Distinctive

literal: human nature; humanity; the physical or material realm; corporeality

الانشاء

n-sh-ʾ → “creation”

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

نصب

n-ṣ-b → “raised”

literal: share; portion; lot; fate

علم

ʿ-l-m → “banner” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

يفعل

f-ʿ-l → “doeth”

literal: to do, act, make; deed, action

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

يشاء

sh-y-ʾ → “He willeth”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

بين

b-y-n → “amidst”

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

الوری

w-r-y → “all peoples” Distinctive

literal: mankind; people; human beings; behind; after

هو

h-w → “He it is”

literal: He; He is

لهداية

h-d-y → “for the guidance of”

literal: guidance; guide; guided

خلقه

kh-l-q → “His creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

انزل

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

لحجّته

ḥ-j-j → “His Proof”

literal: path, way; clear path

برهانه

b-r-h-n → “His Testimony”

literal: proof, evidence, demonstration, argument

زيّن

z-y-n → “embellished” Distinctive

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

ديباج

d-b-j → “preamble”

literal: brocade; silk; preamble; adornment

کتاب

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

الانسان

ʾ-n-s → “Man”

literal: familiar; intimate; companionship; to be acquainted with; companion; intimate friend; to be intimate with; to keep company; to console

بقوله

q-w-l → “through His saying” Distinctive

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

﴿الرَّحْمَنُ

r-ḥ-m → ““The God of Mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

القُرانَ

q-r-ʾ → “read”

literal: Qur’an; recitation; to read, recite; to read; to recite

لا

l-ʾ → “No”

literal: no; not; negation particle

اله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “but” Distinctive

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

الفرد

f-r-d → “Thy oneness” Distinctive

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

الواحد

w-ḥ-d → “One”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

المقتدر

q-d-r → “Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “Mighty”

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

المنّان

m-n-n → “Beneficent”

literal: to grant, bestow favor; grace, bounty, kindness

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 ¶