Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §203

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 203 of 268.

Source (Persian)

ان شاء اللّه ايران مزيّن گردد و فائز شود بانچه که الی حين از ان محروم بوده * قل يا سلطان همّت فرما تا جميع اهل عالم بتجلّيات انوار نيّر عدل ان حضرت منوّر گردند * اين مظلوم جز بامانت و صدق و صفا و امور نافعه بامری ناظر نبوده و نيست * او را از خائنين مشمريد * سبحانک يا الهی و سيّدی و سندی ايّد حضرة السّلطان علی اجراء اوامرک و احکامک و اظهار عدلک بين عبادک * انّک انت الفضّال الفيّاض المقتدر القدير * قد اتی امر اللّه بالفضل طوبی للعاملين و طوبی للعارفين و طوبی لمن تمسّک بالحقّ منقطعا عمّن فی السّموات و الارضين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

God willing, Persia may be adorned with, and attain unto, that whereof she hath thus far been deprived. Say: "O Sháh! Exert thyself so that all the peoples of the world may be illumined with the effulgent splendors of the sun of thy justice. The eyes of this Wronged One are turned towards naught save trustworthiness, truthfulness, purity, and all that profiteth men." Regard Him not as a traitor. Glorified art Thou, O my God, and my Master, and my Mainstay! Aid Thou His Majesty the Sháh to execute Thy laws and Thy commandments, and show forth Thy justice among Thy servants. Thou art, verily, the All-Bounteous, the Lord of grace abounding, the Almighty, the All-Powerful. The Cause of God hath come as a token of His grace. Happy are they who act; happy are they who understand; happy the man that hath clung unto the truth, detached from all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth.

Translation Notes

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

شاء

sh-y-ʾ → “willing”

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

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

مزيّن

z-y-n → “be”

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

فائز

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: benefit, profit, advantage; usefulness; bounty; effusion; grace

شود

sh-w-d → “may” Distinctive

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

بانچه

b-ch-h → “that whereof”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

حين

ḥ-y-n → “moment”

literal: time; moment; while; season

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

محروم

ḥ-r-m → “deprived”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

سلطان

s-l-ṭ → “Sháh”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

همّت

h-m-m → “Exert”

literal: them (feminine or general); by them; through them

فرما

f-r-m → “saith” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

تا

t-y-y → “so that”

literal: so that/until

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “peoples”

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

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بتجلّيات

j-l-w → “revelation” Distinctive

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation; manifestation, revelation, appearance

نيّر

n-w-r → “sun”

literal: fires; blazes; luminary; celestial body; light-giver

عدل

ʿ-d-l → “justice”

literal: justice; equity

گردند

g-r-d → “may be”

literal: to become; to happen; to come to pass

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One”

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

جز

j-z → “apart from”

literal: except

بامانت

ʾ-m-n → “trustworthiness”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

صدق

ṣ-d-q → “truthfulness”

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

صفا

ṣ-f-w → “purity”

literal: pure one; chosen one; selected one; elite; purity; clarity; sincerity; pure; sincere

امور

ʾ-m-r → “Cause” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

نافعه

n-f-ʿ → “profiteth”

literal: benefits; profits; advantages

ناظر

n-ẓ-r → “turned towards”

literal: neck; slaves; those held in bonds

نبوده

b-w-d → “are” Distinctive

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

او

h-w-w → “is”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

خائنين

kh-w-n → “disloyalty” Distinctive

literal: blood

مشمريد

sh-m-r → “not as a”

literal: count; to count; to count, consider

سبحانک

s-b-ḥ → “Glorified”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

سيّدی

s-y-d → “Master”

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

سندی

s-n-d → “Mainstay”

literal: mainstay; support; prop; document

ايّد

ʾ-y-d → “Aid” Distinctive

literal: come; support; may aid

حضرة

ḥ-ḍ-r → “His Majesty”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

علی

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اجراء

j-r-y

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

اوامرک

ʾ-m-r → “commandments”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

احکامک

ḥ-k-m → “laws”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

اظهار

ẓ-h-r → “show forth” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

بين

b-y-n → “among”

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

عبادک

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

انّک

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; indeed; verily

انت

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

الفضّال

f-ḍ-l → “grace” Distinctive

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

الفيّاض

f-y-ḍ → “Lord of grace abounding”

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace; overflowing; emanating; surplus

المقتدر

q-d-r → “Almighty”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

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

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Happy”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

للعاملين

ʿ-m-l → “who act”

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

للعارفين

ʿ-r-f → “who understand” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

لمن

m-n → “from”

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

تمسّک

m-s-k → “clung”

literal: musk; to seize; grip; to hold fast; to cling to; to grasp

بالحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “truth”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

منقطعا

q-ṭ-ʿ → “detached”

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

عمّن

ʿ-n → “from all that is”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

السّموات

s-m-w → “heavens”

literal: heaven; sky

الارضين

ʾ-r-ḍ → “that is on earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

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 ¶