Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §212

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 212 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا شيخ در اين بيان مقصود عالميان که بعاموص فرموده تفکّر نما قوله [ فاستعدّ للقاء الهک يا اسرائيل فانّه هو ذا الّذي صنع الجبال و خلق الرّيح و اخبر الانسان ما هو فکره الّذی يجعل الفجر ظلاما و يمشی علی مشارف الارض يهوه اله الجنود اسمه ] ميفرمايد فجر را تاريک مينمايد مقصود انکه اگر در حين ظهور مکلّم طور نفسی خود را صبح صادق داند بقوّت و قدرت الهی تاريک ميشود صبح کاذبست و خود را صادق ميداند ويل له و ويل لمن اتّبعه من دون بيّنة من اللّه ربّ العالمين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Shaykh! Reflect upon these words addressed by Him Who is the Desire of the world to Amos. He saith: "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel, for, lo, He that formeth the mountains and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, the Lord, the God of Hosts, is His name." He saith that He maketh the morning darkness. By this is meant that if, at the time of the Manifestation of Him Who conversed on Sinai anyone were to regard himself as the true morn, he will, through the might and power of God, be turned into darkness. He truly is the false dawn, though believing himself to be the true one. Woe unto him, and woe unto such as follow him without a clear token from God, the Lord of the worlds.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

در

d-r-r → “upon”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

بيان

b-y-n → “words”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “Desire”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

عالميان

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

فرموده

f-r-m → “saith” Distinctive

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

تفکّر

f-k-r → “Reflect” Distinctive

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions; to think; to reflect; to contemplate

نما

n-m-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

قوله

q-w-l

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

فاستعدّ

ʿ-d-d → “capacity” Distinctive

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

للقاء

l-q-y → “to meet” Distinctive

literal: opposite; facing; in front of; towards

الهک

ʾ-l-h → “thy God”

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

اسرائيل

s-r-ʾ → “songs”

literal: honor; singers, songs; Israel

فانّه

ʾ-n-n → “He”

literal: I, verily; behold I

هو

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

ذا

dh-w

literal: possessor; possessor of

الّذي

l-dh-y → “that” Distinctive

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

صنع

ṣ-n-ʿ → “handiwork”

literal: fashioning; making; creation; artifice

الجبال

j-b-l → “the mountains”

literal: mountain; nature, constitution; to create, to form

خلق

kh-l-q → “Thy creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

الرّيح

r-y-ḥ → “the wind”

literal: rest; ease; comfort; tranquility; wind; breeze; spirit; fragrance; scent; aroma

اخبر

kh-b-r → “All-Informed” Distinctive

literal: all-knowing; aware; well-informed; omniscient

الانسان

ʾ-n-s → “unto man”

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

يجعل

j-ʿ-l → “maketh”

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

الفجر

f-j-r → “the morning”

literal: dawn; dayspring; to break (of dawn)

ظلاما

ẓ-l-m → “darkness”

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

يمشی

m-sh-y → “walking” Distinctive

literal: way; manner; gait; to walk; to go; to proceed

علی

ʿ-l-w → “upon” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

مشارف

sh-r-f → “high places”

literal: honor; honored; noble

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “the earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

اله

ʾ-l-h → “the God”

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

الجنود

j-n-d → “of Hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

اسمه

s-m-w → “is His name”

literal: heaven; sky

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

تاريک

t-r-k → “darkness”

literal: dark; abandonment; darkness

انکه

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; indeed; that, to

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

حين

ḥ-y-n → “time”

literal: time; moment; while; season

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

مکلّم

k-l-m → “words” Distinctive

literal: word; utterance; speech

طور

ṭ-w-r → “rustling” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; stages; modes; phases; manner

نفسی

n-f-s → “anyone”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

خود

kh-w-d → “himself”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

صبح

ṣ-b-ḥ → “true morn”

literal: morning, dawn; daybreak

صادق

ṣ-d-q → “true one”

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

داند

d-ʾ-n → “considered” Distinctive

literal: to know; to understand; to recognize

بقوّت

q-w-y → “through the might” Distinctive

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

قدرت

q-d-r → “power of God”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

ميشود

sh-w-d → “be” Distinctive

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

کاذبست

k-dh-b → “falsehood” Distinctive

literal: denial; belying; falsification; rejection; liar; lying; false

ويل

w-y-l → “Woe”

literal: woe; alas; grief

لمن

m-n → “from”

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

اتّبعه

t-b-ʿ → “follow”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

دون

d-w-n → “without”

literal: below; lower than; beneath

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

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 ¶