Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §215

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 215 of 268.

Source (Persian)

و همچنين ميفرمايد [ قولوا لخائفی القلوب تشدّدوا لا تخافوا هو ذا إلهکم ] انتهی * اين آيه مبارکه دليل است بر عظمت ظهور و عظمت امر چه که نفخه صور عالم را مضطرب مينمايد زلزله و خوف کلّ را احاطه ميکند طوبی از برای نفسيکه بنور توکّل و انقطاع منوّر گشت شدائد ان يوم او را منع نکند و نترساند * کذلک نطق لسان البيان امرا من لدی الرّحمن انّه هو المقتدر القویّ الغالب القدير * حال از برای صاحبان اذان و ابصار واجب که در اين کلمات عاليات که در هر يک بحور معانی و بيان مستور تفکّر نمايند لعلّ بيان مالک اديان عباد خود را بکمال رَوح و ريحان بمقصد اقصی و ذروه عليا که مطلع افق اين نداست فائز فرمايد *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And likewise, He saith: "Say to them that are of a fearful heart: be strong, fear not, behold your God." This blessed verse is a proof of the greatness of the Revelation, and of the greatness of the Cause, inasmuch as the blast of the trumpet must needs spread confusion throughout the world, and fear and trembling amongst all men. Well is it with him who hath been illumined with the light of trust and detachment. The tribulations of that Day will not hinder or alarm him. Thus hath the Tongue of Utterance spoken, as bidden by Him Who is the All-Merciful. He, verily, is the Strong, the All-Powerful, the All-Subduing, the Almighty. It is now incumbent upon them who are endowed with a hearing ear and a seeing eye to ponder these sublime words, in each of which the oceans of inner meaning and explanation are hidden, that haply the words uttered by Him Who is the Lord of Revelation may enable His servants to attain, with the utmost joy and radiance, unto the Supreme Goal and Most Sublime Summit - the dawning-place of this Voice.

Translation Notes

همچنين

ch-n-n → “likewise”

literal: always; ever; forever; at all times; constantly

ميفرمايد

f-r-m → “He saith”

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

قولوا

q-w-l → ““Say”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

لخائفی

kh-w-f → “fear” Distinctive

literal: to fear; to be afraid; fear

القلوب

q-l-b → “fearful heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

تشدّدوا

sh-d-d → “tribulations” Distinctive

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

هو

h-w → “is”

literal: He; He is

ذا

dh-w

literal: possessor; possessor of

إلهکم

ʾ-l-h → “your God”

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

انتهی

n-h-y

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

اين

ʾ-y-n → “This”

literal: this; these

آيه

ʾ-y-y → “verse”

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

مبارکه

b-r-k → “blessed”

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

دليل

d-l-l → “is a proof”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

است

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

بر

b-r-r → “of” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

عظمت

ʿ-ẓ-m → “greatness”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

چه

ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

نفخه

n-f-kh → “breathe”

literal: to blow; to breathe; to inflate; to sound (a trumpet)

صور

ṣ-w-r → “trumpet”

literal: to imagine; to conceive; to suppose

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

مضطرب

ḍ-r-b → “tremble”

literal: to be troubled, shaken, agitated; to tremble

مينمايد

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to show, to display, to manifest, to exhibit; to manifest; to display; to show

زلزله

z-l-z → “trembling”

literal: to shake; to quake; to be shaken; to be moved

کلّ

k-l-l → “amongst all men”

literal: for us; to us

احاطه

ḥ-w-ṭ → “encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

ميکند

k-r-d → “hath” Distinctive

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

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Well is it”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

برای

b-r-y

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

نفسيکه

n-f-s → “with him who”

literal: self; soul; souls

بنور

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

توکّل

w-k-l → “trust”

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority; to rely; to trust; to place trust in

انقطاع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “detachment”

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

گشت

g-sh-t → “hath been”

literal: to become; to turn; to be

ان

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

يوم

y-w-m → “Day”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

او

h-w-w → “is”

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

منع

m-n-ʿ → “will not hinder” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

نترساند

t-r-s → “alarm”

literal: fear; to frighten

کذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: thus; likewise; also

نطق

n-ṭ-q → “spoken”

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

لسان

l-s-n → “Tongue”

literal: tongue; language

البيان

b-y-n → “Utterance”

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

من

m-n → “by Him Who” Distinctive

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

لدی

l-d-y

literal: with; in the presence of; from; by

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

انّه

ʾ-n-n

literal: I, verily; behold I

المقتدر

q-d-r → “All-Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

القویّ

q-w-y → “power”

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

الغالب

gh-l-b → “All-Subduing”

literal: to overcome, overpower, vanquish, prevail

حال

ḥ-w-l → “It is now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

صاحبان

ṣ-ḥ-b → “companions” Distinctive

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

اذان

ʾ-dh-n → “hearing ear”

literal: ear; permission; leave; to permit; to allow; to listen

ابصار

b-ṣ-r → “seeing eye” Distinctive

literal: sight; insight; eyes

واجب

w-j-b → “incumbent”

literal: incumbent; obligatory; necessary; required

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

کلمات

k-l-m → “words”

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

عاليات

ʿ-l-w → “sublime”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

يک

y-k

literal: one; a single

بحور

b-ḥ-r → “oceans”

literal: sea; ocean

معانی

ʿ-n-y → “inner meaning”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

مستور

s-t-r → “hidden”

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

تفکّر

f-k-r → “to ponder”

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

لعلّ

l-ʿ-l → “that haply”

literal: perhaps; perchance; hopefully

مالک

m-l-k → “Lord”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

اديان

d-y-n → “Revelation”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

بکمال

k-m-l → “with the utmost”

literal: perfection; completeness; fully; with full; in complete; to complete, perfect, fulfill

رَوح

r-w-ḥ → “joy” Distinctive

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

بمقصد

q-ṣ-d → “Goal”

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

اقصی

q-ṣ-w → “Supreme”

literal: supreme; furthest; ultimate

ذروه

dh-r-w → “Sublime Summit” Distinctive

literal: peak; apex; pinnacle; summit

مطلع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “dawning-place”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

افق

ʾ-f-q

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

نداست

n-d-w → “Voice”

literal: call; caller; call, voice

فائز

f-w-z → “attain”

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

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 ¶