Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §222

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 222 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا شيخ قل لملأ البيان در اين کلمه مبارکه تفکّر نمائيد ميفرمايد [ جميع بيان ورقی است از اوراق جنّت او ] انصفوا يا قوم و لا تکونوا من الاخسرين فی کتاب اللّه ربّ العالمين * امروز سدره مبارکه با اثمار جنيّه جديده بديعه امام وجهت موجود انظر اليها منقطعا عن دونها کذلک نطق لسان القوّة و القدرة فی هذا المقام الّذي جعله اللّه مزيّنا بقدوم اسمه الاعظم و نبأه العظيم *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Shaykh! Tell the people of the Bayán: "Ponder ye these blessed words. He saith: \‘The whole of the Bayán is only a leaf amongst the leaves of His Paradise.' Be fair, O people, and be not of such as are accounted as lost in the Book of God, the Lord of the worlds." The blessed Lote-Tree standeth, in this day, before thy face, laden with heavenly, with new and wondrous fruits. Gaze on it, detached from all else save it. Thus hath the Tongue of might and power spoken at this Spot which God hath adorned with the footsteps of His Most Great Name and Mighty Announcement.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

لملأ

m-l-ʾ → “people of”

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

البيان

b-y-n → “the Bayán”

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

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

کلمه

k-l-m → “words”

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

مبارکه

b-r-k → “blessed”

literal: blessed; auspicious; fruitful

تفکّر

f-k-r → ““Ponder”

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

نمائيد

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

ميفرمايد

f-r-m → “He saith”

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

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “whole” Distinctive

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

ورقی

w-r-q → “leaf”

literal: leaf, page, sheet, parchment, document

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

جنّت

j-n-n → “Paradise”

literal: you (singular/plural pronoun)

او

h-w-w → “His”

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

انصفوا

n-ṣ-f → “Be fair”

literal: justice; fairness; equity

قوم

q-w-m → “people”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

لا

l-ʾ → “not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تکونوا

k-w-n → “be”

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

من

m-n → “from”

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

الاخسرين

kh-s-r → “loss”

literal: loss; ruin; to suffer loss

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

کتاب

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العالمين

ʿ-l-m → “of the worlds”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

امروز

r-w-z → “in this day”

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

سدره

s-d-r → “blessed Lote-Tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

اثمار

th-m-r → “fruits”

literal: fruit; the fruit

جديده

j-d-d → “new”

literal: new, novel, renewed; novelty, innovation

بديعه

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

امام

ʾ-m-m → “before”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

وجهت

w-j-h → “thy face”

literal: direction; aspect; side; regard

موجود

w-j-d → “being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

انظر

n-ẓ-r → “Gaze”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

اليها

ʾ-l-y → “on it” Distinctive

literal: to it; towards it; unto it

منقطعا

q-ṭ-ʿ → “detached”

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

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

دونها

d-w-n → “all else save it” Distinctive

literal: below; lower than; beneath

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

القوّة

q-w-y → “might” Distinctive

literal: power; strength; force

القدرة

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

جعله

j-ʿ-l → “hath adorned” Distinctive

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

مزيّنا

z-y-n

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty

بقدوم

q-d-m → “with the footsteps”

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

اسمه

s-m-w → “of His” Distinctive

literal: heaven; sky

الاعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

نبأه

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets” Distinctive

literal: to awaken; to alert; to warn

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 ¶