Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §225

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 225 of 268.

Source (Persian)

در اين کلمه عليا تفکّر نمائيد ميفرمايد [ انّی مؤمن به و بدينه و بکتابه و بادلّائه و بمناهجه و بما يظهر من عنده فی کلّ ذلک مفتخرا بنسبتی اليه و متعزّزا بايمانی به ] و همچنين ميفرمايد [ ان يا کلّ شیء فی البيان فلتعرفنّ حدّ انفسکم فانّ مثل نقطة البيان يؤمن بمن يظهره اللّه قبل کلّ شیء و انّنی انا بذلک افتخرنّ علی من فی ملکوت السّموات و الارض ] انتهی * لعمر اللّه جميع ذرّات کائنات بنوحه و ندبه مشغولند از ظلم معرضين بيان * ايا صاحبان ابصار و آذان کجا رفتند ؟ نسأل اللّه تبارک و تعالی ان يحضرهم و ينصحهم بما ينفعهم و يمنعهم عمّا يضرّهم انّه هو القویّ الغالب القدير *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Meditate upon these sublime words. He saith: "I, verily, am a believer in Him, and in His Faith, and in His Book, and in His Testimonies, and in His Ways, and in all that proceedeth from Him concerning them. I glory in My kinship with Him, and pride Myself on My belief in Him." And likewise, He saith: "O congregation of the Bayán and all who are therein! Recognize ye the limits imposed upon you, for such a One as the Point of the Bayán Himself hath believed in Him Whom God shall make manifest, before all things were created. Therein, verily, do I glory before all who are in the kingdom of heaven and earth." By God! All the atoms of the universe groan and lament at the cruelty perpetrated by the froward among the people of the Bayán. Whither are gone they who are endued with insight and hearing? We beseech God - blessed and glorified be He - to summon them and exhort them unto that which will profit them, and withhold them from that which will harm them. He, in truth, is the Strong, the All-Subduing, the Almighty.

Translation Notes

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

عليا

ʿ-l-w → “sublime” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

تفکّر

f-k-r → “Meditate”

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

انّی

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

مؤمن

ʾ-m-n → “believer”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

بدينه

d-y-n → “in His Faith”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

بکتابه

k-t-b → “in His Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

بادلّائه

d-l-l → “proof” Distinctive

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

بمناهجه

n-h-j → “in His Ways”

literal: path; way; method; manner

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

يظهر

ẓ-h-r → “proceedeth” Distinctive

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

من

m-n → “from”

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

عنده

ʿ-n-d → “Him” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

ذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus” Distinctive

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

مفتخرا

f-kh-r → “glory”

literal: glory; boasting; pride

بنسبتی

n-s-b → “in My kinship”

literal: relation; relationship; connection; attribution; proportion

اليه

ʾ-l-y → “besmirch”

literal: to; to him; besmirch

متعزّزا

ʿ-z-z → “glory” Distinctive

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

بايمانی

ʾ-m-n → “My belief”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

همچنين

ch-n-n → “likewise”

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

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

شیء

sh-y-ʾ → “things”

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

البيان

b-y-n → “Bayán”

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

فلتعرفنّ

ʿ-r-f → “Recognize”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

حدّ

ḥ-d-d → “limits”

literal: iron; sharp, keen, acute

انفسکم

n-f-s → “upon you”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

فانّ

ʾ-n-n → “for” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

مثل

m-th-l → “such a One” Distinctive

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

نقطة

n-q-ṭ → “Point”

literal: point; dot; spot; region; area

بمن

m-n-y → “through Him Whom God”

literal: through whom; remain; from

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

قبل

q-b-l → “before”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

ملکوت

m-l-k → “kingdom”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

السّموات

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

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

لعمر

ʿ-m-r → “By”

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “All”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

ذرّات

dh-r-r → “atoms”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

کائنات

k-w-n → “be”

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

بنوحه

n-w-ḥ → “groan”

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

ندبه

n-d-b → “lament”

literal: lamentation; wailing; mourning

مشغولند

sh-gh-l

literal: to occupy; to engage; to busy; occupation

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

ظلم

ẓ-l-m → “cruelty”

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

معرضين

ʿ-r-ḍ → “froward”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

ايا

ʾ-y-y

literal: does; is it that (interrogative particle); sign; verse; O! (vocative particle); him; them (object pronoun)

صاحبان

ṣ-ḥ-b → “they”

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

ابصار

b-ṣ-r → “insight”

literal: sight; insight; eyes

آذان

ʾ-dh-n → “hearing”

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

کجا

k-j-ʾ → “How”

literal: how; in what manner

رفتند

r-f-t → “fled” Distinctive

literal: go; to go; gone

نسأل

s-ʾ-l → “We beseech”

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

تبارک

b-r-k → “blessed”

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

يحضرهم

ḥ-ḍ-r → “His Majesty” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

ينصحهم

n-ṣ-ḥ → “exhort”

literal: advice; counsel; advise

ينفعهم

n-f-ʿ → “will profit”

literal: benefits; profits; advantages

يمنعهم

m-n-ʿ → “withhold”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

عمّا

ʿ-n → “from that which”

literal: with them; in their company

يضرّهم

ḍ-r-r → “will harm”

literal: to strike; to beat; to afflict

هو

h-w

literal: He; He is

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

القدير

q-d-r → “Almighty”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

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 ¶