Skip to main content

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §238

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 238 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا هادی ناله منابر را اصغا نموديم که علمای عصر ظهور بقول جميع بر ان ارتقا جستند و حق را سبّ نموده و بر ان جوهر وجود و اصحابش وارد اوردند انچه که چشم عالم نديد و گوش عالم نشنيد * حال تو باسم وصايت و مراتيّت مردم را دعوت نموده و مينمائی مع انکه اطلّاع از امر نداشته و نداری چه که با ما نبودی

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Hádí! We have heard the moaning of the pulpits which, as attested by all, the divines of the age of this Revelation have ascended, and from which they have cursed the True One, and caused such things to befall Him Who is the Essence of Being and His companions as neither the eye nor the ear of the world hath seen or heard. Thou hast now summoned, and art still summoning the people, claiming to be His viceregent and mirror, despite thine ignorance of this Cause as a result of thy not having been in Our company.

Translation Notes

يا
y-ʾ

literal: O; or

هادی
h-d-y → “guidance”

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

ناله
n-ʾ-l → “sighs”

literal: moaning; lamentation; cry; complaint

منابر
n-b-r → “pulpits”

literal: pulpit; elevated platform for preaching

را
r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

اصغا
ṣ-gh-w → “heard”

literal: to listen, hear; to give ear

نموديم
n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

که
k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

علمای
ʿ-l-m → “divines”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

عصر
ʿ-ṣ-r → “age”

literal: age; era; century; period of time

ظهور
ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

بقول
q-w-l → “Say” Distinctive

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

جميع
j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

بر
b-r-r

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

ارتقا
r-q-y → “ascended”

literal: raise them; promote them; heal them; ascension; elevation; rise

جستند
j-s-t

literal: to seek; to cling; to grasp; to strive

حق
ḥ-q-q → “True One” Distinctive

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

سبّ
s-b-b → “cause” Distinctive

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

نموده
n-m-ود → “they” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do/make

جوهر
j-w-h-r → “Essence”

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

وجود
w-j-d → “Being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

اصحابش
ṣ-ḥ-b → “companions”

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

وارد
w-r-d → “hath befallen” Distinctive

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

اوردند
ʾ-w-r

literal: to bring; bring; brought

انچه
ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

چشم
ch-sh-m → “eye”

literal: eye; vision; sight

نديد
d-y-d → “seen”

literal: did not see; did not witness

گوش
g-w-sh → “ear”

literal: ear; hearing; to listen

نشنيد
sh-n-y → “heard”

literal: did not hear; has not heard

حال
ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

تو
t-w-w → “thou”

literal: you

باسم
s-m-w

literal: harm; strength; blame; hardship, adversity, tribulation, distress

وصايت
w-ṣ-y → “testaments” Distinctive

literal: will; testament; bequest; admonition; command

مراتيّت
r-ʾ-y → “mirror”

literal: rank; station; degree; order

مردم
m-r-d → “people”

literal: rebellion; mutiny; revolt

دعوت
d-ʿ-w → “summoned, and art still summoning”

literal: call; invitation; claim

مع
m-ʿ → “notwithstanding”

literal: with; together with; alongside

اطلّاع
ṭ-l-ʿ → “Dayspring” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

از
ʾ-z

literal: from

امر
ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

نداشته
d-ʾ-sh-t → “have no”

literal: to have; to possess; to hold

نداری
d-sh-t → “without”

literal: have; to have; had

چه
ch-h

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

با
b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

ما
m-ʾ → “that”

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

نبودی
b-w-d

literal: to be; to exist; to remain

Source: Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶