Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §25

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 25 of 268.

Source (Persian)

و همچنين ميفرمايد * [ ای بظاهر اراسته و بباطن کاسته ] مثل تو مثل اب تلخ صافيست که کمال لطافت و صفا از ان در ظاهر مشاهده شود و چون بدست صرّاف ذائقه احديّه افتد قطره ای از ان را قبول نفرمايد * تجلّی افتاب در تراب و مرات هر دو موجود و لکن از فرقدان تا ارض فرق دان بلکه فرق بی منتهی در ميان *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And likewise He saith: "O ye seeming fair yet inwardly foul! Ye are like clear but bitter water, which to outward seeming is crystal pure but of which, when tested by the Divine Assayer, not a drop is accepted. Yea, the sunbeam falls alike upon the dust and the mirror, yet differ they in reflection even as doth the star from the earth: nay, immeasurable is the difference!"

Translation Notes

همچنين

ch-n-n → “likewise”

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

ميفرمايد

f-r-m → “He”

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

ای

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

بظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “seeming” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

اراسته

r-s-t → “Verily” Distinctive

literal: truth; verily; truly

بباطن

b-ṭ-n → “inwardly”

literal: inner; hidden; inward; esoteric

کاسته

k-s-t → “foul”

literal: breaking; ravening; destructive

مثل

m-th-l → “like” Distinctive

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

تو

t-w-w → “thou”

literal: you

اب

m-w-h → “water”

literal: father; ancestry; forefathers

تلخ

t-l-kh → “bitter”

literal: bitter

صافيست

ṣ-f-w → “Thy chosen ones” Distinctive

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

کمال

k-m-l → “utmost”

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

لطافت

l-ṭ-f → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

در

d-r-r → “upon”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

مشاهده

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

شود

sh-w-d → “is”

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

چون

ch-w-n → “As”

literal: since; when; as

بدست

d-s-t → “by” Distinctive

literal: hand; control, power, authority

صرّاف

ṣ-r-f → “treatment” Distinctive

literal: pure; absolute; to turn away; to expend

ذائقه

dh-w-q → “Assayer”

literal: to taste; taste, flavor

احديّه

literal: oneness; unity; absolute unicity; singleness of divine essence

افتد

f-t-y → “decreed” Distinctive

literal: to fall, drop, befall, happen, come to pass

قطره

q-ṭ-r → “drop”

literal: drop; region; country; rainfall

را

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

قبول

q-b-l → “accepted”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

تجلّی

j-l-w → “revelation”

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation

افتاب

ʾ-f-t-ʾ-b → “Day-Star”

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

تراب

t-r-b → “dust”

literal: dust; earth; soil

مرات

r-ʾ-y → “mirror”

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

هر

h-r

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

دو

d-w

literal: two; run; running

موجود

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

لکن

l-k-n → “yet”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

فرقدان

f-r-q → “star”

literal: to sleep; to slumber; sleeping

تا

t-y-y → “from” Distinctive

literal: so that/until

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

دان

literal: to know, deem, consider, suppose

بلکه

b-l-k → “nay”

literal: nay; but rather; on the contrary; but

بی

b-y

literal: without; is; to

منتهی

literal: stinking, foul-smelling; stench

ميان

literal: between; among; amid; in the midst of

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 ¶