Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §256

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 256 of 268.

Source (Persian)

قدری در عصمت نقطه اولی تفکّر کن ملاحظه نما چه ظاهر گشته * وقتيکه اين مظلوم از هجرت دو ساله که در صحاری و جبال سالک بود و بسبب بعضی از نفوس که مدّتها در بيابانها دويدند رجوع بدار السّلام نمود ميرزا محمّد علی نامی رشتی بحضور امد و امام جمعی بکلمه ای نطق نمود درباره عصمت ان حضرت که فی الحقيقه حزن جميع اقطار را اخذ نمود * سبحان اللّه چگونه راضی شدند که باين خيانت اعظم تمسّک جستند * باری از حقّ ميطلبيم که عامل را توفيق بخشد بر توبه و انابه * انّه هو المؤيّد الحکيم *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Reflect a while upon the dishonor inflicted upon the Primal Point. Consider what hath happened. When this Wronged One, after a retirement of two years during which He wandered through the deserts and mountains, returned to Baghdád, as a result of the intervention of a few, who for a long time had sought Him in the wilderness, a certain Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí of Rasht came to see Him, and related, before a large gathering of people, that which had been done, affecting the honor of the Báb, which hath truly overwhelmed all lands with sorrow. Great God! How could they have countenanced this most grievous betrayal? Briefly, We beseech God to aid the perpetrator of this deed to repent, and return unto Him. He, verily, is the Helper, the All-Wise.

Translation Notes

قدری

q-d-r → “Reflect a while”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

در

d-r-r → “upon”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

عصمت

ʿ-ṣ-m → “protection” Distinctive

literal: immaculate; protected; infallible

نقطه

n-q-ṭ → “Primal Point”

literal: point; dot; spot; region; area

اولی

ʾ-w-l

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

تفکّر

f-k-r

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

کن

k-w-n → “been”

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

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “Consider”

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

نما

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

چه

ch-h → “For”

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

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “hath happened” Distinctive

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

گشته

g-sh-t

literal: become; became; to become

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One”

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

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

هجرت

h-j-r → “remoteness” Distinctive

literal: to emigrate, migrate, forsake; migration, emigration

دو

d-w → “two”

literal: to run; to hasten; to strive; ran; rushed

ساله

s-n-h → “years”

literal: year; annual; old

که

k-h → “during which”

literal: that; who; who, that

صحاری

ṣ-ḥ-r → “wilds” Distinctive

literal: desert; wilderness

جبال

j-b-l → “mountains”

literal: mountain; nature, constitution; to create, to form

سالک

s-l-k → “Deal” Distinctive

literal: conduct; behavior; way; path; spiritual wayfaring

بود

b-w-d

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

بسبب

s-b-b → “cause”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

بعضی

b-ʿ-ḍ → “few” Distinctive

literal: part; some; portion

نفوس

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

مدّتها

m-d-d → “ink” Distinctive

literal: extended; outstretched; sustained

بيابانها

b-y-b → “wilderness”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

رجوع

r-j-ʿ → “returned”

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

بدار

d-ʾ-r

literal: home; place; land; abode

السّلام

s-l-m → “resignation” Distinctive

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

محمّد

ḥ-m-d → “thanks”

literal: praise; Muhammad; praised

علی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

نامی

n-w-m

literal: to sleep; to slumber

بحضور

ḥ-ḍ-r → “came to see Him”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

امد

ʾ-m-d

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

امام

ʾ-m-m → “before”

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

جمعی

j-m-ʿ → “large gathering” Distinctive

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

بکلمه

k-l-m

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

ای

ʾ-y-y

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

نطق

n-ṭ-q → “spoken”

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

درباره

d-r-b → “door”

literal: concerning, about; in connection with

ان

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

الحقيقه

ḥ-q-q → “truly”

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

حزن

ḥ-z-n → “sorrow”

literal: sorrow; grief; sadness; anguish

اقطار

q-ṭ-r → “lands”

literal: drop; region; country; rainfall

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

اخذ

ʾ-kh-dh → “arrested”

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

سبحان

s-b-ḥ → “Great God” Distinctive

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

اللّه

ʾ-l-h

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

چگونه

ch-g-n → “How”

literal: how; in what manner

راضی

r-ḍ-y → “good-pleasure” Distinctive

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

شدند

sh-d → “could they have” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

باين

b-y-n → “utterance”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

خيانت

kh-w-n → “disloyalty”

literal: blood

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

تمسّک

m-s-k

literal: musk; to seize; grip

جستند

j-s-t

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

باری

b-r-y → “Briefly”

literal: well; cistern; pit

ميطلبيم

ṭ-l-b → “beseech”

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

عامل

ʿ-m-l → “deeds” Distinctive

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

توفيق

w-f-q → “aid”

literal: accord, agreement, harmony; to agree, accord with

بخشد

b-kh-sh

literal: to grant; to give; to forgive; to bestow

بر

b-r-r → “upon”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

توبه

t-w-b → “repent”

literal: to repent; to turn back; to return

انابه

ʾ-n-b → “return”

literal: deputy; representative; vicegerent; substitute

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “He, verily”

literal: I, verily; behold I

هو

h-w

literal: He; He is

المؤيّد

ʾ-y-d → “assist” Distinctive

literal: to support; to assist; to strengthen; to confirm

الحکيم

ḥ-k-m → “the All-Wise”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

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 ¶