Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §263

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 263 of 268.

Source (Persian)

و قال - صلّی اللّه عليه و سلّم - الا اخبرکم بمدينة علی شاطئ البحر بيضاء حسن بياضها عند اللّه تعالی يقال لها عکّاء و انّ من قرصه برغوثٌ من براغيثها کان عند اللّه افضل من طعنة نافذة فی سبيل اللّه * الا و انّ من اذّن فيها کان له مدّ صوته فی الجنّة * و من قعد فيها سبعة ايّام مقابل العدوّ حشره اللّه مع الخضر - عليه السّلام - و امّنه اللّه من الفزع الاکبر يوم القيامة * و قال - صلّی اللّه تعالی عليه و سلّم - الا و انّ فی الجنّة ملوکا و سادات و فقراء عکّاء ملوک الجنّة و ساداتها * و انّ شهرا فی عکّاء افضل من الف سنة فی غيرها *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And He - may the blessings of God and His salutations be upon Him - hath said: "I announce unto you a city, on the shores of the sea, white, whose whiteness is pleasing unto God - exalted be He! It is called ‘Akká. He that hath been bitten by one of its fleas is better, in the estimation of God, than he who hath received a grievous blow in the path of God. And he that raiseth therein the call to prayer, his voice will be lifted up unto Paradise. And he that remaineth therein for seven days in the face of the enemy, God will gather him with Khidr - peace be upon Him - and God will protect him from the most great terror on the Day of Resurrection." And He - may the blessings of God, - exalted be He - and His salutations be upon Him - hath said: "There are kings and princes in Paradise. The poor of ‘Akká are the kings of Paradise and the princes thereof. A month in ‘Akká is better than a thousand years elsewhere."

Translation Notes

قال

q-w-l → “hath said”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

صلّی

ṣ-l-y → “may the blessings”

literal: blessings; prayers; salutations

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

عليه

ʿ-l-y → “be upon”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

سلّم

s-l-m → “salutations”

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

الا

ʾ-kh-r

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

اخبرکم

kh-b-r → “All-Informed” Distinctive

literal: all-knowing; aware; well-informed; omniscient

بمدينة

m-d-n → “city”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

علی

ʿ-l-w → “on” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

شاطئ

sh-ṭ-ʾ → “shores”

literal: fitting; suitable; becoming

البحر

b-ḥ-r → “the sea”

literal: sea; ocean

بيضاء

b-y-ḍ → “white”

literal: white; pure; bright; radiant; clear

حسن

ḥ-s-n → “most excellent” Distinctive

literal: goodness; beauty; excellence; good deed

عند

ʿ-n-d → “unto God”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

لها

l-h-w

literal: to it; towards it; unto it

انّ

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

من

m-n → “from”

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

قرصه

q-r-ṣ → “been bitten”

literal: bite; to bite

برغوثٌ

b-r-gh → “by one”

literal: flea

کان

k-w-n → “be”

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

افضل

f-ḍ-l → “better than”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

طعنة

ṭ-ʿ-n → “grievous blow”

literal: wound; thrust; pierce

نافذة

n-f-dh

literal: penetrating, effective; piercing; decisive

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in it; in them

سبيل

s-b-l → “path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

اذّن

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

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

له

h-w

literal: for them both; to both of them (dual pronoun)

مدّ

m-d-d → “ink” Distinctive

literal: hopeful; hope; hoping

صوته

ṣ-w-t → “voice”

literal: voice; sound

الجنّة

j-n-n → “Paradise”

literal: garden; paradise; heaven

قعد

q-ʿ-d → “seat” Distinctive

literal: rule; principle; foundation; basis

سبعة

s-b-ʿ → “seventh” Distinctive

literal: lion; wild beast

ايّام

y-w-m → “days”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

مقابل

q-b-l → “in the face”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

العدوّ

ʿ-d-w → “the enemy” Distinctive

literal: hostility, aggression, enmity, transgression

حشره

ḥ-sh-r → ““resurrection,””

literal: to gather, assemble, congregate; resurrection, Day of Judgment

مع

m-ʿ → “with”

literal: with; together with; alongside

الخضر

kh-ḍ-r → “green”

literal: green; verdant; greenness

امّنه

ʾ-m-n → “faith” Distinctive

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

الفزع

f-z-ʿ → “caused” Distinctive

literal: to fear; to be terrified; terror, fright

الاکبر

k-b-r

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

القيامة

q-w-m → “of Resurrection”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ملوکا

m-l-k → “kings”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

سادات

s-w-d → “princes”

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

فقراء

f-q-r → “poor”

literal: poor; needy; the poor one; pauper

شهرا

sh-h-r → “well-known” Distinctive

literal: city; month; fame, renown

الف

ʾ-l-f → “a thousand”

literal: word; expression; utterance; to reconcile; to compose; to compile; to unite

سنة

s-n-h → “years”

literal: year; way; tradition; custom

غيرها

gh-y-r → “elsewhere”

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet

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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

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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

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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 ¶