Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §266

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 266 of 268.

Source (Persian)

و قال رسول اللّه - صلّی اللّه عليه و سلّم - من نظر بالبحر عند الزّوال و کبّر اللّه عند الغروب غفر اللّه له ذنوبه و لو کانت مثل رمل عالج و من عدّ اربعين موجة و هو يکبّر اللّه تعالی غفر اللّه له ما تقدّم من ذنبه و ما تأخّر *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The Apostle of God - may the blessings of God and His salutations be upon Him - hath also said: "He that looketh upon the sea at eventide, and saith: \‘God is Most Great!' at sunset, God will forgive his sins, though they be heaped as piles of sand. And he that counteth forty waves, while repeating: \‘God is Most Great!' - exalted be He - God will forgive his sins, both past and future."

Translation Notes

قال

q-w-l → “said”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

رسول

r-s-l → “Apostle”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

صلّی

ṣ-l-y → “blessings”

literal: blessings; prayers; salutations

عليه

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

سلّم

s-l-m → “salutations”

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

من

m-n → “from”

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

نظر

n-ẓ-r → “looketh” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

بالبحر

b-ḥ-r → “upon the sea”

literal: sea; ocean

عند

ʿ-n-d → “at” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

الزّوال

z-w-l → “at all times” Distinctive

literal: to pass away; to vanish; to disappear; to cease

کبّر

k-b-r → “pride”

literal: great; grand; mighty; large

الغروب

gh-r-b → “sunset”

literal: west; sunset; place of setting

غفر

gh-f-r → “forgive”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

له

h-w → “his”

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

ذنوبه

dh-n-b → “sins”

literal: sin; crime; offense; fault

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

کانت

k-w-n → “be”

literal: you (masculine singular)

مثل

m-th-l → “as”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

رمل

r-m-l → “piles of sand”

literal: sand

عدّ

ʿ-d-d → “capacity” Distinctive

literal: numbered; number; capacity

اربعين

ʾ-r-b-ʿ → “these forty”

literal: four; quarter; group of four

موجة

m-w-j → “waves”

literal: wave; billows; surge

تعالی

ʿ-l-w → “exalted be He”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ما

m-ʾ

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

تقدّم

q-d-m → “past”

literal: ancient; step; eternity

تأخّر

ʾ-kh-r → “future”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

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

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 ¶