Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §30

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 30 of 268.

Source (Persian)

اقبل بقلبک الی شطر کعبة اللّه المهيمن القيّوم * ثمّ ارفع يديک باستقامة ترتفع بها ايادی الممکنات الی سماء فضل اللّه ربّ العالمين * ثمّ وجّه اليه بتوجّه تتوجّه به الکائنات الی افقه المشرق المنير * و قل ای ربّ ترانی مقبلا الی سماء جودک و بحر عطائک و معرضا عن دونک * اسألک بتجلّيات نيّر ظهورک فی الطّور و باشراقات شمس فضلک من افق اسمک الغفور ان تغفر لی و ارحمني ثمّ اکتب لی من قلمک الاعلی ما يرفعنی باسمک فی ناسوت الانشاء * ای ربّ وفّقنی علی التّوجّه اليک و اصغاء نداء اوليائک الّذين ما اضعفتهم قوّة العالم و ما منعتهم سطوة الامم اقبلوا و قالوا اللّه ربّنا و ربّ من فی السّموات و الارضين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Set thine heart towards Him Who is the Kaaba of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, and raise thou thine hands with such firm conviction as shall cause the hands of all created things to be lifted up towards the heaven of the grace of God, the Lord of all worlds. Turn, then, thy face towards Him in such wise that the faces of all beings will turn in the direction of His shining and luminous Horizon, and say: "Thou seest me, O my Lord, with my face turned towards the heaven of Thy bounty and the ocean of Thy favor, withdrawn from all else beside Thee. I ask of Thee, by the splendors of the Sun of Thy revelation on Sinai, and the effulgences of the Orb of Thy grace which shineth from the horizon of Thy Name, the Ever-Forgiving, to grant me Thy pardon and to have mercy upon me. Write down, then, for me with Thy pen of glory that which will exalt me through Thy Name in the world of creation. Aid me, O my Lord, to set myself towards Thee, and to hearken unto the voice of Thy loved ones, whom the powers of the earth have failed to weaken, and the dominion of the nations has been powerless to withhold from Thee, and who, advancing towards Thee, have said: \‘God is our Lord, the Lord of all who are in heaven and all who are on earth!'"

Translation Notes

اقبل

q-b-l → “Set thine heart towards” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

بقلبک

q-l-b

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards the heaven”

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

شطر

sh-ṭ-r → “direction”

literal: side, direction; half; to split

کعبة

k-ʿ-b

literal: Kaaba; cube/Kaaba; Kaaba/lodestar

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

المهيمن

h-m-n → “the Help in Peril”

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian; inspiration; revelation; intuition

القيّوم

q-w-m → “the Self-Subsisting”

literal: rising; standing; resurrection; uprising; establishment

ثمّ

th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

ارفع

r-f-ʿ → “raised” Distinctive

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

يديک

y-d-y → “thine hands”

literal: hand; power; action; possession

بها

b-h-w → “All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

الممکنات

m-k-n → “all created things”

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

سماء

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

فضل

f-ḍ-l → “of the grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العالمين

ʿ-l-m → “of all worlds”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وجّه

w-j-h → “thy face towards”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

اليه

ʾ-l-y → “besmirch”

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

به

b-h → “that” Distinctive

literal: to; with it; with

الکائنات

k-w-n → “all beings”

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

افقه

ʾ-f-q → “of His” Distinctive

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

المشرق

sh-r-q → “shining”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

المنير

n-w-r → “luminous”

literal: light; illumination

قل

q-w-l → “say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O my” Distinctive

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

ترانی

r-ʾ-y → ““Thou seest me”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

جودک

j-w-d → “Thy bounty”

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

بحر

b-ḥ-r → “ocean”

literal: sea; ocean

عطائک

ʿ-ṭ-w → “bounty”

literal: the letter Ṭá; refers to Ṭihrán (also spelled Ṭehran)

معرضا

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

عن

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

دونک

d-w-n → “all else beside Thee” Distinctive

literal: below; lower than; beneath

اسألک

s-ʾ-l → “I ask of Thee”

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

بتجلّيات

j-l-w → “revelation” Distinctive

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation; manifestation, revelation, appearance

ظهورک

ẓ-h-r → “of Thy revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

فی

f-y → “on” Distinctive

literal: in; in-it; in it

الطّور

ṭ-w-r → “rustling” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; stages; modes; phases; manner

شمس

sh-m-s → “Orb” Distinctive

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

من

m-n → “from”

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

افق

ʾ-f-q → “horizon”

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

الغفور

gh-f-r → “the Ever-Forgiving”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لی

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: for us; to us

ارحمني

r-ḥ-m → “to have mercy upon me”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

اکتب

k-t-b

literal: book; scripture; writing

قلمک

q-l-m → “Thy pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

الاعلی

ʿ-l-w → “of glory” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

ناسوت

n-w-s → “men” Distinctive

literal: human nature; humanity; the physical or material realm; corporeality

الانشاء

n-sh-ʾ → “of creation”

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

وفّقنی

w-f-q → “Aid me”

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

اصغاء

ṣ-gh-w → “to hearken”

literal: to listen, hear; to give ear

نداء

n-d-y → “unto the voice”

literal: call; voice; proclamation; forty; forty years

اوليائک

w-l-y → “Thy loved ones”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally

الّذين

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

اضعفتهم

ḍ-ʿ-f → “weakness” Distinctive

literal: weak; feeble; imperfect

قوّة

q-w-y → “powers”

literal: power; strength; force

منعتهم

m-n-ʿ → “has been powerless to withhold” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

سطوة

s-ṭ-w → “dominion”

literal: might; force; severity; oppression; tyranny

الامم

ʾ-m-m → “of the nations”

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

الارضين

ʾ-r-ḍ → “all who are on earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

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 ¶