Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §33
Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 33 of 268.
Source (Persian)
در اين مقام بنظر امد فی الجمله از امور گذشته ذکر شود شايد سبب ظهور عدل و انصاف گردد * اين مظلوم در ايّاميکه حضرت سلطان ايّده اللّه ربّه الرّحمن عزم توجّه باصفهان نموده اذن حاصل کرده قصد زيارت بقاع مقدّسه منوّره ائمّه صلوات اللّه عليهم نموده و بعد از رجوع نظر بگرمی هواء دار الخلافه و شدّت ان بلواسان رفتيم و بعد از توجّه حکايت حضرت سلطان ايّده اللّه تبارک و تعالی واقع و در ان ايّام امور منقلب و نار غضب مشتعل * جمعی را اخذ نمودند از جمله اين مظلوم را * لعمر اللّه ابدا داخل ان امر منکر نبوديم و در مجالس تحقيق هم عدم تقصير ثابت مع ذلک ما را اخذ نمودند و از نياوران که در ان ايّام مقرّ سلطنت بوده سر برهنه و پای برهنه پياده با زنجير بسجن طهران بردند چه که يک ظالمی سواره همراه کلاه از سر برداشت و بسرعت تمام با جمعی از ميرغضبان و فرّاشان ما را بردند و چهار شهر در مقاميکه شبه و مثل نداشت مقرّ معيّن نمودند * امّا سجن که محلّ مظلوم و مظلومان بوده فی الحقيقه دخمه تنگ تاريک از ان افضل بوده * و چون وارد حبس شديم بعد از ورود ما را داخل دالانی ظلمانی نمودند از ان جا از سه پلهء سراشيب گذشتيم و بمقرّيکه معيّن نموده بودند رسيديم * امّا محلّ تاريک و معاشر قريب صد و پنجاه نفس از سارقين اموال و قاتلين نفوس و قاطعين طرق بوده مع اين جمعيّت محلّ منفذ نداشت جز طريقی که وارد شديم اقلام از وصفش عاجز و روائح منتنهاش خارج از بيان و ان جمع اکثری بی لباس و فراش * اللّه يعلم ما ورد علينا فی ذاک المقام الانتن الاظلم *
Shoghi Effendi Translation
We deem it advisable, in this connection, to recount briefly some past events, that perchance they may be the means of vindicating the cause of equity and justice. At the time when His Majesty the Sháh, may God, his Lord, the Most Merciful, aid him through His strengthening grace, was planning a journey to Iṣfahán, this Wronged One, having obtained his permission, visited the holy and luminous resting-places of the Imams, may the blessings of God be upon them! Upon Our return, We proceeded to Lavasan on account of the excessive heat prevailing in the capital. Following Our departure, there occurred the attempt upon the life of His Majesty, may God, exalted and glorified be He, assist him. Those days were troublous days, and the fires of hatred burned high. Many were arrested, among them this Wronged One. By the righteousness of God! We were in no wise connected with that evil deed, and Our innocence was indisputably established by the tribunals. Nevertheless, they apprehended Us, and from Niyavaran, which was then the residence of His Majesty, conducted Us, on foot and in chains, with bared head and bare feet, to the dungeon of Ṭihrán. A brutal man, accompanying Us on horseback, snatched off Our hat, whilst We were being hurried along by a troop of executioners and officials. We were consigned for four months to a place foul beyond comparison. As to the dungeon in which this Wronged One and others similarly wronged were confined, a dark and narrow pit were preferable. Upon Our arrival We were first conducted along a pitch-black corridor, from whence We descended three steep flights of stairs to the place of confinement assigned to Us. The dungeon was wrapped in thick darkness, and Our fellow-prisoners numbered nearly a hundred and fifty souls: thieves, assassins and highwaymen. Though crowded, it had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered. No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell. Most of these men had neither clothes nor bedding to lie on. God alone knoweth what befell Us in that most foul-smelling and gloomy place!
Translation Notes
شايد
literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur
مظلوم
literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed
الرّحمن
literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy
عليهم
literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon
شبه
literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance
معاشر
literal: association; companionship; social interaction; عشرين (twenty) is from numeral root ع-ش-ر, distinct from ‘association’ meaning
عاجز
literal: to be unable; to fail; to be exhausted; impotence; أعجاز (roots of trees/extremities) is Pattern II plural, distinct from ‘inability’ forms
