Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §4

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 4 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا ايّها العَالِمُ الجليل اسمع نداء المظلوم انّه ينصحک لوجه اللّه و يعظک بما يقرّبک اليه فی کلّ الاحوال انّه هو الغنيّ المتعال * اعلم انّ الآذان خلقت لاصغاء النّداء فی هذا اليوم الّذی کان مذکورا فی الکتب و الزّبر و الالواح * فی اوّل الامر طهّر نفسک بماء الانقطاع و زيّن راسک باکليل التّقوی و هيکلک بطراز التّوکّل علی اللّه ثمّ قم عن مقامک مقبلا الی البيت الاعظم مطاف من فی العالم من لدن مالک القدم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Give ear, O distinguished divine, unto the voice of this Wronged One. He verily, counselleth thee for the sake of God, and exhorteth thee unto that which will cause thee to draw nigh unto Him under all conditions. He, in truth, is the All-Possessing, the Exalted. Know thou that the ear of man hath been created that it may hearken unto the Divine Voice on this Day that hath been mentioned in all the Books, Scriptures, and Tablets. Purify thou, first, thy soul with the waters of renunciation, and adorn thine head with the crown of the fear of God, and thy temple with the ornament of reliance upon Him. Arise, then, and, with thy face set towards the Most Great House, the Spot round which, as decreed by the Eternal King, all that dwell on earth must circle, recite:

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ

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

ايّها

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

العَالِمُ

ʿ-l-m → “distinguished divine” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

الجليل

j-l-l

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

اسمع

s-m-ʿ → “Give ear”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

نداء

n-d-y → “voice”

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

المظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “this Wronged One”

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

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “He verily”

literal: I, verily; behold I

ينصحک

n-ṣ-ḥ → “counselleth thee”

literal: counsel; advice; admonition

لوجه

w-j-h → “for the sake of”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

يعظک

w-ʿ-ẓ → “counsels” Distinctive

literal: one; any; each

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

يقرّبک

q-r-b → “cause thee to draw nigh”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

اليه

ʾ-l-y → “besmirch”

literal: to; to him; besmirch

فی

f-y → “under” Distinctive

literal: in; in-it; in it

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

الاحوال

ḥ-w-l → “conditions”

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

هو

h-w → “is”

literal: He; He is

الغنيّ

gh-n-y → “the All-Possessing”

literal: to be independent of; to be in no need of; to dispense with; rich; wealthy; needless

المتعال

ʿ-l-w → “the Exalted” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

انّ

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الآذان

ʾ-dh-n → “the ear”

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

خلقت

kh-l-q → “hath been created”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

لاصغاء

ṣ-gh-y → “may hearken”

literal: to listen, hear; to give ear

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

اليوم

y-w-m → “Day”

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

الّذی

l-dh-y → “that” Distinctive

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

کان

k-w-n → “hath been”

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

مذکورا

dh-k-r → “mentioned”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

الکتب

k-t-b → “all the Books”

literal: book; scripture; writing

الزّبر

z-b-r → “Scriptures”

literal: writing; inscription; divine writ

الالواح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

اوّل

ʾ-w-l → “first”

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

الامر

ʾ-m-r

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

طهّر

ṭ-h-r → “Purify thou”

literal: to purify; to cleanse

نفسک

n-f-s → “thy soul” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

بماء

m-w-h → “with the waters”

literal: water

الانقطاع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “renunciation”

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

زيّن

z-y-n → “adorn”

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty; adornment; embellishment; decoration

راسک

r-ʾ-s → “thine head”

literal: chief; leader; head; president; beginning

التّقوی

w-q-y → “the fear of God”

literal: to protect, safeguard, shield

هيکلک

h-y-k-l → “thy temple”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

بطراز

ṭ-r-z → “with the ornament”

literal: ornament; adornment; embroidery; stripe

التّوکّل

w-k-l → “ministers” Distinctive

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority; to rely; to trust; to place trust in

ثمّ

th-m-m → “then, and”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

قم

q-w-m → “Arise”

literal: station; rank; standing place

عن

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

مقبلا

q-b-l → “with thy face set towards”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

الی

ʾ-l-y

literal: to; to him; besmirch

البيت

b-y-t → “the Most Great House”

literal: house; household; family; verse

الاعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

مطاف

ṭ-w-f → “circle”

literal: circle; circling; circumambulate

من

m-n → “all that dwell on earth” Distinctive

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

لدن

l-d-n → “by”

literal: from; on the part of; from before; near

مالک

m-l-k → “Eternal King”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

القدم

q-d-m

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

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 ¶