Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §46

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 46 of 268.

Source (Persian)

و در مقام ديگر * امروز روز ذکر و ثناء و روز خدمتست خود را محروم منمائيد شمائيد حروفات کلمات و کلمات کتاب و شما نهالهائی هستيد که از دست عنايت در ارض رحمت کشته شده‌ايد و از امطار کرم نموّ نموده‌ايد شما را از عاصفات شرک و قاصفات کفر حفظ فرمود و بايادی شفقت تربيت نمود * حال وقت اثمار و اوراق است و اثمار سدره انسانی اعمال طيّبه و اخلاق مرضيّه بوده و هست اين اثمار را از غافلين منع منمائيد اگر پذيرفتند مقصود حاصل و حيات ظاهر و الّا ذروهم فی خوضهم يلعبون * يا حزب اللّه جهد نمائيد شايد قلوب احزاب مختلفه عالم باب بردباری و شفقت شما از ضغينه و بغضاء پاک و پاکيزه شود و قابل و لائق تجلّيات افتاب حقيقت گردد *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And still again in another connection: "This is the day to make mention of God, to celebrate His praise, and to serve Him; deprive not yourselves thereof. Ye are the letters of the words, and the words of the Book. Ye are the saplings which the hand of Loving-kindness hath planted in the soil of mercy, and which the showers of bounty have made to flourish. He hath protected you from the mighty winds of misbelief, and the tempestuous gales of impiety, and nurtured you with the hands of His loving providence. Now is the time for you to put forth your leaves, and yield your fruit. The fruits of the tree of man have ever been and are goodly deeds and a praiseworthy character. Withhold not these fruits from the heedless. If they be accepted, your end is attained, and the purpose of life achieved. If not, leave them in their pastime of vain disputes. Strive, O people of God, that haply the hearts of the divers kindreds of the earth may, through the waters of your forbearance and loving-kindness, be cleansed and sanctified from animosity and hatred, and be made worthy and befitting recipients of the splendors of the Sun of Truth."

Translation Notes

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

مقام

q-w-m → “connection”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ديگر

d-g-r → “another”

literal: home; place; land; abode

امروز

r-w-z → “day”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

ذکر

dh-k-r → “make mention”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

ثناء

th-n-y → “praise”

literal: praise; commendation; eulogy; glorification; praise, commendation, eulogy

خدمتست

kh-d-m → “to serve Him”

literal: service; servant; serve

خود

kh-w-d → “their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

محروم

ḥ-r-m → “deprive”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

منمائيد

n-m-ʾ → “deprive” Distinctive

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

شمائيد

b-w-d → “are”

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

حروفات

ḥ-r-f → “letters”

literal: letter; character; edge

کلمات

k-l-m → “words”

literal: words; utterances; locutions

کتاب

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

شما

sh-m-ʾ → “Ye”

literal: you (plural); your

نهالهائی

n-h-l → “saplings”

literal: young plant; sapling; tree

هستيد

h-s-t → “are”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

دست

d-s-t → “hand”

literal: hand; control, power, authority

عنايت

ʿ-n-y → “Loving-kindness”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “soil” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

رحمت

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

کشته

k-sh-t → “killed”

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

شده‌ايد

sh-w-d → “be”

literal: become; turned into; has become; to become; to be

امطار

m-ṭ-r → “showers”

literal: rain

کرم

k-r-m → “bounty”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

نموّ

n-m-w → “have made to flourish”

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

نموده‌ايد

n-m-ود → “hath” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do/make

عاصفات

ʿ-ṣ-f → “tempestuous”

literal: wind-storm; tempest; violent wind

شرک

sh-r-k → “infidels” Distinctive

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

قاصفات

q-ṣ-f → “gales”

literal: breaking; violent winds; destroying forces

کفر

k-f-r → “repudiated”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

حفظ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “protected”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

فرمود

f-r-m → “saith” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

بايادی

y-d-y → “hands”

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

شفقت

sh-f-q → “kindliness”

literal: tenderness; compassion; mercy; pity

تربيت

r-b-y → “education”

literal: education; upbringing; training; cultivation

حال

ḥ-w-l → “Now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

وقت

w-q-t → “time”

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

اثمار

th-m-r → “fruit”

literal: fruit; the fruit

اوراق

w-r-q → “leaves”

literal: leaf, page, sheet, parchment, document

سدره

s-d-r → “tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

انسانی

ʾ-n-s → “man”

literal: human; mankind; of humanity

اعمال

ʿ-m-l → “deeds”

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

طيّبه

ṭ-y-b → “goodly”

literal: good; pure; sweet; fragrant; virtuous

اخلاق

kh-l-q → “character”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

مرضيّه

r-ḍ-y → “Thy pleasure” Distinctive

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

غافلين

gh-f-l → “heedless”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

منع

m-n-ʿ → “Withhold”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

پذيرفتند

p-dh-y → “have acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: accept; to-accept

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

حاصل

ḥ-ṣ-l

literal: obtained; result; sum

حيات

ḥ-y-y → “life”

literal: life; vitality; living

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

الّا

ʾ-kh-r

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

ذروهم

dh-r-r → “atom” Distinctive

literal: atom; atoms; particle

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

خوضهم

kh-w-ḍ → “cavilings!””

literal: to wade; to engage in; to busy oneself

يلعبون

l-ʿ-b

literal: to play; to sport; to jest

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

حزب

ḥ-z-b → “people”

literal: party; people; community

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

جهد

j-h-d → “Strive”

literal: effort; striving; exertion; endeavor

شايد

sh-y-d → “haply”

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

قلوب

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

مختلفه

kh-l-f → “divers”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “earth” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

باب

b-w-b

literal: door; gate; chapter; way; manner

بردباری

b-r-d → “brother” Distinctive

literal: brother

ضغينه

ḍ-gh-n → “hatred”

literal: rancor, hatred, malice, spite

بغضاء

b-gh-ḍ → “hatred”

literal: hatred; enmity; animosity

پاک

p-ʾ-k → “cleansed”

literal: pure; clean; sanctified; holy

قابل

q-b-l → “worthy”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

لائق

l-y-q → “worthy”

literal: worthy, befitting, appropriate, suitable

تجلّيات

j-l-w → “revelation” Distinctive

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

افتاب

ʾ-f-t-ʾ-b → “Day-Star”

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

حقيقت

ḥ-q-q → “Truth”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

گردد

g-r-d

literal: become; to become; make

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 ¶