Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §51

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 51 of 268.

Source (Persian)

کلمه اولی که در ورق اوّل فردوس از قلم ابهی مذکور و مسطور اين است * براستی ميگويم حفظ مبين و حصن متين از برای عموم اهل عالم خشية اللّه بوده اوست سبب اکبر از برای حفظ بشر و علّت کبری از برای صيانت وری * بلی در وجود ايتی موجود و ان انسانرا از انچه شايسته و لايق نيست منع مينمايد و حراست ميفرمايد و نام انرا حيا گذارده‌اند و لکن اين فقره محدود است بمعدودی کلّ دارای اين مقام نبوده و نيستند * بايد سلاطين ايّام و علمای انام به دين تمسّک نمايند چه که اوست علّت ظهور خشية اللّه فيما سواه *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The first word which the Abhá Pen hath revealed and inscribed on the first leaf of Paradise is this: "Verily I say: The fear of God hath ever been a sure defence and a safe stronghold for all the peoples of the world. It is the chief cause of the protection of mankind, and the supreme instrument for its preservation. Indeed, there existeth in man a faculty which deterreth him from, and guardeth him against, whatever is unworthy and unseemly, and which is known as his sense of shame. This, however, is confined to but a few; all have not possessed, and do not possess, it. It is incumbent upon the kings and the spiritual leaders of the world to lay fast hold on religion, inasmuch as through it the fear of God is instilled in all else but Him."

Translation Notes

کلمه

k-l-m → “word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

اولی

ʾ-w-l → “first” Distinctive

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

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r → “on”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ورق

w-r-q → “first leaf”

literal: leaf, page, sheet, parchment, document

فردوس

f-r-d-w-s → “Paradise”

literal: paradise; garden

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

قلم

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

ابهی

b-h-w → “Abhá” Distinctive

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

مذکور

dh-k-r → “revealed” Distinctive

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

مسطور

s-ṭ-r → “inscribed”

literal: written; inscribed; recorded

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

براستی

r-s-t → ““Verily”

literal: truth; verily; truly

ميگويم

g-w-y → “say”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

حفظ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “protect”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

مبين

b-y-n → “utterance” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

حصن

ḥ-ṣ-n → “stronghold”

literal: fortress, stronghold, fortified place

متين

m-t-n → “mighty”

literal: strong; firm; solid; robust

برای

b-r-y → “for”

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

عموم

ʿ-m-m → “all”

literal: universal; general; public; comprehensive

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “peoples”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

خشية

kh-sh-y → “fear of”

literal: fear; awe; reverence

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

اوست

h-s-t → “It”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

سبب

s-b-b → “chief cause”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

اکبر

k-b-r

literal: liver; soul; essence

بشر

b-sh-r → “mankind”

literal: human; mankind; human nature

علّت

ʿ-l-l

literal: for us; to us

کبری

k-b-r → “pride” Distinctive

literal: liver; soul; essence

صيانت

ṣ-w-n → “insure the protection”

literal: preservation; safeguarding; protection

وری

w-r-y

literal: mankind; people; human beings; behind; after

بلی

b-l-y → “Yea”

literal: affliction; trial; calamity; trial, tribulation, affliction, calamity; yes; indeed; verily

وجود

w-j-d → “existeth” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

ايتی

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

انسانرا

ʾ-n-s → “man”

literal: familiar; intimate; companionship; to be acquainted with; companion; intimate friend; to be intimate with; to keep company; to console

انچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

شايسته

sh-y-n → ““shin” Distinctive

literal: fitting, suitable, worthy, appropriate; worthy; fitting; befitting; suitable

لايق

l-y-q → “unseemly” Distinctive

literal: worthy, befitting, appropriate, suitable

منع

m-n-ʿ → “deterreth” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

مينمايد

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to show, to display, to manifest, to exhibit; to manifest; to display; to show

حراست

ḥ-r-s → “protect” Distinctive

literal: to guard, protect, watch over

ميفرمايد

f-r-m → “saith”

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

نام

n-ʾ-m

literal: to sleep; to slumber

انرا

n-w-r

literal: light; lights; luminous

حيا

ḥ-y-y → “shame”

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

گذارده‌اند

g-dh-r

literal: pass; place; passed

لکن

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

فقره

f-q-r

literal: poor; needy; the poor one; pauper

محدود

ḥ-d-d → “limitations” Distinctive

literal: iron; sharp, keen, acute

بمعدودی

ʿ-d-d → “few”

literal: numerous; many; multiple

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: all; every; all, every

دارای

d-ʾ-r → “repository”

literal: veiling; concealment; to have; to possess; to hold

مقام

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

بايد

b-y-d → “incumbent”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

سلاطين

s-l-ṭ → “kings”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

ايّام

y-w-m

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

انام

ʾ-n-m

literal: mankind

به

b-h → “on” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

دين

d-y-n → “religion”

literal: religion; faith; creed

تمسّک

m-s-k → “lay fast hold” Distinctive

literal: musk; to seize; grip; to hold fast; to cling to; to grasp

چه

ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

فيما

f-y → “in”

literal: in a day; during a day; one day after another

سواه

s-w-y → “else but Him” Distinctive

literal: other than; other-than; besides

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 ¶