Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §55

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 55 of 268.

Source (Persian)

کلمه سوم که در ورق سوم فردوس ذکر نموديم اين است * يابن الانسان لو تکون ناظرا الی الفضل ضع ما ينفعک و خذ ما ينتفع به العباد و ان تکن ناظرا الی العدل اختر لدونک ما تختاره لنفسک * انّ الانسان مرّة يرفعه الخضوع الی سماء العزّة و الاقتدار و اخری ينزله الغرور الی مقام الذّلّة و الانکسار * يوم عظيم است و نداء بزرگ * در لوحی از الواح اين کلمه عليا را ذکر نموديم * اگر عالم روح بتمامه بقوّه سامعه تبديل شود ميتوان گفت لائق اصغاء اين نداء است که از افق اعلی مرتفع و الّا اين اذانهای الوده بقصص کاذبه لائق نبوده و نيست طوبی للسّامعين و ويل للغافلين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The third word we have recorded on the third leaf of Paradise is this: "O son of man! If thine eyes be turned towards mercy, forsake the things that profit thee, and cleave unto that which will profit mankind. And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself. Humility exalteth man to the heaven of glory and power, whilst pride abaseth him to the depths of wretchedness and degradation. Great is the Day, and mighty the Call! In one of Our Tablets We have revealed these exalted words: \‘Were the world of the spirit to be wholly converted into the sense of hearing, it could then claim to be worthy to hearken unto the Voice that calleth from the Supreme Horizon; for otherwise, these ears that are defiled with lying tales have never been, nor are they now, fit to hear it.' Well is it with them that hearken; and woe betide the wayward."

Translation Notes

کلمه

k-l-m → “third word”

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

سوم

th-l-th → “third”

literal: third

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ورق

w-r-q → “leaf”

literal: leaf, page, sheet, parchment, document

فردوس

f-r-d-w-s → “Paradise”

literal: paradise; garden

ذکر

dh-k-r → “recorded” Distinctive

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

نموديم

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

يابن

b-n-y → ““O son of man”

literal: son; foundation; sons

الانسان

ʾ-n-s → “man”

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

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

تکون

k-w-n → “be”

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

ناظرا

n-ẓ-r → “turned”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

الفضل

f-ḍ-l → “mercy”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

ضع

w-ḍ-ʿ → “low” Distinctive

literal: place; lowly; put down

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

ينفعک

n-f-ʿ → “profit thee”

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

خذ

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold” Distinctive

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

العباد

ʿ-b-d → “mankind” Distinctive

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

العدل

ʿ-d-l → “justice”

literal: justice; equity

اختر

kh-y-r → “choose”

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

لدونک

d-w-n → “except Thee”

literal: below; lower than; beneath

لنفسک

n-f-s → “for thyself”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

مرّة

m-r-r

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

يرفعه

r-f-ʿ → “exalteth”

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

الخضوع

kh-ḍ-ʿ → “submissiveness”

literal: humility; submissiveness; lowliness

سماء

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

العزّة

ʿ-z-z → “glory”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

الاقتدار

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

ينزله

n-z-l → “sent down” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

الغرور

gh-r-r → “pride”

literal: delusion, deceit; deluded, deceived

مقام

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

الذّلّة

dh-l-l → “wretchedness”

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

الانکسار

k-s-r → “degradation”

literal: breaking; ravening; destructive

يوم

y-w-m → “Day”

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

عظيم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

نداء

n-d-y → “Call” Distinctive

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

بزرگ

b-z-r-g → “great” Distinctive

literal: great; large; important; grandeur

لوحی

l-w-ḥ → “one of Our Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

عليا

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

روح

r-w-ḥ → “spirit”

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

بتمامه

t-m-m → “all”

literal: most complete; to complete; perfect; fullness

بقوّه

q-w-y → “power”

literal: strength; power; might; piety; fear of God; godliness

سامعه

s-m-ʿ → “hearing”

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

تبديل

b-d-l → “change”

literal: in place of; instead of; to change; to alter (preposition or verb stem)

شود

sh-w-d → “be”

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

ميتوان

t-w-ان → “could then claim”

literal: to be able; to can

گفت

g-f-t

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

لائق

l-y-q → “worthy”

literal: worthy, befitting, appropriate, suitable

اصغاء

ṣ-gh-w → “hearken”

literal: to listen, hear; to give ear

افق

ʾ-f-q → “Horizon”

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “otherwise”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

اذانهای

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: ear; permission; to listen

الوده

ʾ-l-w-d → “defiled”

literal: soiled; defiled

بقصص

q-ṣ-ṣ → “with lying tales”

literal: stories, narratives; to relate

کاذبه

k-dh-b

literal: denial; belying; falsification; rejection; liar; lying; false

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Well is it with”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

ويل

w-y-l → “woe”

literal: woe; alas; grief

للغافلين

gh-f-l → “wayward”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

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 ¶