Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §59

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 59 of 268.

Source (Persian)

اين ايّام از جميع جهات اعداء ظاهر و نار بغضاء مشتعل * ای اهل ارض لعمری و عمرکم اين مظلوم خيال رياست نداشته و ندارد و مقصود رفع انچه سبب اختلاف احزاب عالم و تفريق امم است بوده و هست تا کلّ فارغ و ازاد شوند و بخود پردازند * استدعا انکه دوستان اين ذيل را بغبار اکاذيب نيالايند و بذکر خوارق عادات که نزد ايشان است از شان و مقام و تقديس و تنزيه نکاهند

Shoghi Effendi Translation

In these days enemies have compassed Us about, and the fire of hatred is kindled. O peoples of the earth! By My life and by your own! This Wronged One hath never had, nor hath He now any desire for leadership. Mine aim hath ever been, and still is, to suppress whatever is the cause of contention amidst the peoples of the earth, and of separation amongst the nations, so that all men may be sanctified from every earthly attachment, and be set free to occupy themselves with their own interests. We entreat Our loved ones not to besmirch the hem of Our raiment with the dust of falsehood, neither to allow references to what they have regarded as miracles and prodigies to debase Our rank and station, or to mar the purity and sanctity of Our name.

Translation Notes

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

ايّام

y-w-m → “days”

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

از

ʾ-z → “In” Distinctive

literal: from

جميع

j-m-ʿ

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

جهات

j-h-t

literal: direction; aspect; side; regard

اعداء

ʿ-d-w → “enemies”

literal: when; if; whenever; at that time

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r

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

نار

n-ʾ-r → “fire”

literal: light; illumination

بغضاء

b-gh-ḍ → “hatred”

literal: hatred; enmity; animosity

مشتعل

sh-ʿ-l → “kindled”

literal: to burn; to be inflamed; to kindle; burning; blazing

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “peoples”

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

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

لعمری

ʿ-m-r → “By My life”

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One”

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

خيال

kh-y-l → “desire”

literal: ill-wishing; malice; enmity

رياست

r-ʾ-s → “leadership”

literal: ostentation; hypocrisy; vainglory; ruin

نداشته

d-ʾ-sh-t → “have no”

literal: to have; to possess; to hold

ندارد

d-ʾ-r → “repository” Distinctive

literal: below; lower than; beneath

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “aim” Distinctive

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

رفع

r-f-ʿ → “raised”

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

انچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; indeed; that, to

سبب

s-b-b → “cause”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

اختلاف

kh-l-f → “contention”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

احزاب

ḥ-z-b → “peoples”

literal: party; people; community

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “earth” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

تفريق

f-r-q → “separation”

literal: faction; sect; group; company

امم

ʾ-m-m → “nations”

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

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

هست

h-s-t → “hath” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

تا

t-y-y → “so that”

literal: so that/until

کلّ

k-l-l → “all men”

literal: for us; to us

فارغ

f-r-gh → “detached”

literal: free; detached; empty; unoccupied

ازاد

ʾ-z-d → “freed”

literal: free; liberated; at liberty; freedom

شوند

sh-w-d → “may be” Distinctive

literal: become; to become; became

بخود

kh-w-d → “their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

پردازند

p-r-d-ʾ-z → “occupied”

literal: to engage in; to undertake; to deal with

استدعا

d-ʿ-w → “entreat”

literal: call, invocation, summons; to call, invite, summon

دوستان

d-w-s-t → “loved ones”

literal: friend; beloved

ذيل

dh-y-l → “hem”

literal: hem; skirt; fold of a garment; train

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بغبار

gh-b-r → “dust”

literal: dust; particles

اکاذيب

k-dh-b → “falsehood”

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

بذکر

dh-k-r → “references” Distinctive

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

خوارق

kh-r-q → “rent asunder” Distinctive

literal: miracle; extraordinary occurrence; to tear; to breach

عادات

ʿ-w-d

literal: return; habit; Ad

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

نزد

n-z-d

literal: near; beside; with; in the presence of

ايشان

ʾ-y-sh

literal: that; it (object pronoun with suffix)

شان

sh-ʾ-n → “in such wise”

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

مقام

q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

تقديس

q-d-s → “sanctity”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

تنزيه

n-z-h → “purity”

literal: exalted; sanctified; free from; removed from

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 ¶