Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §68

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 68 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا سلطان لو تسمع صرير القلم الاعلی و هدير ورقاء البقاء علی افنان سدرة المنتهی فی ذکر اللّه موجد الاسماء و خالق الارض و السّماء ليبلّغک الی مقام لا تری فی الوجود الّا تجلّی حضرة المعبود و تری الملک احقر شیء عندک تضعه لمن اراد و تتوجّه الی افق کان بانوار الوجه مضيئا و لا تحمل ثقل الملک ابدا الّا لنصرة ربّک العليّ الاعلی * اذا يُصَلِّی عليک الملأ الاعلی حبّذا هذا المقام الاسنی لو ترتقی اليه بسلطان کان باسم اللّه معروفا *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

"O King! Wert thou to incline thine ears unto the shrill voice of the Pen of Glory and the cooing of the Dove of Eternity, which on the branches of the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing, uttereth praises to God, the Maker of all Names and the Creator of earth and heaven, thou wouldst attain unto a station from which thou wouldst behold in the world of being naught save the effulgence of the Adored One, and wouldst regard thy sovereignty as the most contemptible of thy possessions, abandoning it to whosoever might desire it, and setting thy face toward the Horizon aglow with the light of His countenance. Neither wouldst thou ever be willing to bear the burden of dominion save for the purpose of helping thy Lord, the Exalted, the Most High. Then would the Concourse on high bless thee. O how excellent is this most sublime station, couldst thou ascend thereunto through the power of a sovereignty recognized as derived from the Name of God!"

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

سلطان

s-l-ṭ → “King”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

تسمع

s-m-ʿ → “incline thine ears” Distinctive

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

صرير

ṣ-r-r → “voice”

literal: creaking sound; shrill voice; grating noise

القلم

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

الاعلی

ʿ-l-w → “Glory” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

هدير

h-d-r → “cooing”

literal: to waste; to squander; vain; futile

ورقاء

w-r-q → “Dove”

literal: leaf, page, sheet, parchment, document

البقاء

b-q-y → “Eternity”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal

افنان

f-n-n → “branches”

literal: twigs; branches

سدرة

s-d-r → “Lote-Tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

المنتهی

n-h-y → “forbidden” Distinctive

literal: to grant, bestow favor; grace, bounty, kindness

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

ذکر

dh-k-r → “praises”

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

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

موجد

w-j-d → “Maker”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

الاسماء

s-m-w → “Names”

literal: heaven; sky

خالق

kh-l-q → “Creator”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

ليبلّغک

b-l-gh → “thou wouldst attain”

literal: to reach; to attain; to deliver; to proclaim

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

مقام

q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

تری

r-ʾ-y → “behold”

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

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: end; hereafter; other

تجلّی

j-l-w → “revelation”

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

حضرة

ḥ-ḍ-r

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

المعبود

ʿ-b-d → “Adored One”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

الملک

m-l-k → “sovereignty” Distinctive

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

احقر

ḥ-q-r → “most contemptible”

literal: to despise, belittle, deem insignificant

شیء

sh-y-ʾ

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

عندک

ʿ-n-d → “possessions” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

تضعه

w-ḍ-ʿ → “low” Distinctive

literal: place; lowly; put down

لمن

m-n → “whosoever” Distinctive

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

اراد

r-y-d → “desire” Distinctive

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

تتوجّه

w-j-h → “setting thy face”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

افق

ʾ-f-q → “Horizon”

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

کان

k-w-n

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

بانوار

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

مضيئا

ḍ-w-ʾ → “shineth” Distinctive

literal: to shine; to illuminate; to light up; illumined; shining; radiant

تحمل

ḥ-m-l → “bear”

literal: to bear; to endure; to carry; to tolerate

ثقل

th-q-l → “her burdens”

literal: weight; heavy; weighty testimony

ابدا

ʾ-b-d → “never”

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

لنصرة

n-ṣ-r → “helping”

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

ربّک

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

اذا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

يُصَلِّی

ṣ-l-w → “bless”

literal: to reach; to arrive; to attain; to connect

عليک

ʿ-l-y

literal: upon; on; exalted

الملأ

m-l-ʾ → “Concourse”

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

حبّذا

ḥ-b-b → “love” Distinctive

literal: love; beloved; beloved ones

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this most”

literal: this; that

الاسنی

s-n-w → “sublime”

literal: most beautiful; finest; highest

ترتقی

r-q-y → “ascend”

literal: raise them; promote them; heal them; ascension; elevation; rise

اليه

ʾ-l-y → “besmirch”

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

معروفا

ʿ-r-f → “recognized as derived” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet

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50 ¶

Gleanings

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶