Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §71

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 71 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا شيخ علمای عصر در تجلّيات سدره بيان لابن عمران در طور عرفان چه ميگويند ان حضرت کلمه را از سدره اصغا نمود و قبول فرمود و لکن اکثری از ادراک اين مقام محروم چه که بما عندهم مشغولند و از ما عند اللّه غافل * سيّد فندرسک در اين مقام خوب گفته \[ اين سخن را در نيابد هيچ فهم ظاهری گر ابو نصر ستی و ور بوعلی سينا ستی ] ايا در اين فقره که خاتم انبيا روح ماسواه فداه فرموده چه ميگويند ميفرمايد [ سترون ربّکم کما ترون البدر فی ليلة اربعة عشر ] و حضرت امير عليه السّلام در خطبه طتنجيّه ميفرمايد [ فتوقّعوا ظهور مکلّم موسی من الشّجرة علی الطّور ] و همچنين حسين بن علیّ عليه السّلام ميفرمايد [ أيکون لغيرک من الظّهور ما ليس لک حتی يکون هو المظهر لک عميت عين لا تراک ] *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Shaykh! How do the divines of this age account for the effulgent glory which the Sadrah of Utterance hath shed upon the Son of Imran (Moses) on the Sinai of Divine knowledge? He (Moses) hearkened unto the Word which the Burning Bush had uttered, and accepted it; and yet most men are bereft of the power of comprehending this, inasmuch as they have busied themselves with their own concerns, and are unaware of the things which belong unto God. Referring to this, the Siyyid of Findirisk hath well said: "This theme no mortal mind can fathom; be it even that of Abu-Nasr, or Abú-‘Alí Síná (Avicenna)." What explanation can they give concerning that which the Seal of the Prophets (Muḥammad) - may the souls of all else but Him be offered up for His sake - hath said?: "Ye, verily, shall behold your Lord as ye behold the full moon on its fourteenth night." The Commander of the Faithful (Imam ‘Alí) - peace be upon him - moreover, saith in the Khutbiy-i-Tutujiyyih: "Anticipate ye the Revelation of Him Who conversed with Moses from the Burning Bush on Sinai." Ḥusayn, the son of ‘Alí - peace be upon him - likewise saith: "Will there be vouchsafed unto anyone besides Thee a Revelation which hath not been vouchsafed unto Thyself - A Revelation Whose Revealer will be He Who revealed Thee. Blind be the eye that seeth Thee not!"

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

شيخ

sh-y-kh → “Shaykh”

literal: elder; elder/shaykh; sheikh

علمای

ʿ-l-m → “divines”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

عصر

ʿ-ṣ-r → “age”

literal: age; era; century; period of time

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

تجلّيات

j-l-w → “revelation” Distinctive

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

سدره

s-d-r → “Tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

بيان

b-y-n → “Utterance”

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

لابن

b-n-y → “Son”

literal: brick; son (construct form ‘ibn’)

عمران

ʿ-m-r → “By My life”

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

طور

ṭ-w-r → “rustling” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; stages; modes; phases; manner

عرفان

ʿ-r-f → “Divine knowledge”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

چه

ch-h → “For”

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

ميگويند

g-w-y → “I say” Distinctive

literal: utterance; speaking; the one who speaks

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “He” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

کلمه

k-l-m → “Word”

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

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

اصغا

ṣ-gh-w → “hearkened”

literal: to listen, hear; to give ear

نمود

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

قبول

q-b-l → “accepted”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

فرمود

f-r-m → “said”

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

لکن

l-k-n → “yet”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

اکثری

k-th-r → “most”

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

ادراک

d-r-k → “comprehending”

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

مقام

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

محروم

ḥ-r-m → “bereft”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

عندهم

ʿ-n-d → “Thee” Distinctive

literal: vessel; container; circumstance; adroitness

مشغولند

sh-gh-l → “busied”

literal: to occupy; to engage; to busy; occupation

اللّه

ʾ-l-h

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

غافل

gh-f-l → “unaware”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

سيّد

s-y-d → “Siyyid”

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

خوب

kh-w-b → “fast asleep” Distinctive

literal: ill-wisher; malevolent; those who wish harm

گفته

g-f-t → “said”

literal: utterance; speech; word; discourse

سخن

s-kh-n → “theme”

literal: word; speech; discourse; utterance

نيابد

y-ʾ-f → “discover the things” Distinctive

literal: to find; to obtain; to discover; to reach

هيچ

h-y-ch → “any”

literal: nothing; any; not a single

فهم

f-h-m → “understanding”

literal: understanding; comprehension; to understand; to comprehend

ظاهری

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

گر

g-r

literal: doing

ابو

ʾ-b-w → “fathers”

literal: father; to father; Abú Dharr (companion of Prophet Muhammad)

نصر

n-ṣ-r

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

ستی

h-s-t → “are”

literal: praise; glorification; laudation; level; equal; balanced

سينا

s-y-n → ““sin”

literal: tooth; years; future; breast; chest; bosom

ايا

ʾ-y-y

literal: does; is it that (interrogative particle); sign; verse; O! (vocative particle); him; them (object pronoun)

فقره

f-q-r → “poor”

literal: poor; needy; the poor one; pauper

خاتم

kh-t-m → “Seal”

literal: to seal; to conclude; to end; seal

انبيا

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets”

literal: prophet; prophets

روح

r-w-ḥ → “souls” Distinctive

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

ماسواه

s-w-y → “all else” Distinctive

literal: other than; other-than; besides

فداه

f-d-y → “offered up for His sake”

literal: to sacrifice; to ransom; to redeem

سترون

r-ʾ-y → “beholdest” Distinctive

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

ربّکم

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: Lord; Master; Sustainer; Cherisher

کما

k-m

literal: as; like; how much; lane; street; quarter; abode

ترون

r-ʾ-y → “ye behold” Distinctive

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

البدر

b-d-r → “worst” Distinctive

literal: awake; vigilant; to awaken

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

ليلة

l-y-l → “night”

literal: night; darkness

اربعة

r-b-ʿ → “fourteenth”

literal: spring; four; forty

عشر

ʿ-sh-r

literal: association; companionship; social interaction; عشرين (twenty) is from numeral root ع-ش-ر, distinct from ‘association’ meaning

امير

ʾ-m-r

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

عليه

ʿ-l-y → “peace be upon him”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

السّلام

s-l-m

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

خطبه

kh-ṭ-b

literal: discourse; address; speech; utterance; the divine word

فتوقّعوا

w-q-ʿ → “occurred” Distinctive

literal: occurring; occurred; fall

مکلّم

k-l-m → “words” Distinctive

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

من

m-n → “from”

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

الشّجرة

sh-j-r → “Burning Bush” Distinctive

literal: tree

علی

ʿ-l-w → “on” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

همچنين

ch-n-n → “likewise”

literal: always; ever; forever; at all times; constantly

حسين

ḥ-s-n → “most excellent”

literal: best; Husayn; beautiful

أيکون

k-w-n → “be”

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

لغيرک

gh-y-r → “besides Thee”

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

ليس

l-y-s → “is not”

literal: is not; to be not

لک

l → “His is”

literal: for; for you; for him

حتی

ḥ-t-y

literal: to be necessary, inevitable; determined

هو

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

عميت

ʿ-m-y → “Blind”

literal: blindness; to be blind

عين

ʿ-y-n → “eye”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

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 ¶