Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §74

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 74 of 268.

Source (Persian)

مقصود از ذکر الوهيّت و ربوبيّت را عباد ملتفت نشده‌اند چه اگر بيابند از مقام خود قيام کنند و بکلمه تبنا الی اللّه ناطق گردند * حضرت خاتم روح ما سواه فداه ميفرمايد [ لنا مع اللّه حالاتٌ نحن فيها هو و هو نحن و هو هو و نحن نحن ]

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Men have failed to perceive Our purpose in the references We have made to Divinity and Godhood. Were they to apprehend it, they would arise from their places, and cry out: "We, verily, ask pardon of God!" The Seal of the Prophets - may the souls of all else but Him be offered up for His sake - saith: "Manifold are Our relationships with God. At one time, We are He Himself, and He is We Ourself. At another He is that He is, and We are that We are."

Translation Notes

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

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

از

ʾ-z → “in” Distinctive

literal: from

ذکر

dh-k-r → “references” Distinctive

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

الوهيّت

ʾ-l-h → “Divinity”

literal: Divinity; divine nature; godhood

ربوبيّت

r-b-b → “Godhood” Distinctive

literal: divine; of God; lordly

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “Men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

ملتفت

l-f-t → “turn” Distinctive

literal: to turn; to perceive; to pay attention

نشده‌اند

sh-w-d

literal: to become; to be

چه

ch-h

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

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

بيابند

y-ʾ-b → “they may find”

literal: to find; to obtain; to discover

مقام

q-w-m → “places” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

خود

kh-w-d → “their”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

کنند

k-r-d → “made” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do, make

بکلمه

k-l-m

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

تبنا

t-w-b → “Forgiving” Distinctive

literal: to repent; to turn back; to return

الی

ʾ-l-y → “of” Distinctive

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

ناطق

n-ṭ-q → “cry out” Distinctive

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

گردند

g-r-d

literal: to become; to happen; to come to pass

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

خاتم

kh-t-m → “Seal”

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

روح

r-w-ḥ → “souls” Distinctive

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

سواه

s-w-y → “Him”

literal: other than; other-than; besides

فداه

f-d-y → “be offered up” Distinctive

literal: alas; woe; oh

ميفرمايد

f-r-m → “saith”

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

لنا

l-n → “neither”

literal: for us; to us

مع

m-ʿ → “with”

literal: with; together with; alongside

حالاتٌ

ḥ-ʾ-l → “plight” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

نحن

n-ḥ-n → “We are”

literal: we

فيها

f-y

literal: in it; in them

هو

h-w → “He Himself”

literal: He; He is

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 ¶