Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §79

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 79 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا ملک باريس نبّئ القسّيس ان لا يدقّ النّواقيس * تاللّه الحقّ قد ظهر النّاقوس الافخم علی هيکل الاسم الاعظم و تدقّه اصابع مشيّة ربّک العلیّ الاعلی فی جبروت البقاء باسمه الابهی * کذلک نزّلت آيات ربّک الکبری تارّة اخری لتقوم علی ذکر اللّه فاطر الارض و السّماء فی هذه الايّام الّتی فيها ناحت قبائل الارض کلّها و تزلزلت ارکان البلاد و غشّت العباد غبرة الالحاد الّا من شاء ربّک العليم الحکيم * قل قد اتی المختار فی ظلل الانوار ليحيی الاکوان من نفحات اسمه الرّحمن و يتّحد العالم و يجتمعوا علی هذه المائدة الّتی نزلت من السّماء * ايّاکم ان تکفروا بنعمة اللّه بعد انزالها هذا خير لکم ممّا عندکم لانّه سيفنی و ما عند اللّه يبقی انّه هو الحاکم علی ما يريد * قد هبّت نسمات الغفران من شطر ربّکم الرّحمن * من اقبل اليها طهّرته عن العصيان و عن کلّ داء و سقم طوبی لمن اقبل اليها و ويل للمعرضين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O King of Paris! Tell the priest to ring the bells no longer. By God, the True One! The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared in the form of Him Who is the Most Great Name, and the fingers of the will of Thy Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High, toll it out in the heaven of Immortality, in His name, the All-Glorious. Thus have the mighty verses of Thy Lord been again sent down unto thee, that thou mayest arise to remember God, the Creator of earth and heaven, in these days when all the tribes of the earth have mourned, and the foundations of the cities have trembled, and the dust of irreligion hath enwrapped all men, except such as God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, was pleased to spare. Say: He Who is the Unconditioned is come, in the clouds of light, that He may quicken all created things with the breezes of His Name, the Most Merciful, and unify the world, and gather all men around this Table which hath been sent down from heaven. Beware that ye deny not the favor of God after it hath been sent down unto you. Better is this for you than that which ye possess; for that which is yours perisheth, whilst that which is with God endureth. He, in truth, ordaineth what He pleaseth. Verily, the breezes of forgiveness have been wafted from the direction of your Lord, the God of Mercy; whoso turneth thereunto, shall be cleansed of his sins, and of all pain and sickness. Happy the man that hath turned towards them, and woe betide him that hath turned aside. "

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

ملک

m-l-k → “King”

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

نبّئ

n-b-ʾ

literal: prophet; messenger

القسّيس

q-s-s → “Tell”

literal: priest

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لا

l-ʾ → “no”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يدقّ

d-q-q → “for a moment” Distinctive

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

النّواقيس

n-q-s → “the bells”

literal: bell; something that rings or sounds

تاللّه

ʾ-l-h → “By” Distinctive

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

الحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “God, the True One”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

قد

q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

ظهر

ẓ-h-r → “appeared”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

الافخم

f-kh-m

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

علی

ʿ-l-w → “in” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

هيکل

h-y-k-l → “form”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

الاسم

s-m-w → “the Most Great Name”

literal: heaven; sky

الاعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

اصابع

ṣ-b-ʿ → “fingers”

literal: finger; digit

مشيّة

sh-y-ʾ → “of the will”

literal: way; manner; gait; to walk; to go; to proceed

ربّک

r-b-b → “of Thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in it; in them

جبروت

j-b-r → “heaven”

literal: compelled; forced; constrained

البقاء

b-q-y → “of Immortality”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal

الابهی

b-h-w → “the All-Glorious”

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

کذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: thus; likewise; also

نزّلت

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

آيات

ʾ-y-y → “mighty verses”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

الکبری

k-b-r

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

تارّة

t-w-r

literal: Torah; time; Torah, Pentateuch

اخری

ʾ-kh-r → “again”

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

لتقوم

q-w-m → “mayest arise”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ذکر

dh-k-r → “remember” Distinctive

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

فاطر

f-ṭ-r → “Creator”

literal: creator; the one who splits/creates

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “of earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

هذه

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الايّام

y-w-m → “Day”

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

الّتی

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

ناحت

n-w-ḥ → “have mourned” Distinctive

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

کلّها

k-l-l → “all”

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

تزلزلت

z-l-z-l → “dismayed” Distinctive

literal: to shake; to quake; to be shaken; to be moved

ارکان

r-k-n → “foundations”

literal: pillar; cornerstone; support; fundamental element; limb; member

البلاد

b-l-d → “of the cities”

literal: city; land; country

غشّت

gh-sh-w → “hath enwrapped”

literal: confused, turbid, troubled, obscured

العباد

ʿ-b-d → “all men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

غبرة

gh-b-r → “dust”

literal: dust; cloud; with-dust

الالحاد

l-ḥ-d → “impious” Distinctive

literal: melodies; songs; tunes

من

m-n → “from”

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

العليم

ʿ-l-m → “the All-Knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

الحکيم

ḥ-k-m → “the All-Wise”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

اتی

ʾ-t-y → “is come”

literal: to come; to arrive; to bring; to go; coming; arrival; the one coming; to give; Revelation; came; gave; brought

المختار

kh-y-r → “He Who is the Unconditioned”

literal: west; the western region

ظلل

ẓ-l-l → “clouds”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

الانوار

n-w-r → “of light”

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

ليحيی

ḥ-y-y → “life” Distinctive

literal: life; living; shame

الاکوان

k-w-n → “all created things”

literal: be; was; to be

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “breezes”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “the Most Merciful” Distinctive

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

يتّحد

w-ḥ-d → “one” Distinctive

literal: unity; one; oneness

يجتمعوا

j-m-ʿ → “gather”

literal: all; all, entire; group

المائدة

m-y-d → “Table”

literal: extended; outstretched; sustained

ايّاکم

w-q-y → “Fear” Distinctive

literal: beware; take heed; woe to you

تکفروا

k-f-r → “repudiated”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

بنعمة

n-ʿ-m → “favor”

literal: bliss; bounty; grace; comfort; felicity

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

لکم

l-k-m → “unto you”

literal: for you, to you, your (dative pronoun)

عندکم

ʿ-n-d → “that which ye possess”

literal: vessel; container; circumstance; adroitness

لانّه

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; indeed; moment

سيفنی

f-n-y → “yours perisheth”

literal: sword

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; indeed; moment

هو

h-w

literal: He; He is

يريد

r-y-d → “pleaseth”

literal: will; intention; to will; to intend; to wish

هبّت

h-b-b → “wafted”

literal: blowing; blow; blow/waft

نسمات

n-s-m → “breezes”

literal: breeze; gentle wind; fragrance

الغفران

gh-f-r → “of forgiveness”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

شطر

sh-ṭ-r → “direction”

literal: side, direction; half; to split

اقبل

q-b-l → “turneth”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

اليها

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: to it; towards it; unto it

طهّرته

ṭ-h-r → “shall be cleansed”

literal: to purify; to cleanse

عن

ʿ-n → “of”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

العصيان

ʿ-ṣ-y → “sinner”

literal: disobey; transgress; rebel

داء

d-w-ʾ → “pain”

literal: disease; malady; ailment; ills

سقم

s-q-m → “sickness”

literal: sickness; disease; ailment

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Happy”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

ويل

w-y-l → “woe”

literal: woe; alas; grief

للمعرضين

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned aside”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

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 ¶