Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §81

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 81 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا ملک اسمع النّداء من هذه النّار المشتعلة من هذه الشّجرة الخضراء فی هذا الطّور المرتفع علی البقعة المقدّسة البيضاء خلف قُلزُم البقاء انّه لا اله الّا انا الغفور الرّحيم * قد ارسلنا من ايّدناه بروح القدس ليخبرکم بهذا النّور الّذی اشرق من افق مشيّة ربّکم العلیّ الابهی و ظهرت فی الغرب اثاره توجّهوا اليه فی هذا اليوم الّذی جعله اللّه غرّة الايّام و فيه تجلّی الرّحمن علی من فی السّموات و الارضين * قم علی خدمة اللّه و نصرة امره انّه يؤيّدک بجنود الغيب و الشّهادة و يجعلک سلطانا علی ما تطلع الشّمس عليه انّ ربّک هو المقتدر القدير *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

"Give ear, O King, unto the Voice that calleth from the Fire which burneth in this verdant Tree, on this Sinai which hath been raised above the hallowed and snow-white Spot, beyond the Everlasting City; \‘Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful!' We, in truth, have sent Him Whom We aided with the Holy Spirit (Jesus Christ) that He may announce unto you this Light that hath shone forth from the horizon of the will of your Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, and Whose signs have been revealed in the West. Set your faces towards Him (Bahá’u’lláh), on this Day which God hath exalted above all other days, and whereon the All-Merciful hath shed the splendor of His effulgent glory upon all who are in heaven and all who are on earth. Arise thou to serve God and help His Cause. He, verily, will assist thee with the hosts of the seen and unseen, and will set thee king over all that whereon the sun riseth. Thy Lord, in truth, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

ملک

m-l-k → “King”

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

اسمع

s-m-ʿ → ““Give ear”

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

النّداء

n-d-y → “Voice”

literal: call; voice; proclamation; forty; forty years

من

m-n → “from”

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

هذه

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

النّار

n-ʾ-r → “Fire”

literal: light; illumination

المشتعلة

sh-ʿ-l → “kindled”

literal: to kindle, burn, be inflamed; to blaze

الشّجرة

sh-j-r → “Tree”

literal: tree

الخضراء

kh-ḍ-r → “green”

literal: green; verdant; greenness

فی

f-y → “in this”

literal: alas; woe; oh

الطّور

ṭ-w-r → “rustling” Distinctive

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

المرتفع

r-f-ʿ → “raised”

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

علی

ʿ-l-w → “above” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

البقعة

b-q-ʿ → “Spot”

literal: place; spot; ground; locality

المقدّسة

q-d-s → “hallowed” Distinctive

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

البيضاء

b-y-ḍ → “snow-white”

literal: white; pure; bright; radiant; clear

خلف

kh-l-f → “beyond”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

البقاء

b-q-y → “Everlasting” Distinctive

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “\‘Verily” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

اله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “but” Distinctive

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

انا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الغفور

gh-f-r → “Ever-Forgiving”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

الرّحيم

r-ḥ-m → “Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

قد

q-d → “We have been”

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

ارسلنا

r-s-l → “sent”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

ايّدناه

ʾ-y-d → “aided” Distinctive

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

بروح

r-w-ḥ → “Spirit”

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

ليخبرکم

kh-b-r → “All-Informed” Distinctive

literal: all-knowing; aware; well-informed; omniscient

النّور

n-w-r

literal: light; illumination

الّذی

l-dh-y → “that hath” Distinctive

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

اشرق

sh-r-q → “shone forth”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

افق

ʾ-f-q → “horizon”

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

مشيّة

sh-y-ʾ → “will”

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

ربّکم

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: Lord; Master; Sustainer; Cherisher

الابهی

b-h-w → “All-Glorious”

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

ظهرت

ẓ-h-r → “revealed”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

الغرب

gh-r-b → “West”

literal: west; sunset; place of setting

اثاره

ʾ-th-r → “signs”

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

توجّهوا

w-j-h → “Set your faces”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

اليه

ʾ-l-y → “besmirch”

literal: to; to him; besmirch

اليوم

y-w-m

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

جعله

j-ʿ-l → “hath exalted” Distinctive

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

غرّة

gh-r-r → “pride” Distinctive

literal: vanity; delusion; pride

تجلّی

j-l-w → “shed the splendor”

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

السّموات

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

الارضين

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

قم

q-w-m → “Arise”

literal: station; rank; standing place

خدمة

kh-d-m → “serve”

literal: service; servitude; to serve

نصرة

n-ṣ-r → “help”

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

امره

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

بجنود

j-n-d → “hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

الغيب

gh-y-b → “unseen”

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

الشّهادة

sh-h-d → “seen”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

سلطانا

s-l-ṭ

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

تطلع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “riseth”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

الشّمس

sh-m-s → “sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

عليه

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: upon; on; exalted

هو

h-w

literal: He; He is

المقتدر

q-d-r → “All-Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

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 ¶