Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §82

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 82 of 268.

Source (Persian)

قد فاحت نفحات الرّحمن فی الامکان طوبی لمن وجد عرفها و اقبل اليها بقلب سليم * زيّن هيکلک بطراز اسمی و لسانک بذکری و قلبک بحبّی العزيز المنيع * ما اردنا لک الّا ما هو خير لک ممّا عندک و من خزائن الارض کلّها انّ ربّک هو العليم الخبير * قم بين العباد باسمی و قل يا ملأ الارض اقبلوا الی من اقبل اليکم انّه لوجه اللّه بينکم و حجّته فيکم و دليله لکم قد جاءکم بآيات عجز عنها العالمون * انّ شجرة الطّور تنطق فی صدر العالم و روح القدس ينادی بين الامم قد اتی المقصود بسلطان مبين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

"The breezes of the Most Merciful have passed over all created things; happy the man that hath discovered their fragrance, and set himself towards them with a sound heart. Attire thy temple with the ornament of My Name, and thy tongue with remembrance of Me, and thine heart with love for Me, the Almighty, the Most High. We have desired for thee naught except that which is better for thee than what thou dost possess and all the treasures of the earth. Thy Lord, verily, is knowing, informed of all. Arise, in My Name, amongst My servants, and say: \‘O ye peoples of the earth! Turn yourselves towards Him Who hath turned towards you. He, verily, is the Face of God amongst you, and His Testimony and His Guide unto you. He hath come to you with signs which none can produce.' The voice of the Burning Bush is raised in the midmost heart of the world, and the Holy Spirit calleth aloud among the nations: \‘Lo, the Desired One is come with manifest dominion!'

Translation Notes

قد

q-d → “We have been”

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

فاحت

f-w-ḥ → “breaths” Distinctive

literal: to spread, waft (fragrance); to be diffused

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “breezes”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “Most Merciful” Distinctive

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: so he; thus he; therefore he

الامکان

m-k-n → “all created things”

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “happy”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

لمن

m-n → “man” Distinctive

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

وجد

w-j-d → “hath”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

عرفها

ʿ-r-f → “discovered their fragrance”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

اقبل

q-b-l → “set himself towards them” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

بقلب

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

سليم

s-l-m → “resignation” Distinctive

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

زيّن

z-y-n → “Attire”

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty; adornment; embellishment; decoration

هيکلک

h-y-k-l → “thy temple”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

بطراز

ṭ-r-z → “with the ornament”

literal: ornament; adornment; embroidery; stripe

اسمی

s-m-w → “My Name”

literal: heaven; sky

لسانک

l-s-n → “thy tongue”

literal: tongue; language

بذکری

dh-k-r → “with remembrance of Me”

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

بحبّی

ḥ-b-b → “with love for Me”

literal: love; affection

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “the Almighty”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

المنيع

m-n-ʿ → “the Most High”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

اردنا

r-w-d → “We have desired” Distinctive

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

لک

l → “His is”

literal: for; for you; for him

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

هو

h-w → “is”

literal: He; He is

خير

kh-y-r → “better”

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

عندک

ʿ-n-d → “thou dost possess”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

خزائن

kh-z-n → “all the treasures”

literal: to store, to treasure; storehouse, depository, treasury

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “of the earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

کلّها

k-l-l → “all”

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

انّ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ربّک

r-b-b → “Thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العليم

ʿ-l-m → “knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

الخبير

kh-b-r → “informed”

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

قم

q-w-m → “Arise”

literal: station; rank; standing place

بين

b-y-n → “amongst”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

العباد

ʿ-b-d → “My servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

قل

q-w-l → “say”

literal: say; said; saying

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

ملأ

m-l-ʾ → “ye peoples” Distinctive

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

اليکم

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: to it; towards it; unto it

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “He, verily, is”

literal: I, verily; behold I

لوجه

w-j-h → “Face” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

حجّته

ḥ-j-j → “His Testimony”

literal: path, way; clear path

دليله

d-l-l → “proof”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

لکم

l-k-m → “unto you”

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

جاءکم

j-y-ʾ → “come”

literal: to come; to arrive; to happen

بآيات

ʾ-y-y → “with signs”

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

عجز

ʿ-j-z → “none can produce” Distinctive

literal: to be unable; to fail; to be exhausted; impotence; أعجاز (roots of trees/extremities) is Pattern II plural, distinct from ‘inability’ forms

عنها

ʿ-n-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

شجرة

sh-j-r → “Burning Bush” Distinctive

literal: tree

الطّور

ṭ-w-r

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

تنطق

n-ṭ-q → “spoken” Distinctive

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

صدر

ṣ-d-r → “midmost heart” Distinctive

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

روح

r-w-ḥ → “Holy Spirit”

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

القدس

q-d-s

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

ينادی

n-d-y → “calleth aloud”

literal: call; voice; cry; summons; to call; to proclaim; to cry out; to summon

الامم

ʾ-m-m → “the nations”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

اتی

ʾ-t-y → “come”

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

المقصود

q-ṣ-d → “the Desired One”

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

بسلطان

s-l-ṭ → “with manifest dominion” Distinctive

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

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 ¶