Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §88

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 88 of 268.

Source (Persian)

( الی أن قلنا ) قد اشتدّ علينا الامر فی کلّ يوم بل فی کلّ ساعة الی ان اخرجونا من السّجن و ادخلونا فی السّجن الاعظم بظلم مبين * اذا قيل بايّ جرم حبسوا قالوا انّهم ارادوا ان يجدّدوا الدّين * لو کان القديم هو المختار عندکم لم ترکتم ما شرع فی التّوراة و الانجيل بيّنوا يا قوم لعمری ليس لکم اليوم من محيص * ان کان هذا جرمی قد سبقنی فی ذلک محمّدٌ رسول اللّه و من قبله الرّوح و من قبله الکليم * و ان کان ذنبی اعلاء کلمة اللّه و اظهار امره فأنا اوّل المذنبين * لا ابدّل هذا الذّنب بملکوت ملک السّموات و الارضين

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And further We have said: "More grievous became Our plight from day to day, nay, from hour to hour, until they took Us forth from Our prison and made Us, with glaring injustice, enter the Most Great Prison. And if anyone ask them: \‘For what crime were they imprisoned?' they would answer and say: \‘They, verily, sought to supplant the Faith with a new religion!' If that which is ancient be what ye prefer, wherefore, then, have ye discarded that which hath been set down in the Torah and the Evangel? Clear it up, O men! By My life! There is no place for you to flee to in this day. If this be My crime, then Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, committed it before Me, and before Him He Who was the Spirit of God (Jesus Christ), and yet earlier He Who conversed with God (Moses). And if My sin be this, that I have exalted the Word of God and revealed His Cause, then indeed am I the greatest of sinners! Such a sin I will not barter for the kingdoms of earth and heaven."

Translation Notes

الی

ʾ-l-y → “until”

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

ان

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

قلنا

q-w-l → “We have said”

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

قد

q-d → “We have been”

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

اشتدّ

sh-d-d → “grievous became”

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

علينا

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

الامر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

فی

f-y → “from” Distinctive

literal: in; in-it; in it

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

يوم

y-w-m → “to day”

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

بل

b-l → “nay”

literal: rather; but; rather/nay

ساعة

s-w-ʿ → “to hour”

literal: hour; moment

اخرجونا

kh-r-j → “took Us forth”

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

من

m-n → “from”

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

السّجن

s-j-n → “Our prison”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

ادخلونا

d-kh-l → “enter” Distinctive

literal: to enter; to admit; to bring in

الاعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “the Most Great Prison”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

بظلم

ẓ-l-m → “glaring injustice” Distinctive

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

مبين

b-y-n → “utterance” Distinctive

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

اذا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

بايّ

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

جرم

j-r-m → “crime”

literal: crime; sin; boldness

حبسوا

ḥ-b-s → “cast Him into prison”

literal: to confine; to detain; prison

انّهم

ʾ-n-n → “\‘They”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

ارادوا

r-y-d → “sought”

literal: to intend; to will; to desire

يجدّدوا

j-d-d → “new” Distinctive

literal: new, novel, renewed; novelty, innovation

الدّين

d-y-n → “the Faith”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

کان

k-w-n → “be”

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

القديم

q-d-m → “Ancient of Days”

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

هو

h-w

literal: He; He is

المختار

kh-y-r → “good” Distinctive

literal: west; the western region

عندکم

ʿ-n-d → “God” Distinctive

literal: vessel; container; circumstance; adroitness

لم

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

ترکتم

t-r-k → “renounce”

literal: to leave; to abandon; to forsake

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

شرع

sh-r-ʿ → “Law”

literal: law; legislation; religious law; canon; ordinance

التّوراة

t-w-r → “a second”

literal: Torah; time; Torah, Pentateuch

الانجيل

n-j-l → “Gospel”

literal: Gospel; the Good Tidings

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

قوم

q-w-m → “men” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

لعمری

ʿ-m-r → “By My life”

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

ليس

l-y-s → “is no place”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

لکم

l-k-m → “for you”

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

محيص

ḥ-y-ṣ → “flee to”

literal: escape

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

سبقنی

s-b-q → “hath surpassed” Distinctive

literal: to precede; to surpass; to excel

ذلک

dh-l-k → “this, that I have”

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

محمّدٌ

ḥ-m-d → “thanks”

literal: praise; Muhammad; praised

رسول

r-s-l → “Apostle”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

قبله

q-b-l → “before Him”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

الرّوح

r-w-ḥ → “He Who was the Spirit”

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

الکليم

k-l-m → “He Who conversed with God”

literal: all; every; whole; entirety

ذنبی

dh-n-b → “My sin”

literal: sin; crime; offense; fault

اعلاء

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اظهار

ẓ-h-r → “revealed”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

فأنا

ʾ-n-ʾ → “am I”

literal: I

اوّل

ʾ-w-l → “first”

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

ابدّل

b-d-l → “barter”

literal: change; transformation; exchange

بملکوت

m-l-k → “kingdoms”

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

السّموات

s-m-w → “earth” Distinctive

literal: heaven; sky

الارضين

ʾ-r-ḍ → “heaven” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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50 ¶

Gleanings

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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57 ¶

The Hidden Words

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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 ¶