Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §89

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 89 of 268.

Source (Persian)

( الی ان قلنا ) کلّما ازداد البلاء زاد البهاء فی حبّ اللّه و امره بحيث ما منعنی ما ورد عَلَیَّ من جنود الغافلين * لو يستروننی فی اطباق التّراب يجدوننی راکبا علی السّحاب و داعيا الی اللّه المقتدر القدير * انّی فديت بنفسی فی سبيل اللّه و اشتاق البلايا فی حبّه و رضائه يشهد بذلک ما انا فيه من البلايا الّتی ما حملها احد من العالمين و ينطق کلّ شعر من شعراتی بما نطق شجر الطّور و کلّ عرق من عروقی يدعو اللّه و يقول ياليت قطعت فی سبيلک لحياة العالم و اتّحاد من فيه کذلک قضی الامر من لدن عليم خبير *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And further We have said: "As My tribulations multiplied, so did My love for God and for His Cause increase, in such wise that all that befell Me from the hosts of the wayward was powerless to deter Me from My purpose. Should they hide Me away in the depths of the earth, yet would they find Me riding aloft on the clouds, and calling out unto God, the Lord of strength and of might. I have offered Myself up in the way of God, and I yearn after tribulations in My love for Him, and for the sake of His good-pleasure. Unto this bear witness the woes which now afflict Me, the like of which no other man hath suffered. Every single hair of Mine head calleth out that which the Burning Bush uttered on Sinai, and each vein of My body invoketh God and saith: \‘O would I had been severed in Thy path, so that the world might be quickened, and all its peoples be united!' Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.

Translation Notes

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

قلنا

q-w-l → “And further We have said”

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

کلّما

k-l-l → “all” Distinctive

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

ازداد

z-y-d → “increase” Distinctive

literal: increase; excess; more; additional; to increase; to grow; to be added

البهاء

b-h-w

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

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

حبّ

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

امره

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

بحيث

ḥ-y-th → “in such wise that”

literal: where; in which; inasmuch as; in such wise that; whereby; in that; respect, aspect

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

منعنی

m-n-ʿ → “was powerless to deter Me”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

ورد

w-r-d → “befell”

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

عَلَیَّ

ʿ-l-w → “Me” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

من

m-n → “from”

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

جنود

j-n-d → “hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

الغافلين

gh-f-l → “wayward”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

يستروننی

s-t-r → “they hide Me away”

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

اطباق

ṭ-b-q → “conform” Distinctive

literal: layer; stratum; to fold; to accord

التّراب

t-r-b → “the earth”

literal: dust; earth; soil

يجدوننی

w-j-d → “would they find”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

راکبا

r-k-b → “perpetrated” Distinctive

literal: to ride; to commit; to undertake; composition; combination; structure

السّحاب

s-ḥ-b → “the clouds”

literal: cloud; clouds

داعيا

d-ʿ-w → “summoned” Distinctive

literal: call, invocation, summons; to call, invite, summon

المقتدر

q-d-r → “the Lord of strength” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

انّی

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

فديت

f-d-y → “offered Myself up”

literal: to sacrifice; to ransom; to redeem; to sacrifice oneself for

بنفسی

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

سبيل

s-b-l → “way”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

اشتاق

sh-w-q → “longing” Distinctive

literal: longing; yearning; longing, yearning

البلايا

b-l-w → “tribulations”

literal: affliction; trial; calamity

رضائه

r-ḍ-y → “good-pleasure”

literal: pleasure; pleasure/satisfaction; pleasure, satisfaction

يشهد

sh-h-d → “Unto this bear witness” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

انا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الّتی

ʾ-l-l

literal: who; which/that; which

حملها

ḥ-m-l → “hath suffered” Distinctive

literal: to bear; to endure; to carry; to tolerate

احد

ʾ-ḥ-d → “no other man” Distinctive

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

ينطق

n-ṭ-q → “calleth out” Distinctive

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

شعر

sh-ʿ-r → “consciousness” Distinctive

literal: hair

شجر

sh-j-r → “Burning Bush” Distinctive

literal: tree

الطّور

ṭ-w-r → “rustling” Distinctive

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

عرق

ʿ-r-q

literal: Iraq; sweat

قطعت

q-ṭ-ʿ → “I had been severed”

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

لحياة

ḥ-y-y → “quickened”

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute; to make alive; to revive

العالم

ʿ-l-m → “the world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

اتّحاد

w-ḥ-d → “all its peoples be united” Distinctive

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

کذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: that; this; it; by that

قضی

q-ḍ-y → “hath it been decreed”

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

لدن

l-d-n → “by”

literal: from; on the part of; from before; near

خبير

kh-b-r → “All-Informed”

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet

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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

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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

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

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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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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

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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 ¶