Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §94

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 94 of 268.

Source (Persian)

( الی ان قلنا ) انظروا العالم کهيکل انسان اعترته الامراض و برؤه منوط باتّحاد من فيه اجتمعوا علی ما شرعناه لکم و لا تتّبعوا سبل المختلفين تفکّر فی الدّنيا و شأن اهلها انّ الّذی خلق العالم لنفسه قد حبس فی اخرب الدّيار بما اکتسبت ايدی الغافلين و من افق السّجن يدعو النّاس الی فجر اللّه العلیّ العظيم * هل تفرح بما عندک من الزّخارف بعد اذ تعلم انّها ستفنی او تسرّ بما تحکم علی شبر من الارض بعد اذ کلّها لم تکن عند اهل البهاء الّا کسواد عين نملة ميّتة ؟ دعها لاهلها ثمّ اقبل الی مقصود العالمين * اين اهل الغرور و قصورهم انظر فی قبورهم لتعتبر بما جعلناها عبرة للنّاظرين * لو تاخذک نفحات الوحِی لتفرّ من الملک مقبلا الی الملکوت و تنفق ما عندک للتّقرّب الی هذا المنظر الکريم *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And further We have said: "Regard ye the world as a man's body, which is afflicted with divers ailments, and the recovery of which dependeth upon the harmonizing of all of its component elements. Gather ye around that which We have prescribed unto you, and walk not in the ways of such as create dissension. Meditate on the world and the state of its people. He, for Whose sake the world was called into being, hath been imprisoned in the most desolate of cities (‘Akká), by reason of that which the hands of the wayward have wrought. From the horizon of His prison-city He summoneth mankind unto the Dayspring of God, the Exalted, the Great. Exultest thou over the treasures thou dost possess, knowing they shall perish? Rejoicest thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of the people of Bahá, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant? Abandon it unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is the Desire of the world. Whither are gone the proud and their palaces? Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this example, inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every beholder. Were the breezes of Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the world, and turn unto the Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou possessest, that thou mayest draw nigh unto this sublime Vision."

Translation Notes

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

ان

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

قلنا

q-w-l → “We have said”

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

انظروا

n-ẓ-r → ““Regard ye”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

العالم

ʿ-l-m → “the world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

کهيکل

h-y-k-l → “form” Distinctive

literal: temple; structure; form; body

انسان

ʾ-n-s

literal: man; human being; mankind

اعترته

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away” Distinctive

literal: to befall, afflict, overcome

الامراض

m-r-ḍ → “ills”

literal: illness, disease; sickness

برؤه

b-r-ʾ → “Thy people” Distinctive

literal: to create; to create anew; to be free from; innocent; free from; clear of; to cure; to heal; to clear

منوط

n-w-ṭ → “dependeth upon”

literal: to be dependent upon, to hang upon, to hinge upon

باتّحاد

w-ḥ-d → “one” Distinctive

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

من

m-n → “of all of its”

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

اجتمعوا

j-m-ʿ → “Gather ye around”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

شرعناه

sh-r-ʿ → “Law” Distinctive

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

لکم

l-k-m → “unto you”

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

لا

l-ʾ → “not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تتّبعوا

t-b-ʿ

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

سبل

s-b-l → “ways”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

المختلفين

kh-l-f → “contrary” Distinctive

literal: to differ; to diverge; to disagree; to vary

تفکّر

f-k-r → “Meditate on”

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions; to think; to reflect; to contemplate

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

الدّنيا

d-n-w → “the world”

literal: this world; earthly life; temporal realm; lowest; base; mean; of little account; to know; to be acquainted with

شأن

sh-ʾ-n → “in such wise”

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

اهلها

ʾ-h-l → “of its people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

الّذی

l-dh-y → “which”

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

خلق

kh-l-q → “world was called” Distinctive

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

لنفسه

n-f-s → “into being” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

قد

q-d

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

حبس

ḥ-b-s → “cast Him into prison” Distinctive

literal: to confine; to detain; prison

اخرب

kh-r-b → “most desolate”

literal: ruin; desolation

الدّيار

d-w-r → “far” Distinctive

literal: land; region; place; abode; dwelling

اکتسبت

k-s-b → “have wrought”

literal: to acquire, earn, gain; to bring upon (oneself); to gain; to acquire; earning; livelihood

ايدی

y-d-y → “hands”

literal: hand; power; action; possession

الغافلين

gh-f-l → “the wayward”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

افق

ʾ-f-q → “horizon”

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

السّجن

s-j-n → “of His prison-city”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

يدعو

d-ʿ-w → “He summoneth”

literal: call; invitation; claim

النّاس

n-ʾ-s → “mankind” Distinctive

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

فجر

f-j-r → “Dayspring”

literal: dawn; dayspring; to break (of dawn)

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

العلیّ

ʿ-l-w → “the Exalted” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

العظيم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “the Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

هل

h-l

literal: interrogative particle; whether; is it that

تفرح

f-r-ḥ → “joy” Distinctive

literal: to rejoice; to be glad; joy

عندک

ʿ-n-d → “possess”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

الزّخارف

z-kh-r-f → “vanities”

literal: ornament; adornment; decoration; falsehood

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “when” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

اذ

ʾ-dh-dh

literal: when; since

انّها

null → ““death””

literal: that, it; to be; indeed

ستفنی

f-n-y → “shall perish”

literal: annihilation; perish; perishing

او

h-w-w

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

تسرّ

s-r-r → “mysteries” Distinctive

literal: secret; secrets; secret, mystery

تحکم

ḥ-k-m → “rulest”

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

شبر

sh-b-r → “span”

literal: span (unit of measurement)

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

کلّها

k-l-l → “whole world”

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

لم

l-y-s

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

تکن

k-w-n → “be”

literal: to be; existence

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “of the people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

البهاء

b-h-w → “the All-Glorious” Distinctive

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

الّا

ʾ-kh-r

literal: end; hereafter; other

کسواد

s-w-d → “my Master” Distinctive

literal: blackened; dark; tranquil; at peace; undisturbed

عين

ʿ-y-n → “in the eye”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

نملة

n-m-l → “of a”

literal: ant

ميّتة

m-w-t → “dead ant”

literal: death; dead; to die

دعها

w-d-ʿ → “Abandon it”

literal: to let, allow, leave

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اقبل

q-b-l → “turn thou” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “Desire”

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

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

الغرور

gh-r-r

literal: delusion, deceit; deluded, deceived

قصورهم

q-ṣ-r → “powerlessness” Distinctive

literal: shortcoming; negligence; falling short; to be deficient

قبورهم

q-b-r → “sepulchres” Distinctive

literal: Cyprus (toponym)

لتعتبر

ʿ-b-r → “tears” Distinctive

literal: expression; phrase; utterance; statement; passage; wording

جعلناها

j-ʿ-l → “We made it”

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

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

تاخذک

ʾ-kh-dh → “to seize thee”

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “breezes”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

الوحِی

w-ḥ-y → “of Revelation”

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

لتفرّ

f-r-r → “thou wouldst flee”

literal: flee; flight; refuge

الملک

m-l-k → “the world” Distinctive

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

تنفق

n-f-q → “sacrificed” Distinctive

literal: hypocrisy; spend; spending

للتّقرّب

q-r-b → “that thou mayest draw” Distinctive

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الکريم

k-r-m

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field

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 ¶