Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §97

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 97 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا ملک الرّوس اسمع نداء اللّه الملک القدّوس و اقبل الی الفردوس المقرّ الّذی فيه استقرّ من سُمِّیَ بالاسماء الحسنی بين الملأ الاعلی و فی ملکوت الانشاء باسم اللّه البهیّ الابهی * ايّاک ان يحجبک شیءٌ عن التّوجّه الی ربّک الرّحمن الرّحيم * انّا سمعنا ما ناديت به مولاک فی نجواک لذا هاج عرف عنايتی و ماج بحر رحمتی اجبناک بالحقّ انّ ربّک هو العليم الحکيم * قد نصرنی احد سفرائک اذ کنت فی سجن الطّاء تحت السّلاسل و الاغلال * بذلک کتب اللّه لک مقاما لم يحط به علم احد الّا هو * ايّاک ان تبدّل هذا المقام العظيم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

"O Czar of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the King, the Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein abideth He Who, among the Concourse on high, beareth the most excellent titles, and Who, in the kingdom of creation, is called by the name of God, the Effulgent, the All-Glorious. Beware that nothing deter thee from setting thy face towards thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We, verily, have heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord, whilst secretly communing with Him. Wherefore, the breeze of My loving-kindness wafted forth, and the sea of My mercy surged, and We answered thee in truth. Thy Lord, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Whilst I lay, chained and fettered, in the prison of Ṭihrán, one of thy ministers extended Me his aid. Wherefore hath God ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend except His knowledge. Beware lest thou barter away this sublime station."

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

ملک

m-l-k → “Kingdom”

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

اسمع

s-m-ʿ → “Incline thine ear unto” Distinctive

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

نداء

n-d-y → “voice”

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

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

القدّوس

q-d-s → “the Holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

اقبل

q-b-l → “turn thou unto” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

الفردوس

f-r-d-w-s → “Paradise”

literal: Paradise; garden; the highest paradise

المقرّ

q-r-r → “acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

الّذی

l-dh-y → “which”

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

فيه

f-y → “in” Distinctive

literal: alas; woe; oh

من

m-n

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

سُمِّیَ

s-m-y → “names” Distinctive

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint; name; noun; to name, to appoint, to designate

بالاسماء

s-m-w → “most excellent titles” Distinctive

literal: name

الحسنی

ḥ-s-n → “the most excellent titles”

literal: goodness; beauty; excellence; good deed

بين

b-y-n → “among”

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

الملأ

m-l-ʾ → “the Concourse”

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

الاعلی

ʿ-l-w → “on high”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الانشاء

n-sh-ʾ → “of creation”

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

البهیّ

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

literal: Bahá’í; of Bahá; splendor; glory; splendor, glory, radiance, majesty; Bahá (the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh)

الابهی

b-h-w → “the All-Glorious”

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

ايّاک

ʾ-y-y → “Beware”

literal: beware (imperative); you; would that, I wish, if only (optative particle)

ان

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

يحجبک

ḥ-j-b → “veils” Distinctive

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

شیءٌ

sh-y-ʾ → “nothing” Distinctive

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

التّوجّه

w-j-h → “setting thy face” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

ربّک

r-b-b → “thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “the Compassionate”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

مولاک

w-l-y → “thy Lord”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

نجواک

n-j-w → “deliver” Distinctive

literal: salvation; prayer; salvation/deliverance

لذا

l-dh-ʾ → “therefore”

literal: therefore; for this reason; hence; so

هاج

h-y-j → “wafted”

literal: to set in motion, to excite, to stir; to blow (of winds)

عرف

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

عنايتی

ʿ-n-y → “of My loving-kindness”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

ماج

m-w-j → “surged”

literal: wave; billows; surge

بحر

b-ḥ-r → “sea” Distinctive

literal: sea; ocean

اجبناک

j-w-b → “and We answered thee”

literal: cowardice; to show cowardice

بالحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “in truth”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

هو

h-w → “is”

literal: He; He is

العليم

ʿ-l-m → “the All-Knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

الحکيم

ḥ-k-m → “the All-Wise”

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

قد

q-d → “We have been”

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

نصرنی

n-ṣ-r → “extended Me his aid”

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

احد

ʾ-ḥ-d → “one”

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

سفرائک

s-f-r → “of thy ministers”

literal: ambassador; embassy; ambassador, minister

اذ

ʾ-dh-dh → “whilst”

literal: when; since

کنت

k-w-n → “I lay” Distinctive

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

سجن

s-j-n → “prison”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

الطّاء

ṭ-y-y → “traverse”

literal: the letter Ṭá; refers to Ṭihrán (also spelled Ṭehran)

تحت

t-ḥ-t

literal: under; under, beneath; beneath

السّلاسل

s-l-s → “the chains”

literal: chain; links; succession

الاغلال

gh-l-l → “chained” Distinctive

literal: one who envies; envious; malicious

بذلک

dh-l-k → “Wherefore” Distinctive

literal: that; this; it; by that

کتب

k-t-b

literal: book; scripture; writing

لک

l → “His is”

literal: for; for you; for him

مقاما

q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

لم

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

يحط

ḥ-y-ṭ → “embraceth all things” Distinctive

literal: encompassing; encompass; encompassed

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: end; hereafter; other

تبدّل

b-d-l → “barter away”

literal: in place of; instead of; to change; to alter (preposition or verb stem)

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

العظيم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

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 ¶