Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §98

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 98 of 268.

Source (Persian)

( الی ان قلنا ) قد اتی الاب و الابن فی الواد المقدّس يقول * لبّيک اللّهمّ لبّيک و الطّور يطوف حول البيت و الشّجر ينادی باعلی النّداء قد اتی الوهّاب راکبا علی السّحاب * طوبی لمن تقرّب اليه ويل للمبعدين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And further We have said: "He Who is the Father is come, and the Son (Jesus Christ), in the holy vale, crieth out: \‘Here am I, here am I, O Lord, my God!', whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth aloud: \‘The All-Bounteous is come mounted upon the clouds! Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe betide them that are far away.'

Translation Notes

الی

ʾ-l-y

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

قد

q-d → “We have been”

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

اتی

ʾ-t-y → “is come”

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

الاب

ʾ-b-w → “fathers”

literal: father; origin, source

الابن

b-n-y → “the Son”

literal: son

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الواد

w-d-y → “the holy vale”

literal: affection; love; friendship

المقدّس

q-d-s → “the holy vale”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

لبّيک

l-b-y → “\‘Here am I”

literal: at your service; here am I; here I am (response)

اللّهمّ

ʾ-l-h → “O Lord, my God”

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

الطّور

ṭ-w-r → “rustling” Distinctive

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

يطوف

ṭ-w-f → “circleth”

literal: flood, deluge, tempest

حول

ḥ-w-l → “round”

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

البيت

b-y-t → “the House”

literal: house; household; family; verse

الشّجر

sh-j-r → “the Burning Bush” Distinctive

literal: tree

ينادی

n-d-y → “calleth”

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

باعلی

ʿ-l-w → “aloud” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الوهّاب

w-h-b → “\‘The All-Bounteous”

literal: gift; grant; bestowal

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

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Blessed”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

لمن

m-n → “from”

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

تقرّب

q-r-b → “draweth nigh” Distinctive

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

اليه

ʾ-l-y → “besmirch”

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

ويل

w-y-l → “and woe”

literal: woe; alas; grief

للمبعدين

b-ʿ-d → “them that are far away”

literal: after; distance; far

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet

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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

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

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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 ¶