Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §99

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 99 of 268.

Source (Persian)

قم بين النّاس بهذا الامر المبرم ثمّ ادع الامم الی اللّه العزيز العظيم * لا تکن من الّذين کانوا ان يدعوا اللّه باسم من الاسماء فلمّا اتی المسمّی کفروا به و اعرضوا عنه الی ان افتوا عليه بظلم مبين * انظر ثمّ اذکر الايّام الّتی فيها اتی الرّوح و حکم عليه هيرودس * قد نصر اللّه الرّوح بجنود الغيب و حفظه بالحقّ و ارسله الی ارض اخری وعدا من عنده انّه هو الحاکم علی ما يريد * انّ ربّک يحفظ من يشاء لو يکون فی قطب البحر او فی فم الثّعبان او تحت سيوف الظّالمين

Shoghi Effendi Translation

"Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the Mighty, the Great. Be thou not of them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is the Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice. Consider and call thou to mind the days whereon the Spirit of God (Jesus Christ) appeared, and Herod gave judgment against Him. God, however, aided Him with the hosts of the unseen, and protected Him with truth, and sent Him down unto another land, according to His promise. He, verily, ordaineth what He pleaseth. Thy Lord truly preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the midst of the seas or in the maw of the serpent, or beneath the sword of the oppressor."

Translation Notes

قم

q-w-m → ““Arise”

literal: station; rank; standing place

بين

b-y-n → “amongst men”

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

النّاس

n-ʾ-s

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

بهذا

h-dh-ʾ → “in the name of this”

literal: this; that

الامر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

المبرم

b-r-m → “irresistible”

literal: to bind firmly; compelling, irresistible, immovable

ثمّ

th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

ادع

d-ʿ-w → “summon”

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

الامم

ʾ-m-m → “nations”

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

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “Mighty”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

العظيم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

لا

l-ʾ → “not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تکن

k-w-n → “Be thou”

literal: to be; existence

من

m-n → “of them”

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

الّذين

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

ان

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

باسم

s-m-w → “by one” Distinctive

literal: harm; strength; blame; hardship, adversity, tribulation, distress

فلمّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

اتی

ʾ-t-y → “appeared”

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

کفروا

k-f-r → “denied” Distinctive

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

اعرضوا

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned aside”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

عنه

ʿ-n → “from Him”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

افتوا

f-t-y → “pronounced sentence”

literal: slander; calumny; fabrication; false accusation

عليه

ʿ-l-y → “against Him”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

بظلم

ẓ-l-m → “with manifest injustice” Distinctive

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

انظر

n-ẓ-r → “Consider”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

اذکر

dh-k-r → “call thou to mind” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

الايّام

y-w-m → “days”

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

الّتی

ʾ-l-l

literal: who; which/that; which

فيها

f-y → “whereon” Distinctive

literal: in it; in them

الرّوح

r-w-ḥ → “the Spirit”

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

حکم

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

قد

q-d

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

نصر

n-ṣ-r → “aided” Distinctive

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

بجنود

j-n-d → “with the hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

الغيب

gh-y-b → “unseen”

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

حفظه

ḥ-f-ẓ → “protected”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

بالحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “with truth”

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

ارسله

r-s-l → “sent Him down”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ

literal: earth; land; ground; country

اخری

ʾ-kh-r

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

وعدا

w-ʿ-d → “according to His promise”

literal: hostility, aggression, enmity, transgression

عنده

ʿ-n-d

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “He”

literal: I, verily; behold I

هو

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

علی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

يريد

r-y-d → “He pleaseth”

literal: will; intention; to will; to intend; to wish

ربّک

r-b-b → “Thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

يشاء

sh-y-ʾ → “He willeth”

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

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

قطب

q-ṭ-b → “midmost heart”

literal: pole; axis; pivot; supreme point

البحر

b-ḥ-r → “seas”

literal: sea; ocean

او

h-w-w → “or” Distinctive

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

فم

f-m-m → “mouth”

literal: mouth

الثّعبان

th-ʿ-b → “serpent”

literal: serpent; snake

تحت

t-ḥ-t → “beneath”

literal: under; under, beneath; beneath

سيوف

s-y-f → “sword”

literal: sword

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 ¶