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Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §159

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 159 of 268.

Source (Persian)

يا قلمی الاعلی اذکر الرّقشاء الّتی بظلمها ناحت الاشياء و ارتعدت فرائص الاولياء کذلک يامرک مالک الاسماء فی هذا المقام المحمود * قد صاحت من ظلمک البتول و تظنّ انّک من آل الرّسول کذلک سوّلت لک نفسک يا ايّها المعرض عن اللّه ربّ ما کان و ما يکون * انصفی يا ايّتها الرّقشاء بایّ جرم لدغت ابناء الرّسول و نهبت اموالهم أکفرت بالّذی خلقک بامره کن فيکون ؟ قد فعلت بابناء الرّسول ما لا فعلت عادٌ و ثمود بصالح و هود و لا اليهود بروح اللّه مالک الوجود * أتنکر آيات ربّک الّتی اذ نزّلت من سماء الامر خضعت لها کتب العالم کلّها ؟ تفکّر لتطّلع بفعلک يا ايّها الغافل المردود * سوف تاخذک نفحات العذاب کما اخذت قوما قبلک انتظر يا ايّها المشرک باللّه مالک الغيب و الشّهود * هذا يوم اخبر به اللّه بلسان رسوله تفکّر لتعرف ما انزله الرّحمن فی الفرقان و فی هذا اللّوح المسطور * هذا يوم فيه اتی مشرق الوحی بآيات بيّنات الّتی عجز عن احصائها المحصون * هذا يوم فيه وجد کلّ ذی شمّ عرف نسمة الرّحمن فی الامکان و سرع کلّ ذی بصر الی فرات رحمة ربّه مالک الملوک * يا ايّها الغافل تاللّه قد رجع حديث الذّبح * و الذّبيح توجّه الی مقرّ الفداء و ما رجع بما اکتسبت يدک يا ايّها المبغض العنود * أظننت بالشّهادة ينحطّ شان الامر ؟ لا و الّذی جعله اللّه مهبط الوحی ان انت من الّذين هم يفقهون * ويل لک يا ايّها المشرک باللّه و للّذين اتّخذوک اماما لانفسهم من دون بيّنة و لا کتاب مشهود * کم من ظالم قام علی اطفاء نور اللّه قبلک و کم من فاجر قتل و نهب الی ان ناحت من ظلمه الافئدة و النّفوس * قد غابت شمس العدل بما استوی هيکل الظّلم علی اريکة البغضاء و لکنّ القوم هم لا يشعرون * يا جاهل قد قتلت ابناء الرّسول و نهبت اموالهم قل هل الاموال کفرت باللّه ام مالکها علی زعمک ؟ انصف يا ايّها الجاهل المحجوب * قد اخذت الاعتساف و نبذت الانصاف بذلک ناحت الاشياء و انت من الغافلين * قد قتلت الکبير و نهبت الصّغير هل تظنّ انّک تأکل ما جمعته بالظّلم ؟ لا و نفسی کذلک يخبرک الخبير * تاللّه لا يغنيک ما عندک و ما جمعته بالاعتساف يشهد بذلک ربّک العليم * قد قمت علی اطفاء نور الامر سوف تنخمد نارک امرا من عنده انّه هو المقتدر القدير * لا تعجزه شئونات العالم و لا سطوة الامم يفعل ما يشاء بسلطانه و يحکم ما يريد * تفکّر فی النّاقة مع انّها من الحيوان رفعها الرّحمن الی مقام نطق السن العالم بذکرها و ثنائها انّه هو المهيمن علی من فی السّموات و الارض لا اله الّا هو العزيز العظيم * کذلک زيّنّا افاق سماء اللّوح بشموس الکلمات * نعيما لمن فاز بها و استضاء بانوارها و ويل للمعرضين و ويل للمنکرين و ويل للغافلين الحمد للّه ربّ العالمين *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

"O My Supreme Pen! Call Thou to remembrance the She-Serpent (Imam-Jum'ih of Iṣfahán) whose cruelty hath caused all created things to groan, and the limbs of the holy ones to quake. Thus biddeth Thee the Lord of all names, in this glorious station. The Chaste One (Fáṭimih) hath cried out by reason of thine iniquity, and yet thou dost imagine thyself to be of the family of the Apostle of God! Thus hath thy soul prompted thee, O thou who hast withdrawn thyself from God, the Lord of all that hath been and shall be. Judge thou equitably, O She-Serpent! For what crime didst thou sting the children of the Apostle of God (King of Martyrs and Beloved of Martyrs), and pillage their possessions? Hast thou denied Him Who created thee by His command ‘be, and it was'? Thou hast dealt with the children of the Apostle of God as neither Ad hath dealt with Hud, nor Thamud with Salih, nor the Jews with the Spirit of God (Jesus), the Lord of all being. Gainsayest thou the signs of thy Lord which had no sooner been sent down from the heaven of His Cause than all the books of the world bowed down before them? Meditate, that thou mayest be made aware of thine act, O heedless outcast! Ere long will the breaths of chastisement seize thee, as they seized others before thee. Wait, O thou who hast joined partners with God, the Lord of the visible and the invisible. This is the day which God hath announced through the tongue of His Apostle. Reflect, that thou mayest apprehend what the All-Merciful hath sent down in the Qur’án and in this inscribed Tablet. This is the day whereon He Who is the Dayspring of Revelation hath come with clear tokens which none can number. This is the day whereon every man endued with perception hath discovered the fragrance of the breeze of the All-Merciful in the world of creation, and every man of insight hath hastened unto the living waters of the mercy of His Lord, the King of Kings. O heedless one! The tale of the Sacrifice (Ishmael) hath been retold, and he who was to be offered up hath directed his steps towards the place of sacrifice, and returned not, by reason of that which thy hand hath wrought, O perverse hater! Didst thou imagine that martyrdom could abase this Cause? Nay, by Him Whom God hath made to be the Repository of His Revelation, if thou be of them that comprehend. Woe betide thee, O thou who hast joined partners with God, and woe betide them that have taken thee as their leader, without a clear token or a perspicuous Book. How numerous the oppressors before thee who have arisen to quench the light of God, and how many the impious who murdered and pillaged until the hearts and souls of men groaned by reason of their cruelty! The sun of justice hath been obscured, inasmuch as the embodiment of tyranny hath been stablished upon the throne of hatred, and yet the people understand not. O foolish one! Thou hast slain the children of the Apostle and pillaged their possessions. Say: Was it, in thine estimation, their possessions or themselves that denied God? Judge fairly, O ignorant one that hath been shut out as by a veil from God. Thou hast clung to tyranny, and cast away justice; whereupon all created things have lamented, and still thou art among the wayward. Thou hast put to death the aged, and plundered the young. Thinkest thou that thou wilt consume that which thine iniquity hath amassed? Nay, by Myself! Thus informeth thee He Who is cognizant of all. By God! The things thou possessest shall profit thee not, nor what thou hast laid up through thy cruelty. Unto this beareth witness Thy Lord, the All-Knowing. Thou hast arisen to put out the light of this Cause; ere long will thine own fire be quenched, at His behest. He, verily, is the Lord of strength and of might. The changes and chances of the world, and the powers of the nations, cannot frustrate Him. He doeth what He pleaseth, and ordaineth what He willeth through the power of His sovereignty. Consider the she-camel. Though but a beast, yet hath the All-Merciful exalted her to so high a station that the tongues of the earth made mention of her and celebrated her praise. He, verily, overshadoweth all that is in the heavens and on earth. No God is there but Him, the Almighty, the Great. Thus have We adorned the heaven of Our Tablet with the suns of Our words. Blessed the man that hath attained thereunto, and been illumined with their light, and woe betide such as have turned aside, and denied Him, and strayed far from Him. Praised be God, the Lord of the worlds!"

Translation Notes

الرّقشاء
ar-rqsháʾ r-q-sh → “she-serpent”

literal: serpent

2 occurrences in corpus

لدغت
ldght l-d-gh → “didst”

literal: sting

1 occurrence in corpus

شمّ
shmm sh-m-m

literal: smell; smelling; inhalation

SE rendered يوم (yúm), وجد (wjd), ذی (dhí), شمّ (shmm), عرف (ʿrf), نسمة (nsmh), الرّحمن (ar-rḥmn), الامکان (al-ámkán) as “whereon, hath discovered, man, fragrance, the breeze, of the All-Merciful, in the world of creation”

perception 50% sense 50%
الذّبح
adh-dhbḥ dh-b-ḥ

literal: sacrificed

SE rendered الغافل (al-gháfl), تاللّه (tálllh), رجع (rjʿ), حديث (ḥdíth), الذّبح (adh-dhbḥ), الذّبيح (adh-dhbíḥ), توجّه (tújjh), مقرّ (mqrr) as “heedless one, God, retold, tale of the Sacrifice, directed, the place of sacrifice”

offer 50% sacrifice 50%
اريکة
iríkh r-w-k → “throne”

literal: throne, couch

1 occurrence in corpus

زعمک
zʿmk z-ʿ-m → “chief” Distinctive

literal: claim; leader; claimed

This form usually rendered as “estimation” (1 occurrences)

chief 40% estimation 20% dost 20% think 20%
الکبير
al-kbír k-b-r

literal: greatest; greater; great

SE rendered الغافلين (al-gháflín), قتلت (qtlt), الکبير (al-kbír), نهبت (nhbt), الصّغير (aṣ-ṣghír), هل (hl), تظنّ (tẓnn) as “the wayward, the aged, plundered, the young, Thinkest”

great 53% exalted 12% clear 6% aged 6% supreme 6% old 6% grievous 6% long 6%
يريد
yríd r-y-d

literal: desire; will

SE rendered يشاء (ysháʾ), بسلطانه (bslṭánh), يحکم (yḥkm), يريد (yríd), تفکّر (tfkkr), النّاقة (an-náqh) as “power of His sovereignty, ordaineth, Consider, the she-camel”

النّاقة

literal: she-camel

2 occurrences in corpus

نطق
nṭq n-ṭ-q

literal: spoke

SE rendered الحيوان (al-ḥíwán), رفعها (rfʿhá), الرّحمن (ar-rḥmn), مقام (mqám), نطق (nṭq), السن (as-sn), العالم (al-ʿálm), بذکرها (bdhkrhá), ثنائها (thnáʾhá) as “a beast, exalted, the All-Merciful, station, tongues of, the earth, made mention of her, celebrated her praise”

hath 39% spoken 25% spoke 7% uttered 7% which 4% made 4% related 4% uttereth 4% glorify 4% claim 4%
زيّنّا
zíznná z-y-n

literal: adorn; adorned; adornment

SE rendered العزيز (al-ʿzíz), العظيم (al-ʿẓím), کذلک (kdhlk), زيّنّا (zíznná), افاق (ifáq), سماء (smáʾ), اللّوح (al-lúḥ), بشموس (bshmús), الکلمات (al-klmát) as “the Almighty, the, Great, Thus have We adorned, the heaven, of Our Tablet, the suns, of Our words”

Source: Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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50 ¶

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729 ¶

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16 ¶

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858 ¶

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17 ¶

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57 ¶

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59 ¶