Skip to main content

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §56

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 56 of 268.

Source (Persian)

از حقّ جلّ جلاله سائل و امل که مشارق ثروت و اقتدار و مطالع عزّت و اختيار يعنی ملوک ارض ايّدهم اللّه را بر صلح اکبر تاييد فرمايد اين است سبب اعظم از برای راحت امم * سلاطين افاق وفّقهم اللّه بايد باتّفاق باين امر که سبب اعظم است از برای حفظ عالم تمسّک فرمايند * اميد انکه قيام نمايند بر انچه سبب اسايش عباد است * بايد مجلس بزرگی ترتيب دهند و حضرات ملوک و يا وزراء در ان مجلس حاضر شوند و حکم اتّحاد و اتّفاق را جاری فرمايند و از سلاح باصلاح توجّه کنند و اگر سلطانی بر سلطانی برخيزد سلاطين ديگر بر منع او قيام نمايند در اين صورت عساکر و الآت و ادوات حرب لازم نه الّا علی قدر مقدور لحفظ بلادهم و اگر باين خير اعظم فائز شوند اهل مملکت کلّ براحت و مسرّت بامور خود مشغول گردند و نوحه و ندبه اکثری از عباد ساکن شود * نسأل اللّه ان يؤيّدهم علی ما يحبّ و يرضی انّه هو ربّ العرش و الثّری و مالک الآخرة و الاولی * احسن و اولی انکه در ان مجلس خود سلاطين عظام حاضر شوند و حکم فرمايند و هر يک از سلاطين که بر اين امر و اجرای ان قيام فرمايد او سيّد سلاطين است عند اللّه طوبی له و نعيما له *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

We pray God - exalted be His glory - and cherish the hope that He may graciously assist the manifestations of affluence and power and the daysprings of sovereignty and glory, the kings of the earth - may God aid them through His strengthening grace - to establish the Lesser Peace. This, indeed, is the greatest means for insuring the tranquillity of the nations. It is incumbent upon the Sovereigns of the world - may God assist them - unitedly to hold fast unto this Peace, which is the chief instrument for the protection of all mankind. It is Our hope that they will arise to achieve what will be conducive to the well-being of man. It is their duty to convene an all-inclusive assembly, which either they themselves or their ministers will attend, and to enforce whatever measures are required to establish unity and concord amongst men. They must put away the weapons of war, and turn to the instruments of universal reconstruction. Should one king rise up against another, all the other kings must arise to deter him. Arms and armaments will, then, be no more needed beyond that which is necessary to insure the internal security of their respective countries. If they attain unto this all-surpassing blessing, the people of each nation will pursue, with tranquillity and contentment, their own occupations, and the groanings and lamentations of most men would be silenced. We beseech God to aid them to do His will and pleasure. He, verily, is the Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, and the Lord of this world and of the world to come. It would be preferable and more fitting that the highly-honored kings themselves should attend such an assembly, and proclaim their edicts. Any king who will arise and carry out this task, he, verily will, in the sight of God, become the cynosure of all kings. Happy is he, and great is his blessedness!

Translation Notes

دهند
dhnd dádn

literal: give; to give; given

SE rendered بايد (báyd), مجلس (mjls), بزرگی (bzrgí), ترتيب (trtíb), دهند (dhnd), حضرات (ḥḍrát), ملوک (mlúk), وزراء (wzráʾ) as “must, assembly, all-inclusive, convene, the Lord, ministers”

do 10% hurled 10% will 10% persist 10% sentence 10% condemned 10% bear 10% decide 10% should 10% cause 10%
شوند
shúnd shdn

literal: become; to become

SE rendered وزراء (wzráʾ), مجلس (mjls), حاضر (ḥáḍr), شوند (shúnd), حکم (ḥkm), اتّحاد (ittḥád), اتّفاق (ittfáq), جاری (járí) as “ministers, will, attend, whatever measures, unity, concord, enforce”

may 25% will 15% would 10% should 10% made 10% must 10% mayest 5% might 5% again 5% commissioned 5%
کنند
knnd krdn

literal: do; to do; do/make

SE rendered فرمايند (frmáynd), از (iz), سلاح (sláḥ), باصلاح (báṣláḥ), توجّه (tújjh), کنند (knnd), سلطانی (slṭání), بر (br), سلطانی (slṭání), برخيزد (brkhízd) as “establish, weapons, reconstruction, turn, king, against, rise up”

would 20% appreciate 10% witnessed 10% vainly 10% toward 10% should 10% uttered 10% give 10% indulge 10%
صورت
ṣúrt ṣ-w-r

literal: form

SE rendered بر (br), منع (mnʿ), قيام (qíám), نمايند (nmáynd), صورت (ṣúrt), عساکر (ʿsákr), الآت (at-t), ادوات (idúát), حرب (ḥrb), لازم (lázm) as “to, deter, arise, may, Arms and armaments, instruments, war, necessary”

image 18% report 9% way 9% picture 9% portrait 9% then 9% sign 9% form 9% done 9% semblance 9%
ادوات
idúát ʾ-d-w

literal: implement/tool

SE rendered صورت (ṣúrt), عساکر (ʿsákr), الآت (at-t), ادوات (idúát), حرب (ḥrb), لازم (lázm), نه (nh) as “Arms and armaments, instruments, war, necessary, no”

1 occurrence in corpus

مسرّت
msrrt s-r-r

literal: secret; secrets; secret, mystery

SE rendered اهل (ihl), مملکت (mmlkt), براحت (bráḥt), مسرّت (msrrt), بامور (bámúr), مشغول (mshghúl), گردند (grdnd), نوحه (núḥh) as “people, nation, tranquillity, occupations, pursue, become, groanings”

يحبّ
yḥbb ḥ-b-b

literal: love

SE rendered نسأل (nsʾal), اللّه (al-lh), يؤيّدهم (yʾíʾdhm), يحبّ (yḥbb), يرضی (yrḍí), ربّ (rbb), العرش (al-ʿrsh) as “beseech, God, aid, pleasure, throne on high”

loveth 33% will 13% pleasing 7% cherisheth 7% loath 7% who 7% shall 7% willeth 7% loth 7% feel 7%
ربّ
rbb r-b-b

literal: lord; lordship

SE rendered يرضی (yrḍí), ربّ (rbb), العرش (al-ʿrsh), الثّری (ath-thrí), مالک (málk), الآخرة (al-ákhrh) as “pleasure, throne on high, Lord, the world”

lord 94% god 3% before 0% who 0% all-glorious 0% thou 0% \‘lord 0% yet 0% himself 0% creator 0%
الثّری
ath-thrí th-r-y

literal: earth; dust/earth

SE rendered يرضی (yrḍí), ربّ (rbb), العرش (al-ʿrsh), الثّری (ath-thrí), مالک (málk), الآخرة (al-ákhrh), الاولی (al-áwlí), احسن (iḥsn) as “pleasure, throne on high, Lord, the world, this world, preferable”

earth 80% dwellers 10% nether 10%

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Fire Tablet cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶