To read online, see: https://bahai-library.com/bahaullah_epistle_son_wolf .
Last outstanding Tablet revealed by the pen of Bahá'u'lláh[edit]
"...mention must be made of His Epistle to Shaykh Muhammad-Taqí, surnamed "Ibn-i-Dhi'b" (Son of the Wolf), the last outstanding Tablet revealed by the pen of Bahá'u'lláh, in which He calls upon that rapacious priest to repent of his acts, quotes some of the most characteristic and celebrated passages of His own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His Cause.
"With this book, revealed about one year prior to His ascension, the prodigious achievement as author of a hundred volumes, repositories of the priceless pearls of His Revelation, may be said to have practically terminated..."
- (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 219-220)
Tablet Notes[edit]
General discussion[edit]
- Excerpts Related to Epistle to the Son of the Wolf from Adib Taherzadeh's The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 4, chapters 24-25.
- Marzieh Gail's introduction
Study Outlines[edit]
"A study guide to the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf," developed by Melanie Smith and distributed by the US Baha'i National Center. Available in HTML or in original Adobe PDF format and MSWord formats by Chuck Bennett and Joe Magaditsch.
Aspects of Epistle to the Son of the Wolf[edit]
- Akka Traditions (hadith) in the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, comp. Moojan Momen.
- Quotations from the Blessed Beauty Found in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf compares Baha'u'llah's self-quotations in the Epistle with their earlier versions.
- Robert McLaughlin's These Perspicuous Verses: A passage from the Writings of Baha'u'llah examines in detail paragraph 192 (originally found in Ishraqat).
Citations from earlier works of Bahá'u'lláh[edit]
(Note that some content inside quotation marks are not citations, while some content outside of quotation marks may be citations, so this list might not be comprehensive.)
(See also https://bahai-library.com/bradford_quotations_bahaullah_esw from which some of these references have been derived and which also draws attention to specific differences in the versions.)
- p. 2 - Similar to line in Obligatory Prayer (medium) (here)
- pp. 3-9 - Quotation device (not to a prior source)?
- pp. 9-10 - Prayers and Meditations of Bahá'u'lláh, sec. 160
- pp. 11-12 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Sultán, par. h192 (also quoted later on p. 39)
- p. 13 - ? (pp. 13-15 passim cited in Gleanings, sec. 132)
- p. 16 - Hidden Words, Persian, no. 24
- p. 16 - Hidden Words, Persian, no. 25
- p. 16 - Hidden Words, Persian, no. 28
- p. 16 - Hidden Words, Persian, no. 30
- p. 17 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Sultán, par. h258
- p. 23 - ?
- p. 23 - ? (see Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Kalímát-i-Firdawsíyyih, p. 70)
- p. 24 - ?
- p. 24 - ? - The sentence, "We, verily, have come to unite and weld together all that dwell on earth." is cited in God Passes By, p. 217 while "In the Book of God, the Mighty, the Great, ye have been forbidden to engage in contention and conflict." is similar to "Ye have been forbidden in the Book of God to engage in contention and conflict, to strike another, or to commit similar acts whereby hearts and souls may be saddened." (Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 148)
- p. 25 - Súriy-i-Haykal, par. h42 (also cf. "The first Glad-Tidings which the Mother Book hath, in this Most Great Revelation, imparted unto all the peoples of the world is that the law of holy war hath been blotted out from the Book. Glorified be the All-Merciful, the Lord of grace abounding, through Whom the door of heavenly bounty hath been flung open in the face of all that are in heaven and on earth." (Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 21)
- p. 25 - ?
- p. 25 - ?
- p. 25 - ?
- p. 26 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Ishráqát, p. 126
- pp. 26-27 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Tajallíyát, pp. 51-52
- p. 27 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Tajallíyát, p. 52 (first sentence of the 1st paragraph in ESW 27, though not quoted, is the same as this Tajallíyat reference)
- p. 27 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Kalímát-i-Firdawsíyyih, p. 63
- p. 28 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Kalímát-i-Firdawsíyyih, pp. 63-64
- p. 29 - Cf. Trustworthiness: A Cardinal Bahá'í Virtue, no. 2030; original source?
- pp. 29-30 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Kalímát-i-Firdawsíyyih, p. 64
- p. 38 - Cf. Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 50
- pp. 39-41 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Sultán, pars. h192-195 (also in Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 57-59); quoted in part earlier on pp. 11-12
- p. 43 - Cf. line in Obligatory Prayer (medium) (here): "I bear witness to Thy unity and Thy oneness, and that Thou art God, and that there is none other God beside Thee"
- pp. 46-49 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, pars. h131-135
- pp. 49-52 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, pars. h136-139 (pp. 49-50 (par. h136 in Lawh-i-Nápulyun II) is also included in Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 95-96)
- p. 52 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, par. h140
- pp. 52-53 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, pars. h142-143
- p. 53 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, par. h144
- pp. 53-54 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, par. h145
- p. 54 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, pars. h146-h147 passim
- pp. 54-55 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, pars. h149-151 passim
- pp. 55-56 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, par. h152
- p. 56 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, par. h156
- p. 57 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Malik-i-Rús, par. h158
- pp. 57-58 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Malik-i-Rús, pars. h159-160
- pp. 58-59 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Malik-i-Rús, par. h162
- pp. 59-60 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Malíkih, par. h171
- pp. 60-62 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Malíkih, pars. h172-175
- pp. 62-64 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Malíkih, pars. h176-177
- pp. 78-79 - ?
- pp. 79-82 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Lawh-i-Burhán, pp. 205-207
- pp. 82-86 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Lawh-i-Burhán, pp. 207-210
- p. 86 - ?
- pp. 93-94 - Lawh-i-Badí`u'lláh; also in Gleanings, sec. 130, p. 285
- p. 95 - Prayers and Meditations of Bahá'u'lláh, sec. 92, pp. 155-156
- pp. 97-98 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Lawh-i-Burhán, pp. 210-211
- pp. 98-100 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Lawh-i-Burhán, pp. 211-213
- pp. 100-103 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Lawh-i-Burhán, pp. 213-216
- pp. 104-105 - No prior source?; see Prayer for protection (bestow justice upon the rulers)
- p. 107 - Original prayer? (Designate a name, as in Leiden List?)
- p. 110 - ?
- p. 124 - ?
- pp. 124-125 - Súriy-i-Haykal, Lawh-i-Nápulyun II, par. h156
- p. 125 - Prayers and Meditations, p. 92; other source?
- p. 127 - (Just a quotation device)
- pp. 127-128 - ?
- pp. 128-130 - Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 99-105 passim
- p. 130 - (Just a quotation device) (3 quotes)
- pp. 131-134 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Ishráqát, pp. 117-119
- pp. 134-135 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Ishráqát, pp. 119-120 (Not in quotation marks, but essentially the same)
- p. 136 - (Though Bahá'u'lláh says "in another Tablet", only the first part, appears identical to that in another Tablet, i.e., Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Kalímát-i-Firdawsíyyih, p. 76, while the rest seems to also occur in p. Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Ishráqát, p. 121)
- pp. 136-137 - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Ishráqát, pp. 121-122 (also re-revealed in Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Tarázát, pp. 37-38)
- p. 138 - Spoken words of Bahá'u'lláh
- p. 139 - Quotation device?
- p. 140 - Short supplication (also used by Bahá'u'lláh in a Tablet on the Greatest Name, according to a provisional translation at http://bahaistudies.net/kf/mostgreatname.html )
- p. 148 - Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 91
- p. 149 - New quotation offered in contrast to previous
- p. 149 - Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pars. 92-93
- p. 150 - Seems a quotation device, but also similar phrase at end of Prayers and Meditations of Bahá'u'lláh, sec. 172
- p. 152 - Apparent quotation device (encapsulating quotation from the Báb; see section on citations from the Báb)
- p. 161 - ?
- p. 164 - Said by Bahá'u'lláh to Siyyid Muhammad: "Begone, O heedless one!"
- p. 166 - Spoken to Mírzá Yahyá
Quotations from the Báb[edit]
- p. 141 - ? Also in God Passes By, p. 30
- p. 141 - ?
- p. 141 - ? - Also in God Passes By, p. 29
- p. 141 - ? - Also in God Passes By, p. 29
- p. 142 - Kitáb-i-Panj Sha’n
- p. 142 - Mentioned in God Passes By, p. 30; in a missive to Mullá Báqir Tabrízí, according to The Báb: The King of Messengers, p. 56 at http://www.scribd.com/doc/21361410/King-of-Messengers
- pp. 142-143 - Bayán (Persian)
- p. 151 - ? Mentioned in God Passes By, p. 98
- p. 152 - ? Within "quotation" by Bahá'u'lláh; mentioned in God Passes By, p. 98
- p. 152 - ? Mentioned in God Passes By, p. 98
- p. 152 - Mentioned in Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Kalímát-i-Firdawsíyyih, p. 75 as being from the Bayán
- p. 152 - ? Mentioned in God Passes By, p. 29
- p. 153 - ?
- p. 153 - ?
- p. 153 - ?
- p. 153 - ?
- p. 154 - ?
- p. 154 - Selections from the Writings of the Báb, "Excerpts from Various Writings", p. 168
- pp. 154-155 - Selections from the Writings of the Báb, "Excerpts from Various Writings", p. 168
- p. 155 - ?
- p. 155 - ?
- p. 156 - Selections from the Writings of the Báb, "Excerpts from Various Writings", p. 156
- pp. 156-157 - ?
- p. 157 - ?
- p. 157 - ?
- p. 158 - ?
- p. 158 - ? Mentioned in God Passes By, p. 30
- p. 158 - ?
- p. 159 - ?
- p. 159 - ? (Contains verses from the Qur'án, mentioned below, but the containing citation is unknown)
- p. 159 - ?
- pp. 159-160 - ?
- p. 160 - Spoken by the Báb of Bahá'u'lláh?
- p. 160 - ? - Partly included in God Passes By, p. 30
- p. 160 - ?
- p. 160 - ?
- p. 162 - Selections from the Writings of the Báb, "Excerpts from Various Writings", pp. 155-156
- p. 165 - ?
- p. 171 - ? Mentioned in God Passes By, p. 30
- p. 171 - ? (Paraphrasing since it mentions "Time and again He hath said"?)
- p. 172 - ? Also in Kitáb-i-Aqdas, note 180
- p. 172 - Per Bahá'u'lláh, it is the 2nd Vahid (of the Bayán?), 7th Chapter (no English full translation); Mentioned in God Passes By, p. 29 and in a footnote of Selections from the Writings of the Báb, "Excerpts from the Kitab-i-Asmá", p. 156
- p. 172 - ? Mentioned in God Passes By, p. 29
- p. 172 - ?
- p. 173 - ?
- pp. 173-174 - Quotation device on behalf of "Sinai"
- p. 174 - Selections from the Writings of the Báb, "Excerpts from the Persian Bayán", p. 101
- p. 174 - ?
- p. 174 - ? (where the Báb "addresseth Dayyán")
- p. 175 - ? (Passage addressed to the "third Letter" of the Living)
- p. 175 - ?
- p. 175 - ?
- p. 176 - ?
- p. 177 - Quotation device (proclaimed by "all created things")
Quotations from the Qur'án (Rodwell's numbering)[edit]
- p. 1 - 22:14 ?
- p. 1 - 55:1-3
- pp. 9-10 - 19:58?
- p. 10 - 54:55 "seat of truth"
- p. 13 - 6:103
- p. 64 - 40:24-28
- p. 82 - 4:96
- p. 85 - 2:88
- p. 90 - 4:62 (4:59 traditional numbering)
- p. 107 - 31:15 (31:16 traditional numbering)
- p. 112 - 2:205
- p. 114 - 33:40 (also 33:40 in traditional)
- p. 114 - 83:6 (also 83:6 in traditional)
- p. 115-116 - 13:2
- p. 116 - 29:4, 29:22, 32:9-10, 41:54, 10:7-8, 10:16
- p. 117 - 6:155, 18:105-106, 20:8-14, 30:7, 83:4-6
- p. 118 - 32:23, 89:22-23, 61:8, 28:29-30
- p. 143 - 78:1-2
- p. 150 - 6:59 (also 6:59 in traditional)
- p. 159 - 109:1-6 (i.e., the entire Suráh besides the bismilláh) (mentioned also in p. xvii of the Introduction)
Quotations from the Imáms[edit]
From Imám Alí[edit]
- p. 42 - Khutbiy-i-Tutúnjíyyih (specific paragraph?)
- p. 111-112 - ?
- p. 112 - ?
- p. 112 - ?
- p. 112 - ?
- p. 113 - ?
- p. 113 - ?
From Imám Husayn[edit]
- p. 42
From Imám Abú-Ja'far Sádiq[edit]
From Islamic Tradition[edit]
- Bahá'u'lláh asserts without a source (except as being from Muhammad)
- p. 42
- Ábí-`Abdi'lláh:
- p. 112 - ?
- Mufaddál
- p. 112 - ?
- Abú-Ja'far-i-Túsí
- `Abdu'l-`Azíz, son of `Abdu'-Salám
- p. 178 - ?
- Ibn-i-Mas'úd
- p. 178 - ?
- Anas, son of Malík
- Bahá'u'lláh asserts without a source (though see https://bahai-library.com/momen_hadith_esw )
Quotations from the Bible[edit]
- pp. 89-90 - Matthew 22:(16), 17, 21 / Mark 12:14, 17 / Luke 20:(21), 22, 25
- p. 91 - Romans 13:1-2
- p. 91 - Romans 13:4
- p. 143 - Joel 2:11
- p. 143 - Matthew 24:36
- p. 144 - Jeremiah 30:7
- p. 144 - Psalms 60:9/108:10
- pp. 144-145 - Isaiah 40:9-40:10
- p. 145 - Amos 1:2
- p. 145 - Not within quotation marks, but reference to "Hill of God" is in 1 Samuel 10:5 ("Gibeah of God")
- p. 145 - Not within quotation marks, but "Tabernacle of Glory" and not an exact reference apparently, but may be to Exodus 29:43, 40:34, 40:35; Leviticus 9:23; and Numbers 14:10, 16:19, 16:42, 20:6
- p. 145 - Psalms 50:3
- pp. 145-146 - Amos 4:12-4:13
- p. 146 - Isaiah 2:11/2:17
- p. 146 - Isaiah 2:10
- p. 146 - Isaiah 35:1-35:2
- p. 147 - Isaiah 35:4
- p. 148 - John 16:12
- p. 158 - Matthew 3:2, 3:11
Other sources[edit]
- p. 17 - ?
- p. 123 - ? - (last quotation on the page) Mentioned as a "saying" in the Kitab-i-Iqan
- p. 125 - ? - Citing "newspapers"
- p. 145 - ? - "hath it been said..."
- p. 157 - Those who "protested against Him Who was the Spirit (Jesus)": "The dispensation of John hath not yet ended; wherefore hast thou come?"
- p. 163 - The Shí'ih sect: "O Qá'im!"
By Specific Passage[edit]
p. 32[edit]
No way to know what science would largely eliminate fear
"We have no way of knowing what science Bahá'u'lláh meant when He said it would largely eliminate fear; as no further mention of it was ever made in the teachings, the Guardian cannot identify anything with this statement. To do so would depart from his function as interpreter of the teachings; he cannot reveal anything apart from the given teachings."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, August 30, 1952; in Lights of Guidance, no. 789)
Knowledge which could largely eliminate fear has not been disclosed
"Unfortunately it would seem that the knowledge 'which could largely eliminate fear' has not been disclosed or identified by Bahá'u'lláh, so we do not know what it is.
"However, what Bahá'u'lláh did not elaborate but what He meant by the 'world' recorded in the Crimson Book was the power of the Covenant.
"The 'Crimson Book' refers to the Book of His Covenant, and the reference above means the power for unity which the Covenant possesses and radiates. On page 238 of 'God Passes By' you will find the cross-reference to the 'Crimson Book' and the 'Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.'"
- (On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 17)
p. 55? - "withhold not from the poor the things given unto you by God through His grace"[edit]
"The passage in the 'Epistle to the Son of the Wolf' in which Bahá’u’lláh says: 'Give that which is asked of you' means that man must always try to develop and reveal the qualities that are to be found potentially in him. It is an urge to self-improvement and individual progress, and has, therefore, no connection with that passage in the 'Aqdas' wherein Bahá’u’lláh forbids mendicity."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, March 8, 1936, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1586)
Notes[edit]
- The passage in the Aqdas forbidding mendicity (begging) may be par. 147 or possibly par. 33.
- See Barstow BC#401 for an exact reference to this line (attributed as being a Tablet to Mirza Badi'u'llah cited in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf ).
p. 93 - "Be...an answerer to the cry of the needy"[edit]
See Lawh-i-Badí`u'lláh.
p. 95[edit]
"There is a tendency in the American outlook on life at present to believe that suffering is produced by clumsiness and is not only avoidable but not a good thing, and not essential. While there is some truth in this attitude, we as Bahá'ís cannot but believe that suffering is often an essential part of our service. The Prophets suffered bitterly, so did all the Saints and Martyrs, and often 'fed on the fragments of those broken hearts', as Bahá'u'lláh says in one of His beautiful prayers."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, July 4, 1949, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1959)
p. 148[edit]
- Reference is made to Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Tablets to the Kings, the Lawh-i-Ra'ís, and the Lawh-i-Fu'ád
p. 149[edit]
- Reference is again made to the Lawh-i-Fu'ád, and also the Tablet of the King of Paris (Napoleon III)