Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

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]

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]

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.)

Quotations from the Báb[edit]

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]

From Imám Husayn[edit]

From Imám Abú-Ja'far Sádiq[edit]

  • p. 111 - ?
  • p. 112 - ?
  • via Jabír

From Islamic Tradition[edit]

Quotations from the Bible[edit]

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]

p. 149[edit]

Discussion of Specific Passages by Scholars[edit]

Retrieved from "https://bahai9.com/index.php?title=Epistle_to_the_Son_of_the_Wolf&oldid=22631"