Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

In the name of God, the One, the Incomparable, the All-Powerful, theAll-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Praise be to God, the Eternal that perisheth not, the Everlastingthat declineth not, the Self-Subsisting that altereth not. He it is Whois transcendent in His sovereignty, Who is manifest through His signs,and is hidden through His mysteries. He it is at Whose bidding thestandard of the Most Exalted Word hath been lifted up in the world ofcreation, and the banner of "He doeth whatsoever He willeth"raised amidst all peoples. He it is Who hath revealed His Cause for theguidance of His creatures, and sent down His verses to demonstrate HisProof and His Testimony, and embellished the preface of the Book of Manwith the ornament of utterance through His saying: "The God ofMercy hath taught the Qur’án, hath created man, and taughthim articulate speech." No God is there but Him, the One, thePeerless, the Powerful, the Mighty, the Beneficent.

The light that is shed from the heaven of bounty, and the benedictionthat shineth from the dawning-place of the will of God, the Lord of theKingdom [pg 2]of Names, rest upon Him Who is the Supreme Mediator, the MostExalted Pen, Him Whom God hath made the Dawning-Place of His mostexcellent names and the Dayspring of His most exalted attributes.Through Him the light of unity hath shone forth above the horizon of theworld, and the law of oneness hath been revealed amidst the nations,who, with radiant faces, have turned towards the Supreme Horizon, andacknowledged that which the Tongue of Utterance hath spoken in thekingdom of His knowledge: "Earth and heaven, glory and dominion,are God’s, the Omnipotent, the Almighty, the Lord of graceabounding!"

Give ear, O distinguished divine, unto the voice of this Wronged One.He verily, counselleth thee for the sake of God, and exhorteth thee untothat which will cause thee to draw nigh unto Him under all conditions.He, in truth, is the All-Possessing, the Exalted. Know thou that the earof man hath been created that it may hearken unto the Divine Voice onthis Day that hath been mentioned in all the Books, Scriptures, andTablets. Purify thou, first, thy soul with the waters of renunciation,and adorn thine head with the crown of the fear of God, and thy templewith the ornament of reliance upon Him. Arise, then, and, with thy faceset towards the Most Great House, the Spot round which, as decreed bythe Eternal King, all that dwell on earth must circle, recite:

"O God, my God, and my Desire, and my Adored One, and myMaster, and my Mainstay, and my utmost Hope, and my supreme Aspiration!Thou seest me turning towards Thee, holding fast unto the cord of Thybounty, clinging to the hem of Thy generosity, acknowledging thesanctity of Thy Self and the purity of Thine Essence, and testifying toThy unity and Thy oneness. I bear witness that Thou art the One, theSingle, the Incomparable, the Ever-Abiding. Thou didst not take untoThyself a partner in Thy dominion, nor didst Thou choose a peer forThyself upon earth. All created things have borne witness unto thatwhich the Tongue of Thy grandeur hath testified ere their creation.Verily Thou art God; there is none other God but Thee! From everlastingThou wast sanctified from the mention of Thy servants, and exalted abovethe description of Thy creatures. Thou beholdest, O Lord, the ignorantseeking the ocean of Thy knowledge, the sore athirst the living watersof Thine utterance, the abased the tabernacle of Thy glory, the poor thetreasury of Thy riches, the suppliant the dawning-place of Thy wisdom,the weak the source of Thy strength, the wretched the heaven of Thybounty, the dumb the kingdom of Thy mention.

"I testify, O my God, and my King, that Thou hast created me toremember Thee, to glorify Thee, and to aid Thy Cause. And yet, I haveaided Thine enemies, who have broken Thy Covenant, who have cast [pg 4]awayThy Book, disbelieved in Thee, and repudiated Thy signs. Alas, alas, formy waywardness, and my shame, and my sinfulness, and my wrong-doing thathave withheld me from the depths of the ocean of Thy unity and fromfathoming the sea of Thy mercy. Wherefore, alas, alas! and again alas,alas! for my wretchedness and the grievousness of my transgressions!Thou didst call me into being, O my God, to exalt Thy Word, and tomanifest Thy Cause. My heedlessness, however, hath deterred me andcompassed me about, in such wise that I have arisen to blot out Thysigns, and to shed the blood of Thy loved ones, and of the