Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

One night, in a dream, these exalted words were heard on every side: "Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy Pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Erelong will God raise up the treasures of the earth -- men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him."

(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 21)

The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf is the last major work of Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, written in 1891 just before his death in 1892. It is a letter written to "the son of the Wolf," Shaykh Muhammad Taqi known as Áqá Najafi (1846-1914),[ a Muslim cleric in Isfáhán, where his family was the most powerful clerical family. Baha'u'llah called the father, Shaykh Muhammad Báqir (1819-1883), the Wolf because of his responsibility for the execution of the Nahrí brothers in Isfahan in 1879. The father and son were known for their persecution of the Bahá’ís.

Shaykh Muhammad Taqi

Shaykh Muhammad Taqi

In the book Bahá'u'lláh admonishes Áqá Najafi ('Son of Wolf' seen in the photo to the left) and calls upon him to repent. His father Shaykh Muhammad Báqir, ('Wolf') and Mír Muḥammad Ḥusayn, the Imám Jum'ih of Isfahán, surnamed ('She-Serpent') were the conspirators against two brothers, Muhammad-Husayn Nahrí and Muhammad-Hasan Nahrí. The brothers came from an aristocratic and established mercantile family in Isfahan. The Imám-Jum'ih of the city owed the brothers money and – when the two asked for a payment – he devised a plan to rid his debt. After confronting Shaykh Muhammad-Baqir and Sultán-Mas'úd Mírzá, the son of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh of this issue, the three devised a plan to imprison the brothers on account of their Bahá’í religion. The two brothers were subsequently arrested, paraded around Isfahan with crowds jeering abuse, and publicly executed in a humiliating manner. Bahá'u'lláh wrote several tablets lamenting the loss of the two brothers, and denouncing the treachery that provoked their murder. One such tablet, Lawh-i-Burhán, addressed to Shaykh Muhammad Báqir accuses him and his accomplice Mír Muḥammad Ḥusayn of the persecution of the Bahá'ís.

Bahá’u’lláh was heartbroken by the death of the brothers – he had met the two whilst a prisoner in Adrianople. He eulogized the two, naming them the "King of Martyrs" and the "Beloved of Martyrs", and the "Twin Shining Lights".

Color Coded

Bahá'u'lláh quoted many previous passages from His other Writings so there is a lot of quotes in red.

Epistle to son of wolf p1-149.pdf
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf p150-269.pdf

Study Guide

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf Study Guide.pdf