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Beauty of the Unseen hath shone forth above the horizon of creation. I
testify, moreover, that with but a movement of Thy Pen Thine injunction
"Be Thou" hath been enforced, and God's hidden Secret hath been divulged,
and all created things have been called into being, and all the
Revelations have been sent down.
I bear witness, moreover, that through Thy beauty the beauty of the Adored
One hath been unveiled, and through Thy face the face of the Desired One
hath shone forth, and that through a word from Thee Thou hast decided
between all created things, causing them who are devoted to Thee to ascend
unto the summit of glory, and the infidels to fall into the lowest abyss.
I bear witness that he who hath known Thee hath known God, and he who hath
attained unto Thy presence hath attained unto the presence of God. Great,
therefore, is the blessedness of him who hath believed in Thee, and in Thy
signs, and hath humbled himself before Thy sovereignty, and hath been
honored with meeting Thee, and hath attained the good pleasure of Thy
will, and circled around Thee, and stood before Thy throne. Woe betide him
that hath transgressed against Thee, and hath denied Thee, and repudiated
Thy signs, and gainsaid Thy sovereignty, and risen up against Thee, and
waxed proud before Thy face, and hath disputed Thy testimonies, and fled
from Thy rule and Thy dominion, and been numbered with the infidels whose
names have been inscribed by the fingers of Thy behest upon Thy holy
Tablets.
Waft, then, unto me, O my God and my Beloved, from the right hand of Thy
mercy and Thy loving-kindness, the holy breaths of Thy favors, that they
may draw me away from myself and from the world unto the courts of Thy
nearness and Thy presence. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou,
truly, hast been supreme over all things.
The remembrance of God and His praise, and the glory of God and His
splendor, rest upon Thee, O Thou Who art His Beauty! I bear witness that
the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee. Thou wast
immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an ocean of tribulations. At one
time Thou wast in chains and fetters; at another Thou wast threatened by
the sword of Thine enemies. Yet, despite all this, Thou didst enjoin upon
all men to observe what had been prescribed unto Thee by Him Who is the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
May my spirit be a sacrifice to the wrongs Thou didst suffer, and my soul
be a ransom for the adversities Thou didst sustain. I beseech God, by Thee
and by them whose faces have been illumined with the splendors of the
light of Thy countenance, and who, for love of Thee, have observed all
whereunto they were bidden, to remove the veils that have come in between
Thee and Thy creatures, and to supply me with the good of this world and
the world to come. Thou art, in truth, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the
All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
Bless Thou, O Lord my God, the Divine Lote-Tree and its leaves, and its
boughs, and its branches, and its stems, and its offshoots, as long as Thy
most excellent titles will endure and Thy most august attributes will
last. Protect it, then, from the mischief of the aggressor and the hosts
of tyranny. Thou art, in truth, the Almighty, the Most Powerful. Bless
Thou, also, O Lord my God, Thy servants and Thy handmaidens who have
attained unto Thee. Thou, truly, art the All-Bountiful, Whose grace is
infinite. No God is there save Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most
Generous.
I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to
worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy
might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth.
There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
Strengthen my hand, O my God, that it may take hold of Thy Book with such
steadfastness that the hosts of the world shall have no power over it.
Guard it, then, from meddling with whatsoever doth not belong unto it.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Powerful.
I have turned my face unto Thee, O my Lord! Illumine it with the light of
Thy countenance. Protect it, then, from turning to anyone but Thee.
God testifieth that there is none other God but Him. His are the kingdoms
of Revelation and of creation. He, in truth, hath manifested Him Who is
the Day-Spring of Revelation, Who conversed on Sinai, through Whom the
Supreme Horizon hath been made to shine, and the Lote-Tree beyond which
there is no passing hath spoken, and through Whom the call hath been
proclaimed unto all who are in heaven and on earth: "Lo, the
All-Possessing is come. Earth and heaven, glory and dominion are God's,
the Lord of all men, and the Possessor of the Throne on high and of earth
below!"