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Thou seest me, O my God, writhing in anguish upon the dust, like unto a
fish. Deliver me, have mercy upon me, O Thou Whose aid is invoked by all
men, O Thou within Whose grasp lie the reins of power over all men and
women. Whenever I ponder my grievous shortcomings and my great trespasses,
despair assaileth me from every direction, and whenever I pause to
meditate upon the ocean of Thy bounteousness and the heaven of Thy grace
and the day-star of Thy tender compassion, I inhale the fragrance of hope
diffused from right and left, from north and south, as if every created
thing imparteth unto me the joyous tidings that the clouds of the heaven
of Thy mercy will pour down their rain upon me. By Thy might, O Thou Who
art the Mainstay of the sincere ones and the Desire of them that enjoy
near access unto Thee! Thy manifold favours and blessings and the
revelations of Thy grace and loving-kindness have truly emboldened me.
How, otherwise, can utter nothingness magnify the Name of Him Who hath, by
a word, brought creation into being, and how can an evanescent creature
extol Him Who hath demonstrated that no description can ever express Him
and no word of praise magnify His glory? He hath from everlasting been
immeasurably exalted above the understanding of His creatures and
sanctified from the conceptions of His servants.
O Lord! Thou beholdest this lifeless one before Thy face; suffer him,
through Thy generosity and bountiful favour, not to be deprived of the
chalice of immortal life. And Thou seest this afflicted one standing
before Thy throne; turn him not away from the ocean of Thy healing. I
entreat Thee to enable me at all times and under all conditions to
remember Thee, to magnify Thy Name and to serve Thy Cause, though I am
well aware that whatever proceedeth from a servant cannot transcend the
limitations of his soul, nor beseem Thy Lordship, nor be worthy of the
court of Thy glory and Thy majesty.
Thy might beareth me witness! Were it not to celebrate Thy praise, my
tongue would be of no use to me, and were it not for the sake of rendering
service to Thee, my existence would avail me not. But for the pleasure of
beholding the splendours of Thy realm of glory, why should I cherish
sight? And but for the joy of giving ear to Thy most sweet voice, of what
use is hearing?
Alas! Alas! I know not, O my God, my Mainstay, my heart’s Desire, whether
Thou hast ordained for me that which shall bring solace to mine eyes,
gladden my bosom and rejoice my heart, or whether Thine irrevocable
decree, O King of eternity and the sovereign Lord of all nations, will
debar me from presenting myself before Thy throne. I swear by Thy glory
and majesty and by Thy dominion and power, the darkness of my remoteness
from Thee hath destroyed me. What hath become of the light of Thy
nearness, O Desire of every understanding heart? The tormenting agony of
separation from Thee hath consumed me. Where is the effulgent light of Thy
reunion, O Well-Beloved of such as are wholly devoted to Thee?
Thou seest, O my God, what hath befallen me in Thy Path at the hand of
those who have denied Thy Truth, have violated Thy Covenant, cavilled at
Thy signs, rejected the blessings Thou didst vouchsafe, disbelieved the
verses Thou didst send down and have refused to acknowledge the testimony
Thou didst fulfil.
O Lord! The tongue of my tongue and the heart of my heart and the spirit
of my spirit and my outward and inmost beings bear witness to Thy unity
and Thy oneness, Thy power and Thine omnipotence, Thy grandeur and Thy
sovereignty, and attest Thy glory, loftiness and authority. I testify that
Thou art God and that there is none other God besides Thee. From
everlasting Thou hast been a treasure hidden from the sight and minds of
men and shalt continue to remain the same for ever and ever. The powers of
earth can never frustrate Thee, nor can the might of the nations alarm
Thee. Thou art the One Who hath unlocked the door of knowledge before the
faces of Thy servants that they may recognize Him Who is the Day-Star of
Thy Revelation, the Dawning-Place of Thy signs, the Heaven of Thy
manifestation and the Sun of Thy divine beauty. In Thy holy Books, in Thy
Scriptures and Thy Scrolls Thou hast promised all the peoples of the world
that Thou Thyself shalt appear and shalt remove the veils of glory from
Thy face, even as Thou didst announce in Thy words unto Thy Friend(37)
through Whom the Day-Star of Revelation shone brightly above the horizon
of Ḥijáz, and the dawning light of divine Truth shed its radiance among
all men, proclaiming: ‘The Day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of
the worlds.’(38) And before Muḥammad Thou didst impart this glad-tiding
unto Him Who conversed with Thee,(39) saying: ‘Bring forth thy people from
the darkness into the light and remind them of the days of God.’(40)
Moreover Thou didst proclaim this truth unto the Spirit(41) and unto Thy
Prophets and Thy Messengers, whether of the remote or more recent past. If
all that which Thou hast sent down in glorification of this Most Great
Remembrance, this Great Announcement, were to stream forth from the
wellspring of Thy most august Pen, the inmates of the cities of knowledge
and understanding would be dumbfounded, except such as Thou wouldst
deliver through the potency of Thy might and wouldst protect as a token of
Thy bountiful favour and Thy grace. I bear witness that Thou hast in truth
fulfilled Thy pledge and hast made manifest the One Whose advent was
foretold by Thy Prophets, Thy chosen ones and by them that serve Thee. He
hath come from the heaven of glory and power, bearing the banners of Thy
signs and the standards of Thy testimonies. Through the potency of Thine
indomitable power and strength, He stood up before the faces of all men
and summoned all mankind to the summit of transcendent glory and unto the
all-highest Horizon, in such wise that neither the oppression of the
ecclesiastics nor the onslaught of the rulers was able to deter Him. He
arose with inflexible resolve and, unloosing His tongue, proclaimed in
ringing tones: ‘He Who is the All-Bountiful is come, riding aloft on the
clouds. Advance, O people of the earth, with shining faces and radiant
hearts!’
Great indeed is the blessedness of him who attaineth Thy presence,
drinketh the wine of reunion proffered by the hand of Thy bounteousness,
inhaleth the fragrance of Thy signs, unlooseth his tongue in celebrating
Thy praise, soareth high in Thy heavens, is carried away by the sweetness