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Thou seest, O my Lord, how Thy servants are held captive by their own
selves and desires. Redeem them from their bondage, O my God, by the power
of Thy sovereignty and might, that they may turn towards Thee when He Who
is the Revealer of Thy names and attributes is manifested unto men.
Cast upon this poor and desolate creature, O my Lord, the glance of Thy
wealth, and flood his heart with the beams of Thy knowledge, that he may
apprehend the verities of the unseen world, and discover the mysteries of
Thy heavenly realm, and perceive the signs and tokens of Thy kingdom, and
behold the manifold revelations of this earthly life all set forth before
the face of Him Who is the Revealer of Thine own Self. Direct, then, his
eyes, O my God, towards the horizon of Thy loving-kindness, and make
steadfast his heart in its attachment to Thee, and unloose his tongue to
praise Thee, and make him able to hold fast the cord of Thy love, and to
cling to the hem of Thy bounteousness, and to proclaim Thy name amidst Thy
creatures, and to recount Thy virtues throughout Thy realm, in such wise
that no obstacle will deter him from turning to Thy name, the
All-Bountiful, and no veil shut him out from Thee, in Whose hand is the
dominion of utterance and the kingdom of all names and attributes!
Hold Thou the hand of this seeker who hath set his face towards Thee, O my
Lord, and draw him out of the depths of his vain imaginations, that the
light of certainty may shine brightly above the horizon of his heart in
the days whereon the sun of the knowledge of Thy creatures hath been
darkened through the shining of the Day-Star of Thy glory; the days
whereon the moon of the world's wisdom hath been eclipsed through the
appearance of Thy hidden knowledge, and the manifestation of Thy
well-guarded secret, and the revelation of Thine enshrined mystery; the
days whereon the stars of men's doings have fallen through the rising of
the orb of Thy unity and the shedding of the radiance of Thy transcendent
oneness.
I beg of Thee, O my God, by Thy most exalted Word which Thou hast ordained
as the Divine Elixir unto all who are in Thy realm, the Elixir through
whose potency the crude metal of human life hath been transmuted into
purest gold, O Thou in Whose hands are both the visible and invisible
kingdoms, to ordain that my choice be conformed to Thy choice and my wish
to Thy wish, that I may be entirely content with that which Thou didst
desire, and be wholly satisfied with what Thou didst destine for me by Thy
bounteousness and favor. Potent art Thou to do as Thou willest. Thou, in
very truth, art the All-Glorious, the All-Wise.
Happy is the man who hath recognized Thee, and discovered the sweetness of
Thy fragrance, and set himself towards Thy kingdom, and tasted of the
things that have been perfected therein by Thy grace and favor. Great is
the blessedness of him who hath acknowledged Thy most excellent majesty,
and whom the veils that have shut out the nations from Thee have not
hindered from directing his eyes towards Thee, O Thou Who art the King of
eternity and the Quickener of every moldering bone! Blessed, also, is he
that hath inhaled Thy sweet savors, and been carried away by Thine
utterances in Thy days. Blessed, moreover, be the man that hath turned
unto Thee, and woe betide him that hath turned his back upon Thee.
Praised be Thou, the Lord of the worlds!
O Thou Who dealest equitably with all who are in heaven and on earth, and
rulest over the kingdom of Thy creation and of Thy Revelation! I testify
that every man of equity hath recognized his unfairness in the face of the
revelation of the splendors of the Day-Star of Thy Justice, and the ablest
of pens hath confessed its impotence before the movement of Thy most
exalted Pen.
By Thy life, O Thou the Possessor of all names! The minds of the
profoundest thinkers are sore perplexed as they contemplate the ocean of
Thy knowledge, and the heaven of Thy wisdom, and the Luminary of Thy
grace. How can he who is but a creation of Thy will claim to know what is
with Thee, or to conceive Thy nature?
Praise, immeasurable praise be to Thee! I swear by Thy glory! My inner and
outer tongue, openly and secretly, testify that Thou hast been exalted
above the reach and ken of Thy creatures, above the utterance of Thy
servants, above the testimonies of Thy dear ones and Thy chosen ones, and
the apprehension of Thy Prophets and of Thy Messengers.
I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by Thy Name which Thou hast made to be the
Day-Spring of Thy Revelation and the Dawning-Place of Thine inspiration,
to ordain for this wronged One and for them that are dear to Thee what
becometh Thy loftiness. Thou, in very truth, art the All-Bountiful, the
All-Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! I implore Thee, by Thy Name which none
hath befittingly recognized, and whose import no soul hath fathomed; I
beseech Thee, by Him Who is the Fountain-Head of Thy Revelation and the
Day-Spring of Thy signs, to make my heart to be a receptacle of Thy love
and of remembrance of Thee. Knit it, then, to Thy most great Ocean, that
from it may flow out the living waters of Thy wisdom and the crystal
streams of Thy glorification and praise.
The limbs of my body testify to Thy unity, and the hair of my head
declareth the power of Thy sovereignty and might. I have stood at the door
of Thy grace with utter self-effacement and complete abnegation, and clung
to the hem of Thy bounty, and fixed mine eyes upon the horizon of Thy
gifts.
Do Thou destine for me, O my God, what becometh the greatness of Thy
majesty, and assist me, by Thy strengthening grace, so to teach Thy Cause
that the dead may speed out of their sepulchers, and rush forth towards
Thee, trusting wholly in Thee, and fixing their gaze upon the orient of
Thy Cause, and the dawning-place of Thy Revelation.