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I am but a poor creature, O my Lord! Behold me clinging to the hem of Thy
riches. I have fled from darkness and from waywardness unto the brightness
of the light of Thy countenance. Were I--and to this Thy glory beareth me
witness--to render thanksgiving unto Thee, through the whole continuance of
Thy kingdom and the duration of the heaven of Thine omnipotence, I would
still have failed to repay Thy manifold bestowals.
I implore Thee, O my Lord, by Thy name, the Ever-Abiding, and by Thy name
which Thou didst ordain to be the most great Instrument binding Thee to
Thy servants, to grant that I may flee for shelter to Thy door, and speak
forth Thy praise. Write down, then, for me, in every world of Thine, that
which will enable me to enter beneath Thy shadow and within the borders of
Thy court.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Bountiful, the Most Exalted, the
Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous.
All-praise be to Thee, O Lord, my God! I know not how to sing Thy praise,
how to describe Thy glory, how to call upon Thy Name. If I call upon Thee
by Thy Name, the All-Possessing, I am compelled to recognize that He Who
holdeth in His hand the immediate destinies of all created things is but a
vassal dependent upon Thee, and is the creation of but a word proceeding
from Thy mouth. And if I proclaim Thee by the name of Him Who is the
All-Compelling, I readily discover that He is but a suppliant fallen upon
the dust, awe-stricken by Thy dreadful might, Thy sovereignty and power.
And if I attempt to describe Thee by glorifying the oneness of Thy Being,
I soon realize that such a conception is but a notion which mine own fancy
hath woven, and that Thou hast ever been immeasurably exalted above the
vain imaginations which the hearts of men have devised.
The glory of Thy might beareth me witness! Whoso claimeth to have known
Thee hath, by virtue of such a claim, testified to his own ignorance; and
whoso believeth himself to have attained unto Thee, all the atoms of the
earth would attest his powerlessness and proclaim his failure. Thou hast,
however, by virtue of Thy mercy that hath surpassed the kingdoms of earth
and heaven, deigned to accept from Thy servants the laud and honor they
pay to Thine own exalted Self, and hast bidden them celebrate Thy glory,
that the ensigns of Thy guidance may be unfurled in Thy cities and the
tokens of Thy mercy be spread abroad among Thy nations, and that each and
all may be enabled to attain unto that which Thou hast destined for them
by Thy decree, and ordained unto them through Thine irrevocable will and
purpose.
Having testified, therefore, unto mine own impotence and the impotence of
Thy servants, I beseech Thee, by the brightness of the light of Thy
beauty, not to refuse Thy creatures attainment to the shores of Thy most
holy ocean. Draw them, then, O my God, through the Divine sweetness of Thy
melodies, towards the throne of Thy glory and the seat of Thine eternal
holiness. Thou art, verily, the Most Powerful, the Supreme Ruler, the
Great Giver, the Most Exalted, the Ever-Desired.
Grant, then, O my God, that Thy servant who hath turned towards Thee, hath
fixed his gaze upon Thee, and clung to the cord of Thy mercifulness and
favor, may be enabled to partake of the living waters of Thy mercy and
grace. Cause him, then, to ascend unto the heights to which he aspireth,
and withhold him not from that which Thou dost possess. Thou art, verily,
the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Bountiful.
Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! Every time I attempt to make mention of
Thee, I am hindered by the sublimity of Thy station and the overpowering
greatness of Thy might. For were I to praise Thee throughout the length of
Thy dominion and the duration of Thy sovereignty, I would find that my
praise of Thee can befit only such as are like unto me, who are themselves
Thy creatures, and who have been generated through the power of Thy decree
and been fashioned through the potency of Thy will. And at whatever time
my pen ascribeth glory to any one of Thy names, methinks I can hear the
voice of its lamentation in its remoteness from Thee, and can recognize
its cry because of its separation from Thy Self. I testify that everything
other than Thee is but Thy creation and is held in the hollow of Thy hand.
To have accepted any act or praise from Thy creatures is but an evidence
of the wonders of Thy grace and bountiful favors, and a manifestation of
Thy generosity and providence.
I entreat Thee, O my Lord, by Thy Most Great Name whereby Thou didst
separate light from fire, and truth from denial, to send down upon me and
upon such of my loved ones as are in my company the good of this world and
of the next. Supply us, then, with Thy wondrous gifts that are hid from
the eyes of men. Thou art, verily, the Fashioner of all creation. No God
is there but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Most High.
O Thou, at Whose dreadful majesty all things have trembled, in Whose grasp
are the affairs of all men, towards Whose grace and mercy are set the
faces of all Thy creatures! I entreat Thee, by Thy Name which Thou hast
ordained to be the spirit of all names that are in the kingdom of names,
to shield us from the whisperings of those who have turned away from Thee,
and have repudiated the truth of Thy most august and most exalted Self, in
this Revelation that hath caused the kingdom of Thy names to tremble.
I am one of Thy handmaidens, O my Lord! I have turned my face towards the
sanctuary of Thy gracious favors and the adored tabernacle of Thy glory.
Purify me of all that is not of Thee, and strengthen me to love Thee and
to fulfill Thy pleasure, that I may delight myself in the contemplation of
Thy beauty, and be rid of all attachment to any of Thy creatures, and may,
at every moment, proclaim: "Magnified be God, the Lord of the worlds!"
Let my food, O my Lord, be Thy beauty, and my drink the light of Thy
presence, and my hope Thy pleasure, and my work Thy praise, and my
companion Thy remembrance, and my aid Thy sovereignty, and my
dwelling-place Thy habitation, and my home the seat which Thou hast
exalted above the limitations of them that are shut out as by a veil from