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infidels in Thy land, and were hindered by them from having near access to
Thee and from attaining the court of Thy glory. Others were able to
approach Thee, but were kept back from beholding Thy face. Still others
were permitted, in their eagerness to look upon Thee, to enter the
precincts of Thy court, but they allowed the veils of the imaginations of
Thy creatures and the wrongs inflicted by the oppressors among Thy people
to come in between them and Thee.
This is the hour, O my Lord, which Thou hast caused to excel every other
hour, and hast related it to the choicest among Thy creatures. I beseech
Thee, O my God, by Thy Self and by them, to ordain in the course of this
year what shall exalt Thy loved ones. Do Thou, moreover, decree within
this year what will enable the Day-Star of Thy power to shine brightly
above the horizon of Thy glory, and to illuminate, by Thy sovereign might,
the whole world.
Render Thy Cause victorious, O my Lord, and abase Thou Thine enemies.
Write down, then, for us the good of this life and of the life to come.
Thou art the Truth, Who knoweth the secret things. No God is there but
Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bountiful.
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I yield Thee thanks for that Thou hast
made me the target of divers tribulations and the mark of manifold trials,
in order that Thy servants may be endued with new life and all Thy
creatures may be quickened.
I swear by Thy glory, O Thou the Best Beloved of the worlds and the Desire
of all such as have recognized Thee! The one reason I wish to live is that
I may reveal Thy Cause, and I seek the continuance of life only that I may
be touched by adversity in Thy path.
I implore Thee, O Thou by Whose summons the hearts of all them who were
nigh unto Thee have soared into the atmosphere of Thy presence, to send
down upon Thy loved ones what will enable them to dispense with all else
except Thee. Endue them, then, with such constancy that they will arise to
proclaim Thy Cause, and will call on Thy name, before all that are in Thy
heaven and on Thy earth, in such wise that the Pharaonic cruelties
inflicted by the oppressors among Thy servants will not succeed in keeping
them back from Thee.
Thou art, verily, the God of power, the God of glory, the God of strength
and wisdom.
Magnified be Thy name, O Lord my God! Behold Thou mine eye expectant to
gaze on the wonders of Thy mercy, and mine ear longing to hearken unto Thy
sweet melodies, and my heart yearning for the living waters of Thy
knowledge. Thou seest Thy handmaiden, O my God, standing before the
habitation of Thy mercy, and calling upon Thee by Thy name which Thou hast
chosen above all other names and set up over all that are in heaven and on
earth. Send down upon her the breaths of Thy mercy, that she may be
carried away wholly from herself, and be drawn entirely towards the seat
which, resplendent with the glory of Thy face, sheddeth afar the radiance
of Thy sovereignty, and is established as Thy throne. Potent art Thou to
do what Thou willest. No God is there beside Thee, the All-Glorious, the
Most Bountiful.
Cast not out, I entreat Thee, O my Lord, them that have sought Thee, and
turn not away such as have directed their steps towards Thee, and deprive
not of Thy grace all that love Thee. Thou art He, O my Lord, Who hath
called Himself the God of Mercy, the Most Compassionate. Have mercy, then,
upon Thy handmaiden who hath sought Thy shelter, and set her face towards
Thee.
Thou art, verily, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Lauded be Thy name, O my God! I testify that no thought of Thee, howsoever
wondrous, can ever ascend into the heaven of Thy knowledge, and no praise
of Thee, no matter how transcendent, can soar up to the atmosphere of Thy
wisdom. From eternity Thou hast been removed far above the reach and the
ken of the comprehension of Thy servants, and immeasurably exalted above
the strivings of Thy bondslaves to express Thy mystery. What power can the
shadowy creature claim to possess when face to face with Him Who is the
Uncreated?
I bear witness that the highest thoughts of all such as adore Thy unity,
and the profoundest contemplations of all them that have recognized Thee,
are but the product of what hath been generated through the movement of
the Pen of Thy behest, and hath been begotten by Thy will. I swear by Thy
glory, O Thou Who art the Beloved of my soul and the Fountain of my life!
I am persuaded of my powerlessness to describe and extol Thee in a manner
that becometh the greatness of Thy glory and the excellence of Thy
majesty. Aware as I am of this, I beseech Thee, by Thy mercy that hath
surpassed all created things, and Thy grace that hath embraced the entire
creation, to accept from Thy servants what they are capable of showing
forth in Thy path. Aid them, then, by Thy strengthening grace, to exalt
Thy word and to blazon Thy praise.
Powerful art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, truly, art the
All-Glorious, the All-Wise.
I know not, O my God, what the Fire is with which Thou didst light the
Lamp of Thy Cause, or what the Glass wherewith Thou didst preserve it from
Thine enemies. By Thy might! I marvel at the wonders of Thy Revelation,
and at the tokens of Thy glory. I recognize, O Thou Who art my heart's
Desire, that were fire to be touched by water it would instantly be
extinguished, whereas the Fire which Thou didst kindle can never go out,
though all the seas of the earth be poured upon it. Should water at any
time touch it, the hands of Thy power would, as decreed in Thy Tablets,
transmute that water into a fuel that would feed its flame.