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Thy path, how could Thy true lovers be recognized; and were it not for the
trials which are borne for love of Thee, how could the station of such as
yearn for Thee be revealed? Thy might beareth me witness! The companions
of all who adore Thee are the tears they shed, and the comforters of such
as seek Thee are the groans they utter, and the food of them who haste to
meet Thee is the fragments of their broken hearts.
How sweet to my taste is the bitterness of death suffered in Thy path, and
how precious in my estimation are the shafts of Thine enemies when
encountered for the sake of the exaltation of Thy word! Let me quaff in
Thy Cause, O my God, whatsoever Thou didst desire, and send down upon me
in Thy love all Thou didst ordain. By Thy glory! I wish only what Thou
wishest, and cherish what Thou cherishest. In Thee have I, at all times,
placed my whole trust and confidence.
Raise up, I implore Thee, O my God, as helpers to this Revelation such as
shall be counted worthy of Thy name and of Thy sovereignty, that they may
remember me among Thy creatures, and hoist the ensigns of Thy victory in
Thy land.
Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. No God is there but Thee, the
Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
Glory to Thee, O my God! One of Thy handmaidens, who hath believed in Thee
and in Thy signs, hath entered beneath the shadow of the tree of Thy
oneness. Give her to quaff, O my God, by Thy Name, the Manifest and the
Hidden, of Thy choice sealed Wine that it may take her away from her own
self, and make her to be entirely devoted to Thy remembrance, and wholly
detached from any one beside Thee.
Now that Thou hast revealed unto her the knowledge of Thee, O my Lord,
deny her not, by Thy bounty, Thy grace; and now that Thou hast called her
unto Thyself, drive her not away from Thee, through Thy favor. Supply her,
then, with that which excelleth all that can be found on Thine earth. Thou
art, verily, the Most Bountiful, Whose grace is immense.
Wert Thou to bestow on one of Thy creatures what would equal the kingdoms
of earth and heaven, it would still not diminish by even as much as an
atom the immensity of Thy dominion. Far greater art Thou than the Great
One men are wont to call Thee, for such a title is but one of Thy names
all of which were created by a mere indication of Thy will.
There is no God but Thee, the God of power, the God of glory, the God of
knowledge and wisdom.
The hearts that yearn after Thee, O my God, are burnt up with the fire of
their longing for Thee, and the eyes of them that love Thee weep sore by
reason of their crushing separation from Thy court, and the voice of the
lamentation of such as have set their hopes on Thee hath gone forth
throughout Thy dominions.
Thou hast Thyself, O my God, protected them, by Thy sovereign might, from
both extremities. But for the burning of their souls and the sighing of
their hearts, they would be drowned in the midst of their tears, and but
for the flood of their tears they would be burnt up by the fire of their
hearts and the heat of their souls. Methinks, they are like the angels
which Thou hast created of snow and of fire. Wilt Thou, despite such
vehement longing, O my God, debar them from Thy presence, or drive them
away, notwithstanding such fervor, from the door of Thy mercy? All hope is
ready to be extinguished in the hearts of Thy chosen ones, O my God! Where
are the breezes of Thy grace? They are hemmed in on all sides by their
enemies; where are the ensigns of Thy triumph which Thou didst promise in
Thy Tablets?
Thy glory is my witness! At each daybreak they who love Thee wake to find
the cup of woe set before their faces, because they have believed in Thee
and acknowledged Thy signs. Though I firmly believe that Thou hast a
greater compassion on them than they have on their own selves, though I
recognize that Thou hast afflicted them for no other purpose except to
proclaim Thy Cause, and to enable them to ascend into the heaven of Thine
eternity and the precincts of Thy court, yet Thou knowest full well the
frailty of some of them, and art aware of their impatience in their
sufferings.
Help them through Thy strengthening grace, I beseech Thee, O my God, to
suffer patiently in their love for Thee, and unveil to their eyes what
Thou hast decreed for them behind the Tabernacle of Thine unfailing
protection, so that they may rush forward to meet what is preordained for
them in Thy path, and may vie in hasting after tribulation in their love
towards Thee. And if not, do Thou, then, reveal the standards of Thine
ascendancy, and make them to be victorious over Thine adversaries, that
Thy sovereignty may be manifested unto all the dwellers of Thy realm, and
the power of Thy might demonstrated amidst Thy creatures. Powerful art
Thou to do what Thou willest. No God is there but Thee, the Omniscient,
the All-Wise.
Make steadfast Thou, O my God, Thy servant who hath believed in Thee to
help Thy Cause, and keep him safe from all dangers in the stronghold of
Thy care and Thy protection, both in this life and in the life which is to
come. Thou, verily, rulest as Thou pleasest. No God is there save Thee,
the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous.
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Rain down, I beseech Thee, from the
clouds of Thine overflowing grace, that which shall cleanse the hearts of
Thy servants from whatever may prevent their beholding Thy face, or may
prevent them from turning unto Thee, that they may all recognize Him Who
is their Fashioner and Creator. Help them, then, O God, to reach forth,
through the power of Thy sovereign might, towards such a station that they
can readily distinguish every foul smell from the fragrance of the raiment
of Him Who is the Bearer of Thy most lofty and exalted name, that they may