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Faded now is all that erstwhile flourished in the Paradise of Thy
transcendent oneness, O my God! Where are the rain-giving clouds of Thy
mercy? Shorn are the branches of the Tree of Thy unity of the vesture of
Thy majesty and wisdom; where is the spring-time of Thy gifts and
bounties? Motionless lies the Ark of Thy Cause on the sea of Thy creation;
where are the winds of Thy grace and favors? Encompassed on every side is
Thy Lamp by the tempests of discord blowing from every land; where is the
globe of Thy graciousness and protection?
Thou seest, O my God, how the eyes of these poor creatures are bent upon
the horizon of Thy riches, how the hearts of these helpless ones are set
in the direction of Thy might. I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the sole
Desire of them that have recognized Thee, and the Object of the adoration
of the entire creation, not to suffer them, now that Thou hast attracted
them by Thy most exalted Word, to be far removed from the Tabernacle which
Thou hast reared up by Thy name, the All-Glorious.
They are sore pressed with cares, O my Lord, and are encompassed about by
the wicked. Send down, therefore, from the heaven of Thy behest Thine
invisible hosts, that, holding aloft the ensigns of Thy victory, they may
help them in Thy land, and may shield them against Thine adversaries.
I entreat Thee, O my God, by Thy name through which the clouds have rained
down their rain, and the streams have flowed, and the fire of Thy love
hath been kindled throughout Thy dominion, to assist Thy servant who hath
turned towards Thee, and hath spoken forth Thy praise, and determined to
help Thee. Fortify, then, his heart, O my God, in Thy love and in Thy
Faith. Better is this for him than all that hath been created on Thine
earth, for the world and whatsoever is therein must perish, and what
pertaineth unto Thee must endure as long as Thy most excellent names
endure. By Thy Glory! Were the world to last as long as Thine own kingdom
will last, to set their affections upon it would still be unseemly for
such as have quaffed, from the hands of Thy mercy, the wine of Thy
presence; how much more when they recognize its fleetingness and are
persuaded of its transience. The chances that overtake it, and the changes
to which all things pertaining unto it are continually subjected, attest
its impermanence.
Whosoever hath recognized Thee will turn to none save Thee, and will seek
from Thee naught else except Thyself. Thou art the sole Desire of the
heart of him whose thoughts are fixed on Thee, and the highest Aspiration
of whosoever is wholly devoted unto Thee.
No God is there beside Thee, the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the
All-Glorious, the Most Powerful.
Magnified be Thy name, O my God, for that Thou hast manifested the Day
which is the King of Days, the Day which Thou didst announce unto Thy
chosen Ones and Thy Prophets in Thy most excellent Tablets, the Day
whereon Thou didst shed the splendor of the glory of all Thy names upon
all created things. Great is his blessedness whosoever hath set himself
towards Thee, and entered Thy presence, and caught the accents of Thy
voice.
I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by the name of Him round Whom circleth in
adoration the kingdom of Thy names, that Thou wilt graciously assist them
that are dear to Thee to glorify Thy word among Thy servants, and to shed
abroad Thy praise amidst Thy creatures, so that the ecstasies of Thy
revelation may fill the souls of all the dwellers of Thine earth.
Since Thou hast guided them, O my Lord, unto the living waters of Thy
grace, grant, by Thy bounty, that they may not be kept back from Thee; and
since Thou hast summoned them to the habitation of Thy throne, drive them
not out from Thy presence, through Thy loving-kindness. Send down upon
them what shall wholly detach them from aught else except Thee, and make
them able to soar in the atmosphere of Thy nearness, in such wise that
neither the ascendancy of the oppressor nor the suggestions of them that
have disbelieved in Thy most august and most mighty Self shall be capable
of keeping them back from Thee.
Lauded be Thy name, O Thou in Whose hands is the kingdom of all names, and
in the grasp of Whose might are all that are in heaven and all that are on
earth! I entreat Thee, by Him Who is Thy Most Effulgent Name Whom Thou
hast made a target for the darts of Thy decree in Thy path, O Thou the
King of eternity, to rend asunder the veils that have shut off Thy
creatures from the horizon of Thy glory, that haply they may turn their
faces in the direction of Thy mercy, and draw nigh unto the Day-Spring of
Thy loving-kindness.
Leave not Thy servants to themselves, O my Lord! Draw them through the
influence of Thine utterances unto the Dawning-Place of Thine inspiration,
and to the Fountain of Thy Revelation, and to the Treasury of Thy wisdom.
Thou art He to Whose strength and power all things have testified, Whose
Purpose nothing whatsoever of all that hath been created in Thy heaven and
on Thy earth hath been able to frustrate.
Render, then, victorious, O my God, Thy servants who have set their faces
towards Thee, and directed their steps to the seat of Thy grace. Send
down, then, upon them what will keep them safe from the danger of turning