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Lauded be Thy name, O my God! I testify that no thought of Thee, howsoever
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wondrous, can ever ascend into the heaven of Thy knowledge, and no praise
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of Thee, no matter how transcendent, can soar up to the atmosphere of Thy
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wisdom. From eternity Thou hast been removed far above the reach and the
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ken of the comprehension of Thy servants, and immeasurably exalted above
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the strivings of Thy bondslaves to express Thy mystery. What power can the
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shadowy creature claim to possess when face to face with Him Who is the
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Uncreated?
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I bear witness that the highest thoughts of all such as adore Thy unity,
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and the profoundest contemplations of all them that have recognized Thee,
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are but the product of what hath been generated through the movement of
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the Pen of Thy behest, and hath been begotten by Thy will. I swear by Thy
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glory, O Thou Who art the Beloved of my soul and the Fountain of my life!
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I am persuaded of my powerlessness to describe and extol Thee in a manner
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that becometh the greatness of Thy glory and the excellence of Thy
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majesty. Aware as I am of this, I beseech Thee, by Thy mercy that hath
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surpassed all created things, and Thy grace that hath embraced the entire
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creation, to accept from Thy servants what they are capable of showing
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forth in Thy path. Aid them, then, by Thy strengthening grace, to exalt
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Thy word and to blazon Thy praise.
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Powerful art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, truly, art the
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All-Glorious, the All-Wise.
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I know not, O my God, what the Fire is with which Thou didst light the
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Lamp of Thy Cause, or what the Glass wherewith Thou didst preserve it from
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Thine enemies. By Thy might! I marvel at the wonders of Thy Revelation,
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and at the tokens of Thy glory. I recognize, O Thou Who art my heart's
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Desire, that were fire to be touched by water it would instantly be
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extinguished, whereas the Fire which Thou didst kindle can never go out,
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though all the seas of the earth be poured upon it. Should water at any
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time touch it, the hands of Thy power would, as decreed in Thy Tablets,
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transmute that water into a fuel that would feed its flame.
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I, likewise, recognize, O my God, that every lamp, when exposed to the
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fury of the winds, must cease from burning. As to Thy Lamp, however, O
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Beloved of the worlds, I cannot think what power except Thy power could
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have kept it safe for so many years from the tempests that have
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continually been directed upon it by the rebellious among Thy creatures.
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I swear by Thy glory, O my God! Thy Lamp which Thou didst light within the
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tabernacle of man crieth out to Thee and saith: "O Thou the one alone
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Beloved! How long wilt Thou forsake me? Lift me up to Thee, I pray Thee.
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Though this wish of mine be the wish of a human creature, yet Thou knowest
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that my true wish is to sacrifice myself in Thy path. Thou art He Who hath
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made my desire to be the same as Thy desire, and my will the same as Thy
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will. Do Thou preserve Thy loved ones, I beseech Thee, in the shelter of
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Thy shadowing mercy which transcendeth all things, that haply the
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sufferings they bear may not deter them from turning in the direction of
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Thy name, the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful."
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Glorified art Thou, O my God! Thou knowest that in my love for Thee I have
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not sought any rest, that in proclaiming Thy Cause I have denied myself
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every manner of tranquillity, and that in the observance of whatever Thou
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hast prescribed in Thy Tablets I have not delayed to do Thy bidding. I
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have, for this reason, suffered what no man among all the inhabitants of
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Thy realm hath suffered.
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Thy glory beareth me witness! Nothing whatsoever can withhold me from
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remembering Thee, though all the tribulations of the earth were to assault
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me from every direction. All the limbs and members of my body proclaim
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their readiness to be torn asunder in Thy path and for the sake of Thy
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pleasure, and they yearn to be scattered in the dust before Thee. O would
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that they who serve Thee could taste what I have tasted of the sweetness
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of Thy love!
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I implore Thee to supply whosoever hath sought Thee with the living waters
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of Thy bounty, that they may rid him of all attachment to any one but
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Thee. Thou art, verily, the Omniscient, the All-Glorious, the Almighty.
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Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! How great is Thy might and Thy
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sovereignty; how vast Thy strength and Thy dominion! Thou hast called into
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being Him Who speaketh in Thy name before all who are in Thy heaven and on
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Thy earth, and hast bidden Him cry out amongst Thy creatures.
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No sooner had a word gone forth from His lips, however, than the divines
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among Thy people turned back from Him, and the learned among Thy servants
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caviled at His signs. Thereby the fire of oppression was kindled in Thy
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land, until the kings themselves rose up to put out Thy light, O Thou Who
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art the King of kings!
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Hostility waxed so intense that my kindred and my loved ones were made
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captives in Thy land, and they that are dear to Thee were hindered from
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