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the hearts of such of Thy servants as are nigh unto Thee, and through
which the Day-Star of Thy name, the Compassionate, hath shed its radiance
upon all that are in Thy heaven and on Thy earth, to supply me, by Thy
grace and bounty, with Thy wondrous and hidden bounties.
These are the earliest days of my life, O my God, which Thou hast linked
with Thine own days. Now that Thou hast conferred upon me so great an
honor, withhold not from me the things Thou hast ordained for Thy chosen
ones.
I am, O my God, but a tiny seed which Thou hast sown in the soil of Thy
love, and caused to spring forth by the hand of Thy bounty. This seed
craveth, therefore, in its inmost being, for the waters of Thy mercy and
the living fountain of Thy grace. Send down upon it, from the heaven of
Thy loving-kindness, that which will enable it to flourish beneath Thy
shadow and within the borders of Thy court. Thou art He Who watereth the
hearts of all that have recognized Thee from Thy plenteous stream and the
fountain of Thy living waters.
Praised be God, the Lord of the worlds.
I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by that Remembrance of Thee through which all
things have been raised to life, and through which all faces have been
made to shine, not to frustrate the hopes I have set on the things Thou
dost possess. Cause me, then, by Thy mercy, to enter beneath Thy shadow
that shadoweth all things.
Be Thou, O my Lord, my sole Desire, my Goal, mine only Hope, my constant
Aim, my Habitation and my Sanctuary. Let the object of mine ardent quest
be Thy most resplendent, Thine adorable, and ever-blessed Beauty. I
implore Thee, O my Lord, by whatsoever is of Thee, to send, from the right
hand of Thy might, that which will exalt Thy loved ones and abase Thine
enemies.
No God is there beside Thee, Thou alone art my Beloved in this world and
in the world which is to come. Thou alone art the Desire of all them that
have recognized Thee.
Praised be God, the Lord of the worlds.
Praised be Thou, O my God, that Thou hast been true to what the Pen of Thy
Revelation hath inscribed upon the Tablets sent down by Thee unto Them
Whom Thou hast chosen above all Thy creatures, and through Whom Thou hast
unlocked the doors of Thy mercy, and shed abroad the radiance of the light
of Thy guidance. Glory to Thee that Thou hast laid bare what had from
eternity been wrapped up within the Tabernacle of Thy majesty, Thine
omnipotence and glory, and through which Thou hadst decked forth the
heaven of Thy Revelation and adorned the pages of the book of Thy
testimony.
And when the Pledge was fulfilled and the Promised One appeared, He was
rejected by such of Thy servants as profess to have believed in Him in
Whom Thy Godhead was manifested, Whom Thou didst ordain to be the Herald
of this Revelation, and through Whose advent the eyes of the inmates of
the sanctuary of Thy unity were cheered.
I know, O my Lord, neither their reasoning with which they have
acknowledged Thee and believed in Thy signs, nor their argument whereby
they have repudiated Thy sovereignty. Every time I call them to Thee and
say: "O people! Consider the utterances of the Lord your God which are in
your possession and those that have been sent down from the heaven of His
will and power," they cavil at Thee, and turn their backs to Thee,
though--as Thou art aware--each of the words that have gone out of the mouth
of Thy will sheddeth the fragrance of the breaths of Thy mercy.
Some have chosen to cleave to him who is counted unworthy to converse with
any of Thy servants that watch at Thy door (Mírzá Yahyá), how much more to
enter into the court in which the Tongue of Thy majesty speaketh. Cleanse
Thou their hearts and their eyes, O my Lord, that they may see with their
eyes and understand with their hearts, that haply they may be attracted by
Thine utterances to the Day-Spring of Thine inspiration, and draw nigh
unto the soft-flowing stream of Thy knowledge.
Thou art He, O my Lord, Who hath, in every line of Thy Book, entered into
covenant with them for me, and made it so sure that none of Thy creatures
can any longer evade it. Thou didst say--and Thy word is the truth: "One
single letter from Him excelleth all that hath been sent down in the
Bayán."
Thou dost consider, therefore, O my God, how they have transgressed
against Thy Cause, and beholdest what their hands have wrought in Thy
days. They have so grievously wronged me that the Lote-Tree of Thy
Revelation moaneth, and the inmates of the Tabernacle of Thy majesty and
the dwellers of the cities of Thy names lament. I know not, O my God, for
what reason they have risen up to oppress me, and by what proof they have
turned aside from Him Who is the Day-Spring of Thy signs. I beseech Thee,
O Thou Who art the Lord of all names and the Creator of the heavens, to
aid them to act equitably in Thy Cause, that haply they may discover the
sweet smell of the robe of Thy mercy, and set their faces towards the