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horizon that shineth with the brightness of the light of Thy face. Weak
are they, O my Lord, and Thou art the Lord of strength and power. They are
but paupers, and Thou art the All-Possessing, the Most Generous.
Thou art well aware, O my God, that throughout my life I have sought no
advantage for myself. I have offered up my spirit and my whole being for
the exaltation of Thy word amidst Thy creatures and the glorification of
Thy name among Thy servants. Thou didst send me with such a Testimony that
They Who are the Exponents of Thy Revelation and the Day-Springs of Thine
inspiration were stirred up with vehement longing. Through it, Thy proof
was established, and Thy bounty fulfilled, and Thy Cause perfected, and
Thine utterances released, and Thy clear tokens uncovered.
Thou knowest, O my God, that I have wished only what Thou hast wished, and
desire what Thou dost desire. Were I to speak forth before Thy servants
the things wherewith Thou didst, through Thy bounty, inspire me and which
Thou didst command me to utter amidst Thy creatures, the oppressors among
Thy people would cavil at me. And were I to hold my peace and cease to
celebrate the wonders of Thy praise, all the limbs of my body would be
stirred up to extol Thee. I know not what the water is with which Thou
didst create me, or what the fire Thou didst kindle within me. I swear by
Thy glory! I shall not cease to mention Thee, though all that are in Thy
heaven and on Thy earth rise up against me. Thee will I magnify, in all
circumstances, with a heart wholly rid of all attachment to the world and
all that is therein.
Praised be Thou, the Well-Beloved of the hearts of all such as have
recognized Thee.
Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou beholdest how my gaze is fixed
toward Thy tender mercies, and how mine eyes are bent upon the horizon of
Thy grace, and Thy loving-kindness, and how my hands are stretched out
unto the heaven of Thy bestowals. Thy might beareth me witness! Every limb
of my body crieth out to Thee and saith: "O Thou Who art the Well-Beloved
of the worlds, and the Lord of all that are in heaven and on earth, and
the one Desire of the hearts which are devoted to Thee! I implore Thee, by
Thine Ocean unto which Thou didst summon all the inmates of heaven and all
the dwellers of the earth, to help Thy servants who have been kept back
from turning unto it and from approaching its shores. Make them, then, O
my God, to be detached from all else but Thee, and enable them to speak
forth Thy praise and extol Thy virtues. Supply them, moreover, O my God,
with the choice Wine of Thy mercy, that it may cause them to be forgetful
of any one except Thee, and to arise to serve Thy Cause, and to be
steadfast in their love for Thee. Thou art, verily, the Lord of their
lives and the Object of their adoration. If they be driven away by Thee,
who will then look upon them; and if they be removed far from Thee, who is
there that can help them to approach Thy Presence? I swear by Thy might!
No refuge is there to flee to except Thee, and no shelter to seek except
Thy shelter, and no protection except Thy protection. Woe betide him who
hath taken as Lord any one beside Thee, and blessed are the ones who have
rid themselves of all attachment to all the dwellers of Thine earth, and
clung to the hem of Thy bounteousness. These! the people of Bahá, before
all that are in heaven and all that are on earth. No God is there but
Thee, the Omniscient, the All-Wise."
Praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds.
I know not, O my God, whether I should speak forth the wonders of Thy
praise among Thy servants, and lay bare before them the secrets of Thy
mercy and the mysteries of Thy Cause, or keep them wrapped up within the
receptacle of my heart. Though the lover be loth to share with any one the
intimate conversation of his beloved, yet at whatever time Thine
inescapable commandment to declare Thy Cause reacheth me, I will
unhesitatingly obey it. I would proclaim Thee, undeterred by the darts of
affliction that may rain down upon me from the clouds of Thy decree.
I swear by Thy might! Neither the hosts of the earth nor those of heaven
can keep me back from revealing the things I am commanded to manifest. I
have no will before Thy will, and can cherish no desire in the face of Thy
desire. By Thy grace I am, at all times, ready to serve Thee and am rid of
all attachment to any one except Thee.
What I desire, however, O my God, is that Thou shouldst bid me unveil the
things which lie hid in Thy knowledge, so that they who are wholly devoted
to Thee may, in their longing for Thee, soar up into the atmosphere of Thy
oneness, and the infidels may be seized with trembling and may return to
the nethermost fire, the abode ordained for them by Thee through the power
of Thy sovereign might.
Thou dost consider, O my Lord, how Thy dear ones are sore pressed by Thine
enemies, and hearest from all sides their sighing by reason of what hath
befallen them in Thy path. Thou knowest, O my Lord, that their one desire
was to seek Thy face, and that the sole Object of their adoration was
Thee. They who wronged them had no other purpose except to turn them away
from Thee, and to extinguish the fire which Thou hadst kindled with the
hands of Thine almighty power.
Unseal the lips of Thy will, O my Lord, and let a word proceed therefrom
that shall subject unto itself the world and all that is therein. How long
shalt Thou behold these things and tarry, O my God? Darkness hath
enveloped the whole earth, and Thy tokens are ready to be blotted out