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souls enriched by Thy riches, and their wills strengthened to proclaim Thy
Cause amidst Thy creatures. Thou art, verily, the Great Giver, the
Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
Lauded be Thy name, O my God! Thou seest how I have been sorely vexed
among Thy servants, and beholdest the things that have befallen me in Thy
path. Thou knowest full well that I have not spoken a word but by Thy
leave, that my lips have never been opened except at Thy bidding and in
accordance with Thy pleasure, that every breath I have breathed hath been
animated with Thy praise and Thy remembrance, that I have summoned all men
to naught else except that whereunto Thy chosen ones have through all
eternity been summoned, and that I have bidden them observe only the
things that would draw them nearer unto the Day-Spring of Thy
loving-kindness, and the Dawning-Place of Thy favors, and the Horizon of
Thy riches, and the Manifestation of Thine inspiration and Thy revelation.
Thou art well aware, O my God, that I have not failed in my duty towards
Thy Cause. At all times and under all conditions I have wafted, in every
direction, the breezes of Thine inspiration, and shed abroad the sweet
smell of the raiment of Thy mercy, that haply Thy servants may discover
its fragrance, and through it be enabled to turn towards Thee.
I implore Thee, O my God, by the Lights of Thy unity and the Repositories
of Thy revelation, to send down from the clouds of Thy mercy that which
will cleanse the hearts of all such as have turned towards Thee. Blot out,
then, from their hearts all that may induce Thy servants to cavil at Thy
Cause.
Thy will hath overruled my will, O my God, and I have shown forth what
hath grievously vexed me. Have mercy, then, upon me, O Thou Who of all
those who show mercy art the Most Merciful!
Assist Thou Thy servants, O my God, to help Thy Cause, and give them to
drink what will quicken their hearts in Thy realm, lest anything hinder
them from remembering Thee and from extolling Thy virtues, that they may
quit their homes in Thy name, and summon all the multitudes unto Thee.
Guard their faces, O my God, from turning to any one save Thee, and their
ears from hearkening unto the sayings of all such as have turned away from
Thy beauty and repudiated Thy signs.
Supreme art Thou over all things. There is none other God save Thee, the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou beholdest my low estate and the
habitation wherein I dwell, and bearest witness unto my perplexity, my
crying needs, my troubles, and the afflictions I suffer among Thy servants
who recite Thy verses and repudiate their Revealer, who call on Thy names
and cavil at their Creator, who seek to draw nigh unto Him Who is Thy
Friend and put to death Him Who is the Best-Beloved of the worlds.
Open Thou their eyes, O my God, and My Master, that they may gaze on Thy
beauty, or cause them to return unto the lowest abyss of the fire. Potent
art Thou to do what Thou willest. Thou art, verily, the All-Glorious, the
All-Wise.
The glory of Thy might, O my God, beareth me witness! Every time I attempt
to remember Thee, I find myself overpowered by the sublimity of Thy
station and the immensity of Thy might; and every time I hold my peace,
lo, I am impelled by my love for Thee and by the potency of Thy will, to
unloose my tongue and mention Thee. He who is poor and needy, O my God, is
calling for his Lord, the All-Possessing; and he who is destitute of all
strength remembereth his Master, the All-Powerful. If He deign to accept
His servant's supplication, He is, verily, of unsurpassed bounteousness;
and if He cast him out, He is of those who judge equitably the best. He
indeed is acceptable, O my God, who hath set his face towards Thee, and he
is truly deprived who hath been careless of the remembrance of Thee in Thy
days. Blessed is he that hath tasted of the sweetness of Thy remembrance
and praise. Nothing, not even the arising of all the peoples of the whole
world to assail him, can hinder such a man from directing his steps
towards the paths of Thy pleasure and the ways of Thy Cause.
Look, then, O Thou Who art the Well-Beloved of Bahá, upon the tears he
sheddeth before Thee, and behold the sighs which he uttereth, O Thou Who
art his heart's Desire! I swear by Thy might, and Thy majesty and Thy
glory! Were I to inherit from Thee all the delights of Paradise, and to
keep them in my possession as long as Thine own Being endureth, and were I
to become, for less than a moment, careless of the remembrance of Thee, I
would, of a certainty, cast them away from me and cease to consider them.
I am the one, O my God, who for love of Thee hath forsaken the world and
all its benefits, and willingly accepted every tribulation for the sake of
Thy remembrance.
I entreat Thee, O Thou Who art my Companion and my Best-Beloved, to lift
the veil that hath come in between Thee and Thy servants, that they may
recognize Thee with Thine own eye and rid themselves of all attachment to
any one but Thee. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Ever-Forgiving, the
Most Compassionate. No God is there beside Thee, the Most Exalted, the
Self-Sufficing, the Self-Exalting, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise.