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Praise be unto Thee, for Thou art, in truth, the Lord of earth and heaven.
Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! I am the one who hath sought the good
pleasure of Thy will, and directed his steps towards the seat of Thy
gracious favors. I am he who hath forsaken his all, who hath fled to Thee
for shelter, who hath set his face towards the tabernacle of Thy
revelation and the adored sanctuary of Thy glory. I beseech Thee, O my
Lord, by Thy call whereby they who recognized Thy unity have sought the
shadow of Thy most gracious providence, and the sincere have fled far from
themselves unto Thy name, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, through
which Thy verses were sent down, and Thy word fulfilled, and Thy proof
manifested, and the sun of Thy beauty risen, and Thy testimony
established, and Thy signs uncovered,--I beseech Thee to grant that I may
be numbered with them that have quaffed the wine that is life indeed from
the hands of Thy gracious providence, and have rid themselves, in Thy
path, of all attachment to Thy creatures, and been so inebriated with Thy
manifold wisdom that they hastened to the field of sacrifice with Thy
praise on their lips and Thy remembrance in their hearts. Send down, also,
upon me, O my God, that which will wash me from anything that is not of
Thee, and deliver me from Thine enemies who have disbelieved in Thy signs.
Potent art Thou to do what Thou willest. No God is there beside Thee, the
Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! Thou seest and knowest that I have
called upon Thy servants to turn nowhere except in the direction of Thy
bestowals, and have bidden them observe naught save the things Thou didst
prescribe in Thy Perspicuous Book, the Book which hath been sent down
according to Thine inscrutable decree and irrevocable purpose.
I can utter no word, O my God, unless I be permitted by Thee, and can move
in no direction until I obtain Thy sanction. It is Thou, O my God, Who
hast called me into being through the power of Thy might, and hast endued
me with Thy grace to manifest Thy Cause. Wherefore I have been subjected
to such adversities that my tongue hath been hindered from extolling Thee
and from magnifying Thy glory.
All praise be to Thee, O my God, for the things Thou didst ordain for me
through Thy decree and by the power of Thy sovereignty. I beseech Thee
that Thou wilt fortify both myself and them that love me in our love for
Thee, and wilt keep us firm in Thy Cause. I swear by Thy might! O my God!
Thy servant's shame is to be shut out as by a veil from Thee, and his
glory is to know Thee. Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever
hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in
no wise alarm me.
Send down, therefore, O my Lord, upon me and upon my loved ones that which
will protect us from the mischief of those that have repudiated Thy truth
and disbelieved in Thy signs.
Thou art, verily, the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful.
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou hast, in Thine all highest
Paradise, assigned unto Thy servants such stations that if any one of them
were to be unveiled to men's eyes all who are in heaven and all who are on
earth would be dumbfounded. By Thy might! Were kings to witness so great a
glory they would, assuredly, rid themselves of their dominions and cleave
to such of their subjects as have entered beneath the shadow of Thine
immeasurable mercy and sought the shelter of Thine all-glorious name.
I implore Thee, O Thou Who art the Beloved of the worlds and the Desire of
all that have recognized Thee, by Thy name, through which Thou stirrest up
whom Thou willest and drawest toward Thee whom Thou pleasest, to open the
eyes of all that are dear to Thee, that haply they may not be veiled from
Thee as the peoples of the earth are, but may outwardly perceive the signs
and tokens of Thy power, and inwardly apprehend the things Thou didst
ordain for them in the realms of Thy glory.
Potent art Thou to do Thy pleasure. Thou art the one alone Beloved in both
this world and in the next. No God is there but Thee, the Most Exalted,
the All-Glorious.
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Every time I venture to make mention of
Thee, I am held back by my mighty sins and grievous trespasses against
Thee, and find myself wholly deprived of Thy grace, and utterly powerless
to celebrate Thy praise. My great confidence in Thy bounty, however,
reviveth my hope in Thee, and my certitude that Thou wilt bountifully deal