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detach them that are nigh unto Thee from all created things, and draw them |
to the throne of Thy names and Thine attributes. I yield Thee such thanks |
as can cause Thee to forgive all sins and trespasses, and to fulfill the |
needs of the peoples of all religions, and to waft the fragrances of |
pardon over the entire creation. I yield Thee such thanks as can enable |
them that recognize Thy unity to scale the heights of Thy love, and cause |
such as are devoted to Thee to ascend unto the Paradise of Thy presence. I |
yield Thee such thanks as can satisfy the wants of all such as seek Thee, |
and realize the aims of them that have recognized Thee. I yield Thee such |
thanks as can blot out from the hearts of men all suggestions of |
limitations, and inscribe the signs of Thy unity. I yield Thee such thanks |
as that with which Thou didst from eternity glorify Thine own Self, and |
didst exalt it above all peers, rivals, and comparisons, O Thou in Whose |
hands are the heavens of grace and of bounty, and the kingdoms of glory |
and of majesty! |
Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God, and my Master! Thou bearest witness, |
and seest, and knowest the things that have befallen Thy loved ones in Thy |
days, and the continual trials, and the successive tribulations, and the |
incessant afflictions, which have been sent down upon Thine elect. Such |
hath been their plight that the earth became too strait for them, and they |
were encompassed by the evidences of Thy wrath and the signs of Thy fear |
in every land, and the doors of Thy mercy and Thy loving-kindness were |
shut against them, and the garden of their hearts was deprived of the |
overflowing showers of Thy grace and Thy bountiful favors. Wilt Thou |
withhold, O my God, from such as love Thee the wonders of Thine ascendancy |
and triumph? Wilt Thou shatter, O my Beloved, the hopes which they who are |
devoted to Thee have fixed on Thy manifold bounties and gifts? Wilt Thou |
keep back, O my Master, those that have recognized Thee from the shores of |
Thy sanctified knowledge, or wilt Thou cease to rain down upon the hearts |
of such as desire Thee the showers of Thy transcendent grace? No, no, and |
to this Thy glory beareth me witness! I testify this very moment that Thy |
mercy hath surpassed all created things, and Thy loving-kindness |
encompassed all that are in heaven and all that are on earth. From |
everlasting the doors of Thy generosity were open to the faces of Thy |
servants, and the gentle winds of Thy grace were wafted over the hearts of |
Thy creatures, and the overflowing rains of Thy bounty were showered upon |
Thy people and the dwellers of Thy realm. |
I know full well Thou hast delayed to manifest Thy triumph in the kingdom |
of creation by reason of Thy knowledge which embraceth both the mysteries |
of Thy decree, and the hidden things ordained behind the veils of Thine |
irrevocable purpose, that thereby those who have entered beneath the |
shadow of Thy transcendent mercy may be separated from those who have |
dealt disdainfully with Thee, and turned back from Thy presence at the |
time when Thou didst manifest Thy most exalted Beauty. |
Exalted, immeasurably exalted art Thou, therefore, O my Beloved! Forasmuch |
as Thou hast divided, in Thy realm, Thy loved ones from Thine enemies, and |
hast perfected Thy most weighty testimony and Thy most infallible Proof |
unto all who are in heaven and on earth, have mercy, then, upon those who |
were brought low in Thy land, by reason of what hath befallen them in Thy |
path. Exalt them, then, O my God, through the power of Thy might and the |
potency of Thy will, and raise them up to proclaim Thy Cause through Thine |
omnipotent sovereignty and purpose. |
I swear by Thy glory! My sole purpose in showing forth Thine ascendancy |
hath been to glorify Thy Cause, and to magnify Thy word. I am persuaded |
that if Thou wert to delay to send down Thy victory and to demonstrate Thy |
power, the signs of Thy sovereignty would assuredly perish in Thy land, |
and the tokens of Thy rule would be blotted out throughout Thy dominion. |
My breast is straitened, O my God, and sorrows and vexations have |
compassed me round, for I hear among Thy servants every praise except Thy |
wondrous praise, and behold amidst Thy people the evidences of all things |
save the evidences of what Thou hast prescribed unto them by Thy behest, |
and destined for them through Thy sovereign will, and ordained unto them |
by Thine overruling decree. They have strayed so far from Thee that should |
any of Thy loved ones deliver unto them the wondrous tokens of Thy unity, |
and the gem-like utterances that attest Thy transcendent oneness, they |
would thrust their fingers into their ears, and would cavil at him and |
mock him. All this hast Thou set down through Thine all-encompassing |
sovereignty, and apprehended through Thine omnipotent supremacy. |
Glorified, immeasurably glorified art Thou, O my Master! Look, then, upon |
the hearts which, in their love for Thee, have been transfixed by the |
darts of Thine enemies, and the heads which were borne on spears for the |
sake of the exaltation of Thy Cause and the glorification of Thy name. |
Have pity, then, upon those hearts which have been consumed by the fire of |
Thy love, and been touched by such tribulations as are known only unto |
Thee. |
All laud and honor to Thee, O my God! Thou well knowest the things which, |
for a score of years, have happened in Thy days, and have continued to |
happen until this hour. No man can reckon, nor can any tongue tell, what |
hath befallen Thy chosen ones during all this time. They could obtain no |
shelter, nor find any refuge in which they could abide in safety. Turn, |
then, O my God, their fear into the evidences of Thy peace and Thy |
security, and their abasement into the sovereignty of Thy glory, and their |
poverty into Thine all-sufficient riches, and their distress into the |
wonders of Thy perfect tranquillity. Vouchsafe unto them the fragrances of |
Thy might and Thy mercy, and send down upon them, out of Thy marvelous |
loving-kindness, what will enable them to dispense with all except Thee, |
and will detach them from aught save Thyself, that the sovereignty of Thy |
oneness may be revealed and the supremacy of Thy grace and Thy bounty |
demonstrated. |
Wilt Thou not, O my God, look upon the tears which Thy loved ones have |
shed? Wilt Thou not pity, O my Beloved, the eyes which have been dimmed by |
reason of their separation from Thee, and because of the cessation of the |