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signs of Thy victory? Wilt Thou not behold, O my Master, the hearts |
wherein have beaten the wings of the dove of longing and love for Thee? By |
Thy glory! Things have come to such a pass that hope hath well nigh been |
banished from the hearts of Thy chosen ones, and the breaths of despair |
are ready to seize them, by reason of what hath befallen them in Thy days. |
Behold me, then, O my God, how I have fled from myself unto Thee, and have |
abandoned my own being that I may attain unto the splendors of the light |
of Thy Being, and have forsaken all that keepeth me back from Thee, and |
maketh me forgetful of Thee, in order that I may inhale the fragrances of |
Thy presence and Thy remembrance. Behold how I have stepped upon the dust |
of the city of Thy forgiveness and Thy bounty, and dwelt within the |
precincts of Thy transcendent mercy, and have besought Thee, through the |
sovereignty of Him Who is Thy Remembrance and Who hath appeared in the |
robe of Thy most pure and most august Beauty, to send down, in the course |
of this year, upon Thy loved ones what will enable them to dispense with |
any one except Thee, and will set them free to recognize the evidences of |
Thy sovereign will and all-conquering purpose, in such wise that they will |
seek only what Thou didst wish for them through Thy bidding, and will |
desire naught except what Thou didst desire for them through Thy will. |
Sanctify, then, their eyes, O my God, that they may behold the light of |
Thy Beauty, and purge their ears, that they may listen to the melodies of |
the Dove of Thy transcendent oneness. Flood, then, their hearts with the |
wonders of Thy love, and preserve their tongues from mentioning any one |
save Thee, and guard their faces from turning to aught else except |
Thyself. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, verily, art the |
Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. |
Protect, moreover, O my Beloved, through Thy love for them and through the |
love they bear to Thee, this servant, who hath sacrificed his all for |
Thee, and expended whatsoever Thou hast given him in the path of Thy love |
and Thy good pleasure, and preserve him from all that Thou abhorrest, and |
from whatsoever may hinder him from entering into the Tabernacle of Thy |
holy sovereignty, and from attaining the seat of Thy transcendent oneness. |
Number him, then, O my God, with such as have allowed nothing whatever to |
deter them from beholding Thy beauty, or from meditating on the wondrous |
evidences of Thine everlasting handiwork, that he may have fellowship with |
none except Thee, and turn to naught save Thyself, and discover in |
whatever hath been created by Thee in the kingdoms of earth and heaven |
nothing but Thy wondrous Beauty and the revelation of the splendors of Thy |
face, and be so immersed beneath the billowing oceans of Thine overruling |
providence and the surging seas of Thy holy unity, that he will forget |
every mention except the mention of Thy transcendent oneness, and banish |
from his soul the traces of all evil suggestions, O Thou in Whose hands |
are the kingdoms of all names and attributes! |
Lauded be Thy name, O Thou Who art the Goal of my desire! I swear by Thy |
glory! How great is my wish to attain unto a detachment so complete that |
were there to appear before me those countenances which are hid within the |
chambers of chastity, and the beauty of which Thou didst veil from the |
eyes of the entire creation, and whose faces Thou didst sanctify from the |
sight of all beings, and were they to unveil themselves in all the glory |
of the splendors of Thine incomparable beauty, I would refuse to look upon |
them, and would behold them solely for the purpose of discerning the |
mysteries of Thy handiwork, which have perplexed the minds of such as have |
drawn nigh unto Thee, and awed the souls of all them that have recognized |
Thee. I would, by Thy power and Thy might, soar to such heights that |
nothing whatsoever would have the power to keep me back from the manifold |
evidences of Thy transcendent dominion, nor would any earthly scheme shut |
me out from the manifestations of Thy Divine holiness. |
Glorified, immeasurably glorified art Thou, O my God, and my Beloved, and |
my Master, and my Desire! Shatter not the hopes of this lowly one to |
attain the shores of Thy glory, and deprive not this wretched creature of |
the immensities of Thy riches, and cast not away this suppliant from the |
doors of Thy grace, and Thy bounty, and Thy gifts. Have mercy, then, upon |
this poor and desolate soul who hath sought no friend but Thee, and no |
companion except Thee, and no comforter save Thee, and no beloved apart |
from Thee, nor cherished any desire but Thyself. |
Cast, then, upon me, O my God, the glances of Thy mercy, and forgive me my |
trespasses and the trespasses of them that are dear to Thee, and which |
come in between us and the revelation of Thy triumph and Thy grace. Cancel |
Thou, moreover, our sins which have shut off our faces from the splendors |
of the Day-Star of Thy favors. Powerful art Thou to do Thy pleasure. Thou |
ordainest what Thou willest, and art not asked of what Thou wishest |
through the power of Thy sovereignty, nor canst Thou be frustrated in |
whatsoever Thou prescribest through Thine irrevocable decree. No God is |
there save Thee, the Almighty, the Most Powerful, the Ever-living, the |
Most Compassionate. |