Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! I testify that Thou wast a hidden
Treasure wrapped within Thine immemorial Being and an impenetrable Mystery
enshrined in Thine own Essence. Wishing to reveal Thyself, Thou didst call
into being the Greater and the Lesser Worlds, and didst choose Man above
all Thy creatures, and didst make Him a sign of both of these worlds, O
Thou Who art our Lord, the Most Compassionate!
Thou didst raise Him up to occupy Thy throne before all the people of Thy
creation. Thou didst enable Him to unravel Thy mysteries, and to shine
with the lights of Thine inspiration and Thy Revelation, and to manifest
Thy names and Thine attributes. Through Him Thou didst adorn the preamble
of the book of Thy creation, O Thou Who art the Ruler of the universe Thou
hast fashioned!
I bear witness that in His person solidity and fluidity have been joined
and combined. Through His immovable constancy in Thy Cause, and His
unwavering adherence to whatsoever Thou, in the plentitude of the light of
Thy glory, didst unveil to His eyes, throughout the domains of Thy
Revelation and creation, the souls of Thy servants were stirred up in
their longing for Thy Kingdom, and the dwellers of Thy realms rushed forth
to enter into Thy heavenly dominion. Through the restlessness He evinced
in Thy path, the feet of all them that are devoted to Thee were steeled
and confirmed to manifest Thy Cause amidst Thy creatures, and to
demonstrate Thy sovereignty throughout Thy realm.
How great, O my God, is this Thy most excellent handiwork, and how
consummate Thy creation, which hath caused every understanding heart and
mind to marvel! And when the set time was fulfilled, and what had been
preordained came to pass, Thou didst unloose His tongue to praise Thee,
and to lay bare Thy mysteries before all Thy creation, O Thou Who art the
Possessor of all names, and the Fashioner of earth and heaven! Through Him
all created things were made to glorify Thee, and to celebrate Thy praise,
and every soul was directed towards the kingdom of Thy revelation and Thy
sovereignty.
At one time, Thou didst raise Him up, O my God, and didst attire Him with
the ornament of the name of Him Who conversed with Thee (Moses), and didst
through Him uncover all that Thy will had decreed and Thine irrevocable
purpose ordained. At another time, Thou didst adorn Him with the name of
Him Who was Thy Spirit (Jesus), and didst send Him down out of the heaven
of Thy will, for the edification of Thy people, infusing thereby the
spirit of life into the hearts of the sincere among Thy servants and the
faithful among Thy creatures. Again, Thou didst reveal Him, decked forth
by the name of Him Who was Thy Friend (Muhammad), and caused Him to shine
brightly above the horizon of Hijaz, as a token of Thy power and an
evidence of Thy might. Through Him Thou didst send unto Thy servants what
enabled them to scale the heights of Thy unity, and to yearn over the
wonders of Thy manifold knowledge and wisdom.
I testify, O Thou Who art the Lord of the whole creation, and the Desire
of whosoever hath sought Thee, that, amidst Thy creatures, They resemble
the sun which no matter how often it riseth and setteth is still the one
and the same sun. Whoso maketh any distinction between any of Them hath
truly failed to attain the ultimate purpose, and to reach the highest
goal, and hath been deprived of the mysteries of unity and of the lights
of sanctity and oneness. I testify, moreover, that Thou hast decreed that
none on the face of the earth should equal Them, and none of Thy creatures
be able to be compared with any of Them, in order that Thine own
singleness and peerlessness might be recognized and established.
Glorified, immeasurably glorified be Thy name, O my God! How can I ever
befittingly mention Thee or sufficiently praise Thee, that Thou hast
manifested Him by the power of Thy might, and caused Him to shine above
the horizon of Thy will, and made Him the Day-Spring of Thy signs, and the
Dawning-Place of the revelation of Thy names and Thine attributes? How
bewilderingly mysterious, moreover, O my God, is His nature and all that
Thou hast infused into Him, through Thy strength and by the power of Thy
might! At one time He appeareth as the water which is Life indeed, sent
down out of the heaven of Thy grace, and poured forth from the clouds of
Thy mercy, that Thy creatures may be endued with new life, and live as
long as Thine own Kingdom endureth. Every drop of that water would suffice
to quicken the dead, and to set their faces in the direction of Thy favors
and Thy gifts, and to rid them of all attachment to aught else except
Thee. At another time He revealeth Himself as the Fire which Thou didst
kindle in the tree of Thy unity, whose heat melted the hearts of Thine
ardent lovers when He Who is the Day-Star of the world shone forth above
the horizon of 'Iraq. I testify, O my God, that through Him the veils of
human fancy were burnt up, and the hearts of men were set towards the
scene of Thy most resplendent glory.
I implore Thee, O Thou Who art the Supreme Ordainer, not to suffer me to
be deprived of the breezes which are wafted in Thy days, the days whereon
the sweet smell of the raiment of Thy mercy hath been shed abroad. Neither
do Thou keep me back from Thy most great Ocean, every drop of which crieth
out and saith: "Great is the blessedness that awaiteth him who hath been
awakened from his sleep by the breath of God which, from the source of His
mercy, hath blown over all such of His creatures as have set themselves
towards Him!"
Thou seest, O my Lord, how Thy servants are held captive by their own
selves and desires. Redeem them from their bondage, O my God, by the power
of Thy sovereignty and might, that they may turn towards Thee when He Who
is the Revealer of Thy names and attributes is manifested unto men.
Cast upon this poor and desolate creature, O my Lord, the glance of Thy
wealth, and flood his heart with the beams of Thy knowledge, that he may
apprehend the verities of the unseen world, and discover the mysteries of
Thy heavenly realm, and perceive the signs and tokens of Thy kingdom, and
behold the manifold revelations of this earthly life all set forth before
the face of Him Who is the Revealer of Thine own Self. Direct, then, his
eyes, O my God, towards the horizon of Thy loving-kindness, and make
steadfast his heart in its attachment to Thee, and unloose his tongue to
praise Thee, and make him able to hold fast the cord of Thy love, and to
cling to the hem of Thy bounteousness, and to proclaim Thy name amidst Thy
creatures, and to recount Thy virtues throughout Thy realm, in such wise
that no obstacle will deter him from turning to Thy name, the
All-Bountiful, and no veil shut him out from Thee, in Whose hand is the
dominion of utterance and the kingdom of all names and attributes!
Hold Thou the hand of this seeker who hath set his face towards Thee, O my
Lord, and draw him out of the depths of his vain imaginations, that the
light of certainty may shine brightly above the horizon of his heart in
the days whereon the sun of the knowledge of Thy creatures hath been
darkened through the shining of the Day-Star of Thy glory; the days
whereon the moon of the world's wisdom hath been eclipsed through the
appearance of Thy hidden knowledge, and the manifestation of Thy
well-guarded secret, and the revelation of Thine enshrined mystery; the
days whereon the stars of men's doings have fallen through the rising of
the orb of Thy unity and the shedding of the radiance of Thy transcendent
oneness.
I beg of Thee, O my God, by Thy most exalted Word which Thou hast ordained
as the Divine Elixir unto all who are in Thy realm, the Elixir through
whose potency the crude metal of human life hath been transmuted into
purest gold, O Thou in Whose hands are both the visible and invisible
kingdoms, to ordain that my choice be conformed to Thy choice and my wish
to Thy wish, that I may be entirely content with that which Thou didst
desire, and be wholly satisfied with what Thou didst destine for me by Thy
bounteousness and favor. Potent art Thou to do as Thou willest. Thou, in
very truth, art the All-Glorious, the All-Wise.
Happy is the man who hath recognized Thee, and discovered the sweetness of
Thy fragrance, and set himself towards Thy kingdom, and tasted of the
things that have been perfected therein by Thy grace and favor. Great is
the blessedness of him who hath acknowledged Thy most excellent majesty,
and whom the veils that have shut out the nations from Thee have not
hindered from directing his eyes towards Thee, O Thou Who art the King of
eternity and the Quickener of every moldering bone! Blessed, also, is he
that hath inhaled Thy sweet savors, and been carried away by Thine
utterances in Thy days. Blessed, moreover, be the man that hath turned
unto Thee, and woe betide him that hath turned his back upon Thee.
Praised be Thou, the Lord of the worlds!