Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou dost witness that Thy will hath
prevailed over all created things, and Thy mercy hath surpassed all who
are in heaven and on earth. And when Thou didst purpose to unveil Thy
sovereignty, and to glorify Thy word, and to reveal Thy bounteousness and
mercy, Thou didst raise up one of Thy servants, and didst choose Him above
all Thy creatures, and didst single Him out for Thy purpose, and didst
clothe Him with the robe of Thy guidance, and didst immerse Him beneath
the seas of Thy majesty and grandeur, and didst sanctify Him from all that
beseemeth not the greatness of Thy glory and the power of Thy might, and
didst bid Him to cry out before all that are in heaven and on earth, and
summon the multitudes to the Manifestation of Thy Self and the Revealer of
Thy signs.
No sooner had He proclaimed Thy Cause, and risen up to carry out the
things prescribed unto Him in the Tablets of Thy decree, than the Great
Terror fell upon Thy creatures. Some turned towards Thee, and detached
themselves from all except Thee, and sanctified their souls from the world
and all that is therein, and were so enravished by the sweetness of Thy
voice that they forsook all Thou hadst created in the kingdom of Thy
creation. Others recognized Thee and then hesitated, others allowed the
world to come in between them and Thee and to withhold them from
recognizing Thee. Others disdained Thee, and turned back from Thee, and
wished to prevent Thee from achieving Thy purpose. And yet behold how all
of them are calling upon Thee, and are expecting the things they were
promised in Thy Tablets. And when the Promised One came unto them, they
recognized Him not, and disbelieved in Thy signs, and repudiated Thy clear
tokens, and strayed so grievously from Thy path that they slew Thy
servants, through the brightness of whose faces the countenances of the
Concourse on high have been illumined.
I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the Lord of all names, to guard Thy loved
ones against Thine enemies, and to strengthen them in their love for Thee
and in fulfilling Thy pleasure. Do Thou protect them, that their footsteps
may slip not, that their hearts may not be shut out as by a veil from
Thee, and that their eyes may be restrained from beholding anything that
is not of Thee. Cause them to be so enraptured by the sweetness of Thy
divine melodies that they will rid themselves of all attachment to any one
except Thee, and will turn wholly towards Thee, and extol Thee under all
conditions, saying: "Praised be Thou, O Lord our God, inasmuch as Thou
hast enabled us to recognize Thy most exalted and all-glorious Self. We
will, by Thy mercy, cleave to Thee, and will detach ourselves from any one
but Thee. We have realized that Thou art the Beloved of the worlds and the
Creator of earth and heaven!"
Glorified be God, the Lord of all creation!