Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! My tongue, both the tongue of my body
and the tongue of my heart, my limbs and members, every pulsating vein
within me, every hair of my head, all proclaim that Thou art God, and that
there is none other God beside Thee. From everlasting Thou hast been
immeasurably exalted above all similitudes and comparisons, and sanctified
from whatsoever pertaineth to the creation Thou hast created and
fashioned. From eternity Thou hast been alone, with none to share the
majesty of Thy singleness, and hast remained far above the changes and
chances to which all Thy creatures are subjected.
And when Thou didst purpose to demonstrate the power of Thy sovereign
might, and to glorify Thy word, and to guide the steps of Thy people, Thou
didst raise up from among Thy creatures One of Thy servants, Whom Thou
didst send forth with the signs of Thy sovereignty, and Whom Thou didst
endue with the clear tokens of Thy oneness, that He might fulfill Thy
testimony unto all created things, and perfect Thy proof before all men.
As soon as He revealed Himself, as bidden by Thee, and called Thy servants
to turn in the direction of Thy gifts, and to set their faces towards the
horizon of Thy knowledge, the signs of dissension appeared amongst them.
Some responded to Thy call and, without the least hesitation, obeyed Thy
summons. Others turned their backs to Thee, and followed the desires of a
corrupt inclination.
I implore Thee, O my God, by Thy Most Great Name, to enrapture the nations
through the potency of the Word which Thou didst ordain to be the king of
all words, the Word whereby the goodly pearls of Thy hidden wisdom were
uncovered, and the gem-like mysteries which were wrapped up within Thee
were unraveled. Deprive them not, by Thy grace and bounty, of the things
Thou didst desire for them, and suffer them not to be far removed from the
shores of the ocean of Thy presence.
Every existence, whether seen or unseen, O my Lord, testifieth that Thy
mercy hath surpassed all created things, and Thy loving-kindness embraced
the entire creation. Look upon them, I entreat Thee, with the eyes of Thy
mercy. Thou art the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate. Do with them
as beseemeth Thy glory, and Thy majesty, and Thy greatness, and Thy
bounteousness and Thy grace. Deal not with them according to the
limitations imposed upon them, or the manifold vicissitudes of their
earthly life.
Thou knowest, O my Lord, that I am but one of Thy servants. I have tasted
of the sweetness of Thy speech, and acknowledged Thy unity and Thy
singleness, and set my face towards the Source of Thy most excellent names
and the Day-Spring of Thy transcendent attributes, and wished to be
enabled by Thee to immerse myself beneath the ocean of Thy oneness and to
be submerged by the mighty waters of Thy unity.
Assist me, by Thy strengthening grace, O my Lord, to do what Thou didst
will, and withhold not from me the things Thou dost possess. So enravish
me with the wonders of Thine utterances that the noise and distraction of
this world may be powerless to deter me from turning unto Thee, and may
fail to shake my constancy in Thy Cause, or to distract my gaze from the
horizon of Thy grace. Aid me, then, O my God, to do what pleaseth Thee,
and to carry out Thy will. Write down for me, moreover, the good of this
world and of the world which is to come, and ordain for me a seat of truth
in Thy presence. Potent art Thou to do what Thou willest, and to rule as
Thou pleasest. No God is there but Thee, the Inaccessible, the
All-Glorious, the Most Great.
All-praise to Thee, O Lord of the worlds and the Object of the adoration
of the entire creation!