Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! Every time I am reminded of Thee and muse
on Thy virtues, I am seized with such ecstasies and am so enravished by
Thee that I find myself unable to make mention of Thy name and to extol
Thee. I am carried back to such heights that I recognize my self to be the
same as the remembrance of Thee in Thy realm, and the essence of Thy
praise among Thy servants. As long as that self endureth, so long will Thy
praise continue to be shed abroad among Thy creatures and Thy remembrance
glorified by Thy people.
Every man endued with insight among Thy servants is persuaded that my self
liveth eternally and can never perish, inasmuch as remembrance of Thee is
eternal and will endure so long as Thine own Self endureth, and Thy praise
is everlasting and will last as long as Thine own sovereignty will last.
By its means Thou art glorified by such of Thy chosen ones as call upon
Thee and by the sincere among Thy servants. Nay, the praise wherewith any
one, in the entire creation, praiseth Thee proceedeth from this exalted
self and returneth unto it, even as the sun which, while it shineth,
sheddeth its splendor upon whatsoever may be exposed to its rays. From
this sun is generated, and unto it must return, the light which is shed
over all things.
Exalted, immeasurably exalted art Thou above any attempt to measure the
greatness of Thy Cause, above any comparison that one may seek to make,
above the efforts of the human tongue to utter its import! From
everlasting Thou hast existed, alone with no one else beside Thee, and
wilt, to everlasting, continue to remain the same, in the sublimity of
Thine essence and the inaccessible heights of Thy glory.
And when Thou didst purpose to make Thyself known unto men, Thou didst
successively reveal the Manifestations of Thy Cause, and ordained each to
be a sign of Thy Revelation among Thy people, and the Day-Spring of Thine
invisible Self amidst Thy creatures, until the time when, as decreed by
Thee, all Thy previous Revelations culminated in Him Whom Thou hast
appointed as the Lord of all who are in the heaven of revelation and the
kingdom of creation, Him Whom Thou hast established as the Sovereign Lord
of all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth. He it was Whom
Thou hast determined to be the Herald of Thy Most Great Revelation and the
Announcer of Thy Most Ancient Splendor. In this Thou hadst no other
purpose except to try them who have manifested Thy most excellent titles
unto all who are in heaven and on earth. He it was Whom Thou hast
commanded to establish His covenant with all created things.
And when Thy promise came to pass and the set time was fulfilled, He Who
is the Possessor of all Names and Attributes was made manifest unto men.
Thereupon all that were in the heavens and all that were on the earth were
terror-stricken save those whom Thou didst keep under Thy protection and
preserve within the shelter of Thy power and gracious providence. There
befell Him, at the hands of such of Thy creatures as have transgressed
against Thee, that which the tongue of no one of Thy servants can recount.
Look down, then, upon Him, O my God, with the eye of Thy tender mercy, and
send down upon Him and upon those that love Him all the good Thou didst
ordain in the heaven of Thy will and the Tablet of Thy decree. Aid them,
then, with Thy succor, for Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most
Exalted, the All-Glorious, the All-Compelling.