praise of all men, and may peace be upon Thy faithful servants and glory
be unto God, the Lord of all the worlds.
"Praise be to Thee, O Lord, my Best Beloved! Make me ..."
Praise be to Thee, O Lord, my Best Beloved! Make me steadfast in Thy Cause
and grant that I may be reckoned among those who have not violated Thy
Covenant nor followed the gods of their own idle fancy. Enable me, then,
to obtain a seat of truth in Thy presence, bestow upon me a token of Thy
mercy and let me join with such of Thy servants as shall have no fear nor
shall they be put to grief. Abandon me not to myself, O my Lord, nor
deprive me of recognizing Him Who is the Manifestation of Thine Own Self,
nor account me with such as have turned away from Thy holy presence.
Number me, O my God, with those who are privileged to fix their gaze upon
Thy Beauty and who take such delight therein that they would not exchange
a single moment thereof with the sovereignty of the kingdom of heavens and
earth or with the entire realm of creation. Have mercy on me, O Lord, in
these days when the peoples of Thine earth have erred grievously; supply
me then, O my God, with that which is good and seemly in Thine estimation.
Thou art verily the All-Powerful, the Gracious, the Bountiful, the
Ever-Forgiving.
Grant, O my God, that I may not be reckoned among those whose ears are
deaf, whose eyes are blind, whose tongues are speechless and whose hearts
have failed to comprehend. Deliver me, O Lord, from the fire of ignorance
and of selfish desire, suffer me to be admitted into the precincts of Thy
transcendent mercy and send down upon me that which Thou hast ordained for
Thy chosen ones. Potent art Thou to do what Thou willest. Verily Thou art
the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
"O My God, O my Lord, O my Master! I beg Thee to ..."
O My God, O my Lord, O my Master! I beg Thee to forgive me for seeking any
pleasure save Thy love, or any comfort except Thy nearness, or any delight
besides Thy good-pleasure, or any existence other than communion with
Thee.
"Thou seest, O my Lord, my dwelling-place in the heart ..."
Thou seest, O my Lord, my dwelling-place in the heart of this mountain and
Thou dost witness my forbearance. Verily I have desired naught else but
Thy love and the love of those who love Thee. How can I extol the
effulgent beauty of Thy Lordship, conscious as I am of my nothingness
before the habitation of Thy glory? Yet the sorrow of solitude and
loneliness prompteth me to invoke Thee through this prayer, perchance Thy
trusted servants may become aware of my lamentations, may supplicate unto
Thee on my behalf, and Thou wouldst graciously answer their prayers as a
token of Thy grace and Thy favour. I bear witness that there is no God but
Thee, inasmuch as Thou art invested with sovereignty, grandeur, glory and
power which no one among Thy servants can visualize or comprehend. Indeed
Thou shalt, by virtue of that which is inherent in Thine Essence, ever
remain inscrutable unto all except Thyself.
"Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised ..."
Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is
God! All are His servants and all abide by His bidding!
FOOTNOTES
1 This is the first letter of '_Th_amarih' which means 'fruit'. Shoghi
Effendi, in his writings, refers to the Bab as the '_Th_amarih'
(fruit) of the Tree of God's successive Revelations. (See Shoghi
Effendi's letter to the Baha'is of the East dated Naw-Ruz 110, page
5.)
2 In one of His Tablets 'Abdu'l-Baha explains that some were misled by
this statement and thought that the school referred to was a
physical school for the training of unlettered children, whereas it
referred to a spiritual school sanctified from the limits of the
contingent world. Baha'u'llah in the Kitab-i-Aqdas also refers to
this Epistle of the Bab in the following words:
O Thou Supreme Pen! Move over the Tablet by the leave of Thy Lord,
the Creator of the heavens. Call Thou then to mind the day when the
Fountainhead of divine unity sought to attend the school which is
sanctified of all save God, that perchance the righteous might
become acquainted, to the extent of a needle's eye, with that which
is concealed behind the veil of the inner mysteries of Thy Lord, the
Almighty, the All-Knowing.
Say, We, in truth, entered the school of inner meaning and
exposition at a time when the minds of all that dwell on earth were
wrapt in heedlessness. We beheld what the Merciful Lord had
revealed, accepted the gift He [the Bab] had offered Me of the
verses of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, and hearkened
to that to which He had attested in the Tablet. We, verily, are the
Witness. We responded to His call at Our Own behest, and We are, in
truth, the Ordainer.
O people of the Bayan! We entered the School of God when ye were
slumbering on your couches, and perused the Tablet when ye were fast
asleep. By the righteousness of God, the True One, We had read it
before it was revealed, and ye were utterly unaware. Indeed Our
knowledge had encompassed the Book when ye were yet unborn.
These utterances are revealed according to your measure, not to
God's, and unto this beareth witness that which is enshrined in the
knowledge of God, did ye but know. Unto this testifieth He Who is
the Mouthpiece of God, could ye but understand. By the righteousness
of God! Were We to lift the veil ye would swoon away. Take heed lest
ye dispute with Him and His Cause. He hath indeed appeared in such
wise as to encompass all things, whether of the past or of the
future. Were We to speak forth at this time in the language of the
dwellers of the Kingdom, We would say that God raised up this School
ere the earth and the heavens were brought into being, and We
entered it before the letters 'B' and 'E' were joined and knit
together.
3 1260 A.H. (1844 A.D.)
4 Qur'an 8:44
5 The numerical value of the letters of the word Hin is 68. The year
1268 A.H. (1851-1852 A.D.) is the year preceding the birth of the
Baha'i Revelation.
6 The Ka'bah in Mecca
7 cf. Qur'an 4:119
8 Qur'an 13
9 Qur'an 3:182
10 cf. Qur'an 19:41
11 cf. Qur'an 17:90
12 cf. Qur'an 2:285
13 cf. Qur'an 3:50
14 cf. Qur'an 14:4
15 cf. Qur'an 68:42
16 cf. Qur'an 7:63, 69
17 cf. Qur'an 36:68
18 cf. Qur'an 65:7; 94:5
19 cf. Qur'an 8:45
20 cf. Qur'an 2:204
21 cf. Qur'an 4:51
22 In these passages of the Qayyumu'l-Asma the name Qurratu'l-'Ayn
(Solace of the Eyes) refers to the Bab Himself.
23 cf. Qur'an 12:20
24 cf. Qur'an 78:38
25 cf. Qur'an 11:83
26 cf. Qur'an 24:21
27 cf. Qur'an 83:25-26
28 Qur'an 52:6
29 cf. Qur'an 29:40
30 cf. Qur'an 2:206
31 cf. Qur'an 2:163-164
32 cf. Qur'an 17:88
33 cf. Qur'an 74:35-37
34 cf. Qur'an 21:40
35 cf. Qur'an 2:14
36 cf. Qur'an 4:149
37 cf. Qur'an 9:32
38 cf. Qur'an 4:169
39 Qur'an 5:77
40 cf. Qur'an 5:15-18
41 cf. Qur'an 5:22
42 cf. Qur'an 5:71
43 cf. Qur'an 2:32; 38:74-78
44 cf. Qur'an 7:69; 12:40
45 cf. Qur'an 7:146; 20:90
46 cf. Qur'an 7:186
47 cf. Qur'an 4:1
48 cf. Qur'an 10:50
49 cf. Qur'an 10:16
50 cf. Qur'an 10:33
51 cf. Qur'an 18:42
52 cf. Qur'an 11:120
53 cf. Qur'an 6:10
54 cf. Qur'an 3:172
55 cf. Qur'an 33:72
56 cf. Qur'an 6:93
57 cf. Qur'an 11:87
58 The Bayan is divided into vahids and chapters, to which these
numbers refer.
59 Qur'an 8:47; 33:41; 62:10
60 Qur'an 29:50
61 Qur'an 57:21
62 In The Promised Day is Come on page 7 Shoghi Effendi affirms that
this passage was revealed by the Bab speaking with the voice of God.
63 This is a reference to Quddus, 'whom the Persian Bayan extolled as
that fellow-pilgrim round whom mirrors to the number of eight Vahids
revolve'. (God Passes By, p. 49).
64 Qur'an 8:2
65 Qur'an 19:92
66 22 May 1844
67 From the Declaration of Muhammad; this occurred ten years before the
Hijrah which marks the starting point of the Muslim calendar.
68 Qur'an 3:5
69 Qur'an 68:51
70 By 'night' is meant the period between two divine Revelations when
the Sun of Truth is not manifest among men. In the Persian Bayan,
II, 7, the Bab says, 'O people of the Bayan! Act not as the people
of the Qur'an have acted, for if you do so the fruits of your night
will come to naught'.
71 The Kitab-i-Asma' is divided into vahids and chapters, to which
these numbers refer.
72 By 'night' is meant the period between two divine Revelations when
the Sun of Truth is not manifest among men. In the Persian Bayan,
II, 7, the Bab says, 'O people of the Bayan! Act not as the people
of the Qur'an have acted, for if you do so the fruits of your night
will come to naught'.
73 By 'night' is meant the period between two divine Revelations when
the Sun of Truth is not manifest among men. In the Persian Bayan,
II, 7, the Bab says, 'O people of the Bayan! Act not as the people
of the Qur'an have acted, for if you do so the fruits of your night
will come to naught'.
74 He Who ariseth (God Passes By, p. 57)
75 One Who is guided (God Passes By, p. 58)
76 The original of this prayer for protection is written in the Bab's
own hand, in the form of a pentacle.
77 Refers to the Bab's birthday on the first day of the month of
Muharram, 1235 A.H. (October 20, 1819).
78 Qur'an 37:180-182
79 Qur'an 6:103