text
stringlengths
0
76
Glorified be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou beholdest my dwelling-place,
and the prison into which I am cast, and the woes I suffer. By Thy might!
No pen can recount them, nor can any tongue describe or number them. I
know not, O my God, for what purpose Thou hast abandoned me to Thine
adversaries. Thy glory beareth me witness! I sorrow not for the vexations
I endure for love of Thee, nor feel perturbed by the calamities that
overtake me in Thy path. My grief is rather because Thou delayest to
fulfill what Thou hast determined in the Tablets of Thy Revelation, and
ordained in the books of Thy decree and judgment.
My blood, at all times, addresseth me saying: "O Thou Who art the Image of
the Most Merciful! How long will it be ere Thou riddest me of the
captivity of this world, and deliverest me from the bondage of this life?
Didst Thou not promise me that Thou shalt dye the earth with me, and
sprinkle me on the faces of the inmates of Thy Paradise?" To this I make
reply: "Be thou patient and quiet thyself. The things thou desirest can
last but an hour. As to me, however, I quaff continually in the path of
God the cup of His decree, and wish not that the ruling of His will should
cease to operate, or that the woes I suffer for the sake of my Lord, the
Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, should be ended. Seek thou my wish and
forsake thine own. Thy bondage is not for my protection, but to enable me
to sustain successive tribulations, and to prepare me for the trials that
must needs repeatedly assail me. Perish that lover who discerneth between
the pleasant and the poisonous in his love for his beloved! Be thou
satisfied with what God hath destined for thee. He, verily, ruleth over
thee as He willeth and pleaseth. No God is there but Him, the
Inaccessible, the Most High."
Magnified be Thy name, O Lord my God! I know not what the water is with
which Thou hast created me, or what the fire Thou hast kindled within me,
or the clay wherewith Thou hast kneaded me. The restlessness of every sea
hath been stilled, but not the restlessness of this Ocean which moveth at
the bidding of the winds of Thy will. The flame of every fire hath been
extinguished except the Flame which the hands of Thine omnipotence have
kindled, and whose radiance Thou hast, by the power of Thy name, shed
abroad before all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth. As
the tribulations deepen, it waxeth hotter and hotter.
Behold, then, O my God, how Thy Light hath been compassed with the
onrushing winds of Thy decree, how the tempests that blow and beat upon it
from every side have added to its brightness and increased its splendor.
For all this let Thee be praised.
I implore Thee, by Thy Most Great Name, and Thy most ancient sovereignty,
to look upon Thy loved ones whose hearts have been sorely shaken by reason
of the troubles that have touched Him Who is the Manifestation of Thine
own Self. Powerful art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou art, verily,
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
O Thou Whose face is the object of the adoration of all that yearn after
Thee, Whose presence is the hope of such as are wholly devoted to Thy
will, Whose nearness is the desire of all that have drawn nigh unto Thy
court, Whose countenance is the companion of those who have recognized Thy
truth, Whose name is the mover of the souls that long to behold Thy face,
Whose voice is the true life of Thy lovers, the words of Whose mouth are
as the waters of life unto all who are in heaven and on earth!
I beseech Thee, by the wrong Thou hast suffered and the ills inflicted
upon Thee by the hosts of wrongful doers, to send down upon me from the
clouds of Thy mercy that which will purify me of all that is not of Thee,
that I may be worthy to praise Thee and fit to love Thee.
Withhold not from me, O my Lord, the things Thou didst ordain for such of
Thy handmaidens as circle around Thee, and on whom are poured continually
the splendors of the sun of Thy beauty and the beams of the brightness of
Thy face. Thou art He Who from everlasting hath succored whosoever hath
sought Thee, and bountifully favored him who hath asked Thee.
No God is there beside Thee, the Mighty, the Ever-Abiding, the
All-Bounteous, the Most Generous.
Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! Darkness hath fallen upon every land,
and the forces of mischief have encompassed all the nations. Through them,
however, I perceive the splendors of Thy wisdom, and discern the