text
stringlengths 0
76
|
---|
and who save Thyself can make fitting mention of Thee? Thou art He Who, |
from eternity, abode in His realm, in the glory of His transcendent unity, |
and the splendors of His holy grandeur. Were any one except Thee to be |
deemed worthy of mention, in all the kingdoms of Thy creation, from the |
highest realms of immortality down to the level of this nether world, how |
could it, then, be demonstrated that Thou art established upon the throne |
of Thy unity, and how could the wondrous virtues of Thy oneness and Thy |
singleness be glorified? |
I bear witness, this very moment, to what Thou hast testified for Thine |
own Self, ere Thou hadst created the heavens and the earth, that Thou art |
God, and that there is none other God besides Thee. Thou hast from |
everlasting been potent, through the Manifestations of Thy might, to |
reveal the signs of Thy power, and Thou hast ever made known, through the |
Day-Springs of Thy knowledge, the words of Thy wisdom. No one besides Thee |
hath ever been found worthy to be mentioned before the Tabernacle of Thy |
unity, and none except Thyself hath proved himself capable of being |
praised within the hallowed court of Thy oneness. |
Praise be to Thee, O my God, that Thou hast revealed Thy favors and Thy |
bounties; and glory be to Thee, O my Beloved, that Thou hast manifested |
the Day-Star of Thy loving-kindness and Thy tender mercies. I yield Thee |
such thanks as can direct the steps of the wayward towards the splendors |
of the morning light of Thy guidance, and enable those who yearn towards |
Thee to attain the seat of the revelation of the effulgence of Thy beauty. |
I yield Thee such thanks as can cause the sick to draw nigh unto the |
waters of Thy healing, and can help those who are far from Thee to |
approach the living fountain of Thy presence. I yield Thee such thanks as |
can divest the bodies of Thy servants of the garments of mortality and |
abasement, and attire them in the robes of Thine eternity and Thy glory, |
and lead the poor unto the shores of Thy holiness and all sufficient |
riches. I yield Thee such thanks as can enable the Heavenly Dove to warble |
forth, upon the branches of the Lote-Tree of Immortality, her song: |
"Verily, Thou art God. No God is there besides Thee. From eternity Thou |
hast been exalted above the praise of aught else but Thee, and been high |
above the description of any one except Thyself." I yield Thee such thanks |
as can cause the Nightingale of Glory to pour forth its melody in the |
highest heaven: "'Al铆 (the B谩b), in truth, is Thy servant, Whom Thou hast |
singled out from among Thy Messengers and Thy chosen Ones, and made Him to |
be the Manifestation of Thyself in all that pertaineth unto Thee, and that |
concerneth the revelation of Thine attributes and the evidences of Thy |
names." I yield Thee such thanks as can stir up all things to extol Thee, |
and to glorify Thine Essence, and can unloose the tongues of all beings to |
magnify the sovereignty of Thy beauty. I yield Thee such thanks as can |
fill the heavens and the earth with the signs of Thy transcendent Essence, |
and assist all created things to enter the Tabernacle of Thy nearness and |
Thy presence. I yield Thee such thanks as can make every created thing to |
be a book that shall speak of Thee, and a scroll that shall unfold Thy |
praise. I yield Thee such thanks as can establish the Manifestations of |
Thy sovereignty upon the throne of Thy governance, and set up the |
Exponents of Thy glory upon the seat of Thy Divinity. I yield Thee such |
thanks as can make the corrupt tree to bring forth good fruit through the |
holy breaths of Thy favors, and revive the bodies of all beings with the |
gentle winds of Thy transcendent grace. I yield Thee such thanks as can |
cause the signs of Thine exalted singleness to be sent down out of the |
heaven of Thy holy unity. I yield Thee such thanks as can teach all things |
the realities of Thy knowledge and the essence of Thy wisdom, and will not |
withhold the wretched creatures from the doors of Thy mercy and Thy |
bountiful favor. I yield Thee such thanks as can enable all who are in |
heaven and on earth to dispense with all created things, through the |
treasuries of Thine all-sufficing riches, and can aid all created things |
to reach unto the summit of Thine almighty favors. I yield Thee such |
thanks as can assist the hearts of Thine ardent lovers to soar into the |
atmosphere of nearness to Thee, and of longing for Thee, and kindle the |
Light of Lights within the land of 'Ir谩q. I yield Thee such thanks as can |
detach them that are nigh unto Thee from all created things, and draw them |
to the throne of Thy names and Thine attributes. I yield Thee such thanks |
as can cause Thee to forgive all sins and trespasses, and to fulfill the |
needs of the peoples of all religions, and to waft the fragrances of |
pardon over the entire creation. I yield Thee such thanks as can enable |
them that recognize Thy unity to scale the heights of Thy love, and cause |
such as are devoted to Thee to ascend unto the Paradise of Thy presence. I |
yield Thee such thanks as can satisfy the wants of all such as seek Thee, |
and realize the aims of them that have recognized Thee. I yield Thee such |
thanks as can blot out from the hearts of men all suggestions of |
limitations, and inscribe the signs of Thy unity. I yield Thee such thanks |
as that with which Thou didst from eternity glorify Thine own Self, and |
didst exalt it above all peers, rivals, and comparisons, O Thou in Whose |
hands are the heavens of grace and of bounty, and the kingdoms of glory |
and of majesty! |
Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God, and my Master! Thou bearest witness, |
and seest, and knowest the things that have befallen Thy loved ones in Thy |
days, and the continual trials, and the successive tribulations, and the |
incessant afflictions, which have been sent down upon Thine elect. Such |
hath been their plight that the earth became too strait for them, and they |
were encompassed by the evidences of Thy wrath and the signs of Thy fear |
in every land, and the doors of Thy mercy and Thy loving-kindness were |
shut against them, and the garden of their hearts was deprived of the |
overflowing showers of Thy grace and Thy bountiful favors. Wilt Thou |
withhold, O my God, from such as love Thee the wonders of Thine ascendancy |
and triumph? Wilt Thou shatter, O my Beloved, the hopes which they who are |
devoted to Thee have fixed on Thy manifold bounties and gifts? Wilt Thou |
keep back, O my Master, those that have recognized Thee from the shores of |
Thy sanctified knowledge, or wilt Thou cease to rain down upon the hearts |
of such as desire Thee the showers of Thy transcendent grace? No, no, and |
to this Thy glory beareth me witness! I testify this very moment that Thy |
mercy hath surpassed all created things, and Thy loving-kindness |
encompassed all that are in heaven and all that are on earth. From |
everlasting the doors of Thy generosity were open to the faces of Thy |