BB00197

In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

O Lord! Verily Thou art, Thou art my love through my love of Thee, and my remembrance of Thee art Thou, and Thy remembrance of me is Thy Word—He is He. How can I turn my face toward Thee through the countenance of Thy oneness, and gaze upon Thee through the manifestation of Thy unity, and observe Thee in the kingdom of Thy sovereignty, and fear Thee in the heavens of Thy mighty glory? For Thou art exalted above all loftiness and greater than all greatness. No height existeth with Thy height that I might sanctify it from Thy presence, and no grandeur existeth with Thy grandeur that I might sanctify Thy presence from it. From eternity Thy essence hath been Thy essence, and Thou, through Thy primordial, ethereal Being and Thy eternal, simple Reality, dost sever all essences from the station of recognition and remove all abstract realities from the mention of expression.

How then can I, in my limitation which is lower than all things, succeed in mentioning and praising Thee in a manner worthy of Thy essence and Thy glory? Nay, by Thy might! I have no joy save in Thee, no pleasure save in Thee, no intimacy save with Thee, no nearness save to Thee, no spirit save through Thee, no paradise save in Thee, no gift save from Thee, and nothing save Thee. For verily I and all else, as encompassed by Thy knowledge, are but utter nothingness in the depths of contingency and the seas of creation, and absolute poverty that hath perished. How then can one whose limit is that of non-existence and evanescence describe the Sovereign of pre-existence and invisibility?

Glorified art Thou! None among all contingent beings hath known Thee or will ever know Thee, and none among all created things hath unified Thee or will ever unify Thee. For the most that essences can know, at the utmost degree of recognition, is but an atom of Thy dominion, which returneth unto itself and moveth by Thy leave within its own sphere, expressing at the height of its simplicity naught but creation, and indicating at the pinnacle of its ethereal nature naught but invention.

Glorified art Thou, O Beloved! I desire to remember Thee, yet find no way for myself. I long for Thy presence, yet find no guide. My spirit nearly departeth from my body, and death entereth my frame from my yearning for Thee and my love of Thee in Thy presence. When wilt Thou consume me in the fire of Thy union—for verily Thou art the mighty, forgiving King—and when wilt Thou torment me in the fire of separation from Thee—for verily Thou art the proud, all-concealing Sovereign? Whether Thou chooseth to deal with me through Thy name, the Subduer, or to rule over me through the attributes of Thy name, the Compeller, nothing remaineth in all existence but is brought to naught by Thy might, as on the day when nothing was.

Glorified art Thou, O Beloved! Forever hath Thy way been that of bounty and the path of grace. Thou didst create me when I was nothing, and nurture me through Thy favor after Thou hadst chosen glory. My being witnessed naught except through Thy clemency in the eternal past, and my essence spoke no praise save through those blessings. Glorified art Thou! Glorified art Thou! How can I seek Thy forgiveness when my very existence is a sin unlike any other in Thy dominion? And how can I turn in repentance unto Thee when the highest essence of my praise is an error unmatched in Thy kingdom?

Unto Thee do I flee, O Compeller of the heavens and earth! With Thee do I seek refuge, O Subduer of the kingdoms of command and creation! I beseech Thee by Thy power and might to raise me up and cause me to attain unto that station than which there is none higher with Thee. Nothing shall diminish aught in Thy dominion, nor shall anything alter Thy kingdom.

Verily, I have reached the ultimate of what Thou hast ordained for me of Thy work, and by Thy might, I have loved none in all that I love save Thee, as Thou hast reckoned […]. I bear witness, by Your glory, that this was not due to love of my own being. Rather, sovereignty’s temptations were presented to me, and I beseech You to lift them from me through Your almighty verses. In Your hand lies the sovereign authority of glory’s ordainment, and within Your grasp rests the dominion of the sphere of governance. Verily You are the All-Merciful, the All-Seeing, the Helper, the Almighty. Giving does not diminish You, nor does withholding benefit You, for You are independent of all created things.

How then could I petition You, O Beloved of the Judge, and Your servant, O Feared One, the Bestower? Your knowledge is too exalted for the needs of all servants to flow beneath its shadow, and Your power too sublime for what reaches all lands through Your grace, assistance, and all that can exist in creation. Glory be unto You! I bear witness, and those in Your presence bear witness, that there is no God but You. You have ever been, and naught was beside You. You will ever be, and nothing shall be with You. All else beside You is, in every state, pure nothingness having no existence that any decree might apply to it. For You created all things from nothing, and established the first one to remember You not from anything. The beginning of the existence of the Primal Will—which is the Cause of causes and the ultimate light of the Eternal Morn—was but from nothing, as You manifested unto it through itself, and it was established in its shadow.

You bestowed upon it what it could bear of what it would create through itself. If this was the limit of the first existence of creation, how then could I and my remembrance of You, then my praise of You, O Lord of Lords? Nay, by Your glory, I seek Your forgiveness for my attempts to know Your Essence and recognize Your Self, for whatever is realized from contingent existence is but sin, unworthy of approaching You, and unfitting for Your presence save You Yourself.

Glory be unto You! I bear witness, and sufficient are You as witness over me, that were You to punish me for my profession of Your unity and my highest praise of Your presence—with all that You possess of power, grandeur, dominion, sovereignty, might, awe and authority, through the eternity of Your Essence, with all Your vengeful wrath and overwhelming power which none but You can enumerate—I would truly deserve it, and You would be praiseworthy in Your deed, obeyed in Your judgment, thanked in Your dominion. That recompense possible in contingent existence, and the recompense of which You are worthy, none can know save You, nor can any describe it but You.

Glory be unto You! O Beloved, through You do I seek refuge in Your presence, and flee from all else unto the sovereignty of Your generosity, and seek intercession through You to Your presence of forgiveness—fearing none but You and hoping in none but You. I beseech You, O my God, not to punish me with the fire of remoteness from You, for that is, with You, the severest punishment and greatest chastisement. Draw me nigh unto You through the manifestations of Your mercy and the appearances of Your grandeur.

And I bear witness unto You, O my God, regarding the Manifestations of Your attributes: Muhammad and the three branches, and the ten effulgent garments from his countenance, and the faces radiant from his visage, as You have borne witness unto them, for the highest remembrance of those who remember cannot reach them, nor can the loftiest praise of the detached ones attain their court. They are above what any speaker has said. And I bear witness regarding all whom You love among the people of creation and invention, as You love and are pleased.

I have loved none save You, and have desired naught but You. I seek Your forgiveness from every glory after which I see no glory that could veil me from Your countenance, or desire mention of aught else through Your manifestation that appears in the kingdom of Your command and creation. Glory be unto Thee and exalted art Thou!

There is no God but Thee, glorified art Thou! Verily, I was among those who remember Thee. And may the blessings of God be upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad and their followers, to the extent that God, the Lord of all worlds, can reckon. Glorified be thy Lord, the Lord of Glory, far above their descriptions. And peace be upon the Messengers. And all praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds.