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Part 1: “Glorified art Thou, O my God! Thine Essence…”

In the Name of God, the Most Unapproachable, the Most Holy

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Thine Essence hath ever praised Thine Essence, Thy Being hath ever sanctified Thy Being, Thy Self hath ever unified Thy Self, and Thine Entity hath ever magnified Thine Entity. Thou hast exalted Thyself in Thy resplendent glory above every greatness that all contingent beings can comprehend, and Thou hast elevated Thyself in Thy radiant majesty above every grandeur to which all created things can point. All within the kingdoms of earth and heaven bow down before Thee, for Thou hast manifested Thyself unto them through what Thou hast fashioned of names and attributes. All within the kingdoms of the beginning and the end worship Thee for what Thou hast ordained in the depths of origins and destinies. Thou art the One Who existed before all things through Thine own Being, Who brought all things into existence through Thy creative Will, and Who endureth after all things through the Reality of Thy Essence.

How can I glorify Thee, O my God, when Thou art far beyond the glorification of Thy creation? How can I praise Thee, O my Lord, when Thou art sanctified above the praise of Thy servants? I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy Name wherein naught is seen save Thee, and which pointeth to none other than Thee, which hath no hearing save Thy hearing, no sight save Thy sight, no words save Thy words, no manifestations save Thy manifestations, no conditions save Thy conditions, no evidences save Thy evidences, no stations save Thy stations, no will save Thy Will, no desire save Thy desire, no destiny save Thy destiny, no decree save Thy decree, no permission save Thy permission, no term save what Thou hast appointed, and no book save what Thou hast revealed.

This is Thy Most Glorious Name which Thou hast set above all glory, Thy Most Exalted Name which Thou hast set above all majesty, Thy Most Beautiful Name which Thou hast set above all beauty, Thy Most Great Name which Thou hast set above all greatness, Thy Most Luminous Name which Thou hast set above all light, Thy Most Merciful Name which Thou hast set above all mercy, Thy Most Perfect Name which Thou hast set above all perfection Thou hast brought into being through Thy power, Thy Most Complete Name which Thou hast set above all completeness, Thy Most Supreme Name which Thou hast set above all supremacy which Thou hast encompassed by Thy knowledge, Thy Most Mighty Name which Thou hast set above all might through the might of Thine Essence, Thy Most Near Name which Thou hast made the Manifestation of what Thou hast ordained of Thy Will and set above every will through what Thou hast [ordained] through the creation of Thy Will, and by Thy Name which Thou hast made the Manifestation of Thy all-encompassing knowledge of all things, from which nothing is concealed from Thy knowledge, and by Thy Name which Thou hast made the Manifestation of Thy power which Thou hast extended over all things, and by Thy Name which Thou hast made the Manifestation of Thy Word and made it more pleasing than every word through what Thou hast cast into it of the good-pleasure of Thy Cause, and by Thy Name which Thou hast loved and who loveth it, and Thy sovereignty which Thou hast made everlasting and who seeketh shelter in its shadow, and Thy nobility which Thou hast exalted and who is ennobled by it through the Manifestations of Thy Cause at the dawning of Thy Will, and Thy justice which Thou hast made supreme over all Thy servants and made it the Manifestation of Thy Name, the One, when the letters of its numbers are completed and what Thou hast concealed in the inmost reality of its manifestations is fulfilled, and what Thou hast revealed through all Thy names through the transcendence of Thy Divinity and the exaltation of Thy Lordship and the inaccessibility of Thy mercy, and the exhilaration of Thine Essence, and the power of Thy sustaining force—for verily Thou, O my God, hast ever been in a wondrous state—bestow upon me, O Lord, all Thy conditions from their beginning to their end, their outward and their inward aspects.

Ordain for me, O Lord, Thy conditions in both the last and first creation, and Thy most mighty signs in the depths of names and similitudes and all that lieth between them. Without doubt the condition which Thou wilt manifest through Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection is higher, more exalted, more inaccessible, more holy and more glorious than the conditions which Thou hast now revealed, for that future life compared to this present life is like how Thou didst make that future abode to be the hereafter for those to whom Thou didst reveal it on the day when Thou didst manifest Muhammad, Thy Beloved, may Thy blessings be upon Him and upon the Manifestations of His Self, and didst send down the Qur’an unto Him. For verily this is the first life compared to that next creation.

The Manifestations of Thy Countenance have ever ascended through the depths of Thy invisible and visible realms and the oceans of Thy innovation and favor, where there is no limit to Thy creation and no end to Thy invention. I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy Name through which Thou dost originate all names and unto which all names return—and it is the Temple of Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection with clear signs, and verily He is the Temple of my return in the next life after this first creation—even if there remaineth but an hour of this world, to extend it until Thou dost manifest Him and cause Him to possess what is in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and all that lieth between them, by Thy power which extendeth over whatsoever Thou hast willed or wilt will, and by Thy sovereignty which prevaileth over whatsoever Thou hast desired or wilt desire. For there is no averter of Thy Purpose and no preventer of Thy Will.

All glory be to him who believeth in Thee, even if he possesseth not in this first life the measure of a mustard seed, for without this he hath no glory with Thee, as Thou didst permit unto the people of Thy love what Thou didst reveal aforetime in the Qur’an:

“Were it not that mankind would have become one community, We would have given those who disbelieve in the All-Merciful, houses with roofs of silver, and stairs whereon to mount, and doors to their houses, and couches whereon to recline, and ornaments. Yet all this would have been but a provision of the life of this world. And the Hereafter with thy Lord is for the God-fearing.”

By Thy glory! I seek refuge with Thee from possessing aught that would veil me from Thy will, even were it the highest of heights—rather make it, O Lord, the lowest of the low that it may not veil me from Thy Purpose nor prevent me from following Thy Will. For the provision of this first life perisheth while what is with Thee endureth.

Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee. I have ever glorified Thee in the depths of the holy names and signs through which Thou hast revealed Thyself unto them by Thy very Self. For the detachment of the people of Thy love hath ever been witnessed before Thee, and the awe of Thy chosen ones hath ever been remembered before Thee. Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee.

Thou hast ever been One God, Single, Unique, Independent, Ever-Living, Self-Subsisting, Eternal, Everlasting, Self-Sufficient. Thou hast taken neither consort nor son, and Thou hast had no partner in sovereignty nor any protector in the earth save by Thy leave. I shall magnify Thee with supreme magnification, exalt Thee with mighty exaltation, sanctify Thee with mighty sanctification, glorify Thee with mighty glorification, honor Thee with mighty honor, and turn unto thee through the Primal Letters, for these are names I have detached before all thy names, and through them have I manifested unto all thy likes. Who can reckon the names of Thy Lordship, or the attributes of Thy mercy, or the manifestations of Thy oneness, or the dawning-places of Thy glorified eternity, or [brackets] the Lord of holy uniqueness?

Glorified art Thou! Were I to enumerate Thy names, that would be setting limits to Thy power. Glorified art Thou beyond this! I seek Thy forgiveness for mentioning this and turn unto Thee in repentance. Nay, unto Thee belongeth the name of the One, which hath no equal, neither in the beginning nor in the end, and likewise are all names. Were I to desire to count the name of Thy beloved Muhammad in Thy earth, I would be unable and could not reckon it, how much more so Thy names, for each name hath names like unto it which none can reckon save Thee.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I have detached myself from all things through attachment to Thee, for naught besides Thee can enrich me from Thyself nor suffice me apart from Thy Cause. Thou verily enrichest me from all else save Thee and sufficest me apart from Thy Cause. I beseech Thee, O my God, by the Tree of the Bayan and its root and branch and twigs and leaves and fruits, that Thou raise up this Tree through the ascendancy of Thy sustaining power above all atoms until all who are in the kingdoms of earth and heaven willingly seek shade beneath it, and exalt it through the transcendence of Thy holy sovereignty above all contingent things until all who are in the kingdoms of the beginning and the end seek shade beneath it of their own accord, such that Thou shalt not see upon the earth any male or female except that they say “God, God is my Lord, I associate none with Him, and verily the Bayan is my Book, I join nothing with it, and verily the Primal Letters in the depths of names are its essence in the hereafter and the beginning, and verily whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth and what lieth between them hath been created for the Point of the Bayan, Lord of the hereafter and the beginning.”

For this is that whereby religion is exalted with Thee and faith is established before Thee, as the measures of judgment flow unto them who believe in Thee. Therefore at this time I judge not those on earth save those who believe in Me, for that is a branch of faith, and I have not seen faith in them, O my God. Therefore guide, O God, those on earth, all of them, that every soul may be delivered from the fire of its lack of faith before Thee, for that is the most severe fire; nay, whatever appeareth unto it of the most grievous torment is the fruit of that remoteness, for were it not to turn away from faith in Thee, the fire would not be permitted upon it.

Part 2: “By Thy glory! I seek refuge in Thee…”

By Thy glory! I seek refuge in Thee from all the gates of the fire, which are nine before ten, and I seek protection with Thee from it. Therefore preserve me, O God, from it through Thy power and might and essence and glory and eternality and sovereignty and grandeur and mercy and sustaining power and holiness and glorification and belovedness and majesty and greatness and might and the exaltation of Thy handiwork and the inaccessibility of Thine eternity and the joy of the lights of Thy countenance and the exaltation of the sublimity of Thy Godhead, for these are the gates of Thy paradise facing the fire. Therefore guard me, O God, through them from it, for I have seen no paradise more exalted than love for the Manifestations of Thy unity and following the commandments of Thy sanctification and finding rest in Thee in every condition through what Thou hast manifested unto me through me of the modes of Thy warbling and the manifestations of Thy sanctification, and no fire more intense than that of one who seeks to veil himself from the Tree of Thy Oneness and loves not what Thou shalt manifest on the Day of Resurrection—such a Day for the exaltation of Thy sovereignty.

I testify, O my God, that Thou art the Lord of all things, and all else besides Thee consists of but two trees: either the tree of “there is no God” or “except Him.” That is the gate of fire and this is the gate of Paradise. That tree hath no mention from Thee except that it is joined with Thy wrath upon it, while this tree Thou hast loved, exalted, glorified, magnified, sanctified and beautified, and its mention is joined with the mention of Thy blessings upon it. Thou hast made it the source of all good and bestowed upon it all that Thou hast loved or wilt love, whereas Thou hast decreed negation for all else, even the very breath that is breathed, for this is Thy lofty decree and Thy transcendent exaltation.

O God, make known to all things the gates of fire that they may shun them, then the gates of Paradise that they may enter them, for perchance a servant may see himself as the most God-fearing of all creatures while he is the most opposed of opponents before Thee and the strongest letter of negation in Thy presence, and perchance a servant may see nothing of worth in himself and is known by none, while he is among the nearest names unto Thee and the most glorious letters of affirmation in Thy presence. For these two trees have been realized at the manifestation of Thy Divinity in that Temple: whoso turned away belonged to the tree of “there is no God” and whoso turned towards it belonged to the tree of “except Him.”

I bear witness, O God, that Thou art beyond both of these; rather, this is the surging ocean from which Thou didst create the tree of negation, and this is the sweet sea of delight from which Thou didst bring forth the pearls of Thy affirmation. All this Thou didst manifest through the manifestation of the Point of the Bayan, for it is the Manifestation of Thy Divinity, and all else besides it are either the tree of negation if they turned away or the tree of affirmation if they turned towards it. His own self cannot be counted among others, rather all else was created for Him, for He is the mirror of Thy Self alone, with no partner. Were that mirror two, the heavens and earth and all between them would have been corrupted, for Thou hast distinguished Him with verses that have rendered the Letters of the Living powerless—how much more so those names that lie in the depths of the highest heaven. If this be the extent of the most exalted ones, how then shall I mention negation and its powerlessness?

I testify, and all things testify to that which Thou hast testified, that there is no God but Thee, alone with no partner. Thine is the creation and the command. Thou givest life and causest death, then causest death and givest life, and Thou art the Ever-Living Who dieth not. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest, how Thou willest, by what Thou willest, for what Thou willest. Verily, Thou art powerful over what Thou willest with strength and might.

I beseech Thee, O God, my God—and I begin not except with Thy name O God, our Lord, the All-Merciful, and I seek success through Thy remembrance, O my Beloved, the Most High, and I commence with my praise of Thee, O my Desired One, Possessor of might and sovereignty, of grandeur and exaltation, of majesty and inaccessibility. Through Thee, none is Thy equal in Thy justice, none is Thy peer, and none is Thy similitude—that Thou mayest annihilate the tree of “there is no God” as it hath turned away, as Thou art powerful over it, and establish the tree of “except Thee” as Thou art powerful over it; for whatsoever is beneath Thee standeth with Thee under one of these two: if of the first, it is a fire wherein is no light; and if of the second, it is a light wherein is no fire.

For the Tree of Negation possessed nothing: Thou didst forbid unto it all things, seize it by Thy might, send down upon it Thy vengeance, and make it as ashes over which the winds of Thy power pass, so that not a mote remaineth to be seen thereon. And Thou didst establish the Tree of Affirmation, and didst confer upon it all the Names of Thy bounty, even as Thou didst lay upon negation all the names of evil; and Thou didst distinguish between them through the Bayan—for whoso draweth not nigh unto it is sheer negation, and whoso draweth nigh unto it is pure affirmation.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Verily will I unify Thee with the very core of my being; verily will I banish from Thee the whole Tree of Negation; verily will I establish for Thee the whole Tree of Affirmation; and verily will I take refuge from the Tree of Negation in Affirmation. For that Tree You have exalted, adorned, glorified, magnified, illumined, blessed, greeted, praised, perfected, completed, extolled, honored, created, chosen, brought forth, and made the repository of all good and the gates of all excellence. You have empowered it, given it life, made it pleasing, been well-pleased with it, ennobled it, given it dominion over all else, made it proud, made it enduring, granted it mastery over every good within Your knowledge, elevated it, made it preeminent, made it wondrous, made it just, made it excellent, made it beautiful, and made it the essence of Your Belovedness in creation—a goodly Tree, lofty, holy, transcendent, inaccessible, whose root is firmly fixed and whose branches reach to heaven, yielding its fruit in every season by the leave of its Lord.

It brings forth manifestations of glorification for the hearts of those who glorify God, manifestations of praise for the spirits who praise God, manifestations of unity for the souls who unite with God, and manifestations of magnification for the bodies that magnify God. That Tree is exalted, triumphant, victorious, manifest, glorifying its Lord morning and evening, praising its Lord at night and dawn, proclaiming the unity of its Lord throughout the night and at the edges of the day, and magnifying its Lord at dusk and daybreak.

I beseech You, O my God, by what You have ordained upon Yourself, to destroy the Tree of Negation and raise up the Tree of Affirmation, to send down all Your wrath upon the Tree of Negation and all Your blessings upon the Tree of Affirmation, to abase the former and honor the latter, to annihilate this one and perpetuate that one, to destroy this and preserve that, and to send down upon them what You do not love and what You do love. For You are the Creator of fire and light, Your power has ever dominated all atoms and Your will has ever been supreme over all contingent things. There is no power in any matter except through You, no glory in any matter except for You, no independence, no exaltation, no enjoyment, no majesty, no perfection, and no excellence except for Your Countenance, the sovereignty of Your Self-Subsistence, and the dominion of Your Unity’s might.

Glorified are You! There is no God but You. Through You I beseech You to make me a believer in Your unity by negating from You all manifestations of negation through my words and whatever I am capable of, and affirming for You the proofs of affirmation through My utterance and through all that I am capable of, for the essence of religion is that there is no God but Thee. Whoso dwelleth in the realm of “there is no God” shall not enter Thy paradise save Thee, and whoso abideth in Thy paradise shall never depart therefrom to enter the fire of negation. I swear by Thy glory that I have ever been and shall ever remain established beneath Thy shadow, and I bear witness that there is no God but Thee, alone without peer.

Thine is the creation and Thine the command. Thou givest life and causest death, then causest death and givest life, and verily Thou art the Ever-Living Who dieth not. In Thy hand is all good and within Thy grasp is all command. Fire and light worship Thee and bow down before Thee, yet this one hath naught, neither from his worship nor from his prostration, for he hath not prostrated himself before the Tree of Thy affirmation. And verily it hath ever been prostrate, worshipful, praised, beloved, and thanked. Thou shalt reward it with the best of rewards from Thy presence, through Thy grace and Thy mercy. Verily, Thou hast power over all things.

This is the Visitation for all, upon them be Glory, for him who hath beseeched his Lord in his communion that God might send down mercy upon his father and his brother and all others who have ascended unto the path of their Lord. Let none neglect its recitation, especially on the eve of Friday.