BB00120: Ziyaratu’l-Hajja

When you enter the Blessed Shrine, pray in the small chamber near the abandoned well, then turn towards the Kaaba and say: I bear witness that there is no God but God, alone, with no partner, just as His Essence has testified to His Essence that there is no God but He, the Mighty, the Wise. And I bear witness to Muhammad, may God’s blessings be upon him and his family, and to Ali, Fatima, Hassan, Hussein, Ali, Muhammad, Ja’far, Musa, Ali, Muhammad, Ali, Hassan and Muhammad, with whatever God has willed and loved for them in the knowledge of the unseen, for He is truly the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful.

Then say: Peace be upon you, O Mystery of Ta-Ha and Temple of Kaf-Ha-Ya-ʿAyn-Sad, and the mercy of God and His blessings. O my Master, how can I mention praise for the countenance of your guardian presence before the city of your might, when it is certain that the essential realities in the depths of the seas of abstraction testify to their inability to know the least sign of the manifestations of your oneness, and that the substance of accidents in the depths of the ocean of destinies bears witness to their inadequacy in offering thanks for even one bounty from the gifts of your generosity? So glory be to God, your Lord and the Lord of the Throne! How exalted is your station in the court of His nearness, and how mighty is your praise in His Book!

The ultimate limits have constrained me from expression, and the propositions have rendered me incapable of knowledge. No one knows how you are except God, your Lord, the Lord of the heavens and earth, Who has taken neither offspring nor consort, nor any protector out of weakness. He has chosen you for the loftiness of His Self above the station of self, selected you for the greatness of His Self-Subsistence above the station of Lordship, chosen you for the eternity of His knowledge above the station of His giving, elected you for the majesty of His Being above the station of His recognition, approved you for the glory of His Oneness above the station of His creation, and distinguished you for the sanctity of the beauty of His Presence above the station of the manifestation of His revelations. He has chosen you for that which does not associate His Essence with His creation for the manifestation of His power over His servants.

I bear witness that you are unique among peers in the kingdom of names and attributes, and that you are exalted above all similitude in the manifestations of signs and essences. If I say, as your grandfather said regarding your station, “We are He, you are you,” then I have taken a likeness to your presence within myself. And if I say, as he mentioned regarding your station, “We are we,” then I have associated partners. God will judge within myself before the city of your might. And if I say regarding your station, as your Master mentioned, “You are not Him in the station of Essence, nor is He other than you in the manifestation of attributes,” then I have ascended to the air of despair, reached the ultimate helplessness, and risen to the utmost station of poverty.

Exalted is God, the True King, possessor of justice and grace, above anyone being able to describe His proof or reach even the lowest station of His praise. The wise ones have strived but not attained, and the learned ones have been cut off and have not known. All who describe are deprived of describing you, and all who remember are returned to the station of your dominion. How lofty is the elevation of your glory, how mighty is the glory of your signs, and how incapable am I of enumerating the praise of your guardianship! If I say that creation and what sustains it, and invention and what exists through it, are light from the manifestations of your presence’s countenance in the horizon of heaven, then whenever I murmur that which none know except the people of speech.

And if I say that the manifestations of causes have been realized through the revelations of the signs of Thy sovereignty in the realities of the people of creation, it is as if I have cast the affairs of multitudes from near the skulls into the depths of the vast ocean. And if I say that decrees are by the enforcement of Thy command on the Mount of Sinai, it is as if I have made light flash forth in the hidden recesses of the pens. I seek forgiveness from God, my Lord, in this my station, from the betrayal of description and the inversion of attributes. I seek refuge in Thee, O my Lord, through Thy generosity. I have competed before Thee for Thy grace, for Thou art, by God’s leave, the executor of what God, glorified be He, hath ordained.

By Thy might and Thy majesty! Were God to punish me with all His power as recompense for this my station before Thee, I would be content therewith out of my love for Thee. I do not consider myself at loss in this my enterprise; nay, I have profited by that which none comprehendeth save Thee. This indeed was the ultimate aim of my hopes and aspirations. This was naught but the manifestations of the outpouring of Thy love within my soul. Otherwise, were I to consider my worthiness and my audacity in assuming this station, then by Thy might, I would have justly decreed such punishment upon myself, for I and that punishment are but creatures that have withered through the effects of the manifestations of Thy Self, and it is non-existent at the level of Thy Being.

O my Lord! The excellence of Thy munificence hath established me before the hem of Thy Presence, and verily the mystery of my lowliness hath emboldened me to praise Thy Being. O Thou Most Exalted Word, Most Great Sign, Primal Tree, and Ultimate Leaf! Have mercy upon me through Thy might, grant me complete detachment unto Thy presence, cause me to forget all mention and praise save the mention of Thy grandeur, make me delight in communion with Thee throughout the minutes of days through the melody of the Sovereign of Thy sanctity, strengthen me in every decree through the all-encompassing nature of Thy Will, until Thou callest me secretly to all things through the tongue of Thy inspiration and the attraction of Thy mercy.

Enable me to act only according to that which Thou callest me unto, which Thou lovest and art pleased with from the signs of the Sovereign of Thy Self-Sustenance. Verily, Thou art the Possessor of grace and bounty, the Lord of generosity and justice. Thou passest over whom Thou willest, as Thou willest, with what Thou willest, through Thy grace, and Thou punishest whom Thou willest, as Thou willest, with what Thou willest, through Thy justice. None can repel Thy decree, for it is irrevocable by what God, Thy Lord, hath ordained. There is no end to Thy signs, for they flow from between the letter Kaf and Nun by what God hath given Thee and honored Thee with of His power.

Praise be to God in this my station, praise radiant, brilliant, sanctified, and resplendent, as He deserveth and loveth, for He hath caused me to know Thy Self and made me among those who remember Thy favors and who stand before Thy chosen ones. Then praise be unto Him, praise that filleth the heavens with grace and the earth with justice, for He hath made me among those who attain unto the carpet of Thy sanctity, who drink from the cup of Thy nearness, who gaze upon the countenance of Thy face, who await the days of Thy sovereignty, who are patient in adversity and tribulation in Thy path, who rely in all matters upon Thee, who commit their affairs unto Thee, who hold fast to Thy cord, who hope in Thy grace, who fear Thy justice, who are apprehensive of Thy might, and whose hearts are enraptured by Thy love.

How sweet is Thy remembrance of me, and how great is my remembrance of Thee! Were it not for Thy remembrance of me, O my Lord, I would not have been able to remember Thee, and were it not for Thy raising me to the heights of knowledge through Thy bounty, I would not have been able to praise Thee. Through Thy making Thyself known to me, I have known Thee, that Thou canst not be described by other than Thyself, for God hath made Thee a sign of His Own Self, and the countenance of His presence, and hath not ordained for Thee separation save that connection which is the servant’s recognition of that which is linked to the divine Lordship in Thy countenance, wherein God hath manifested Himself unto Thee through Thee from time immemorial, and none knoweth how this is save Him.

By Thy glory, I have intended by my mention naught but Thy servitude unto God, Thy need of Him, and Thine impotence before Him, for naught besides Him hath any power save through His might, and Thou hast no power to withhold or bestow aught save through the sovereignty of His Will. Affairs are guided by Thy signature, traces are obliterated by Thy lights, souls are separated from bodies through fear of Thee, and spirits return to their abodes by Thy glance. All within the kingdom of the heavens and earth describe Thee by the sovereignty of Thy glory, and all things possess naught compared to Thy majestic countenance, which is attributed to none but Thy Lord and indicateth naught but His presence.

Blessed am I for this most noble and all-embracing mention wherewith God hath honored me, and this was through naught but Thy grace. I have no doubt that from Thy knowledge nothing in the heavens or earth escapeth save what God willeth. All that is attributed to Thee is pure, holy, and sanctified, unsullied by the darkness of ages and unchanged by the conditions of manifestation, for Thou art the root of all good, and from Thy branches God hath made unity and all righteousness. Thou art the firm foundation of divine effulgences and the decisive Name for all manifestations. Whoso claimeth Thy blood is other than pure hath as it were fallen from heaven to earth’s depths and joined partners with God and His signs.

I, in this my station, do testify before God, His angels, His Prophets and His Messengers that Thy blood is pure, holy and sanctified, from that which is pure, holy and sanctified, and upon this shall I live and die and be raised up alive if God so willeth. I am innocent of those who vaingloriously exalt themselves on earth without right and judge concerning Thy blood contrary to what God hath revealed in His perspicuous verses, wherein He saith—and His word is the truth—“God wisheth to remove from you, O people of the House, all impurity, and to purify you with a thorough purification.”

By Thy glory, O my Lord, were I not to fear for the weak among the people, I would say concerning Thy blood words that would cause the Throne to quake when they reach it, the heaven to be cleft asunder when raised unto it, the earth to split when they descend upon it, the mountains to crumble when they gain force over it, and the dead to arise and scatter when recited over them for resurrection. And all this is through naught but it. Woe, woe unto those who measure Thy decree by their own selves. By Thy glory, Thou knowest I believe in God’s religion that all obligations are binding upon Thee and all reprehensible things are forbidden unto Thee. All that is attributed to Thyself possesseth transcendent nobility, and all that is removed from the vicinity of Thy holiness through having chosen for itself is rejected and banished.

The Throne was not established upon the water save through Thy name, the heavens were not raised without pillars that men can see save by Thy leave, the earth was not spread out and made heavy upon the water save by Thy command, Paradise will not be brought nigh on the Day of Resurrection save through Thy grace, and Hell will not blaze on the Day of Judgment save through Thy justice. There is nothing but that it hath melted away through Thy decree and ascendeth in God’s dominion through the abundance of Thy bounty. I beseech God of His grace that He draw nigh thy days and manifest thee upon the earth after which nothing shall be seen therein save thy revelation. Blind is the eye that seeth thee not, while thou beholdest it. Lost is the bargain of the servant whom thou lovest but who loveth thee not.

Therefore, O my Lord, hasten the days of Thy proof, for verily the lands and all who dwell therein have changed. And I am upon a mountain by a decree which Thou knowest better than I. Judge Thou, O my God, between me and him with truth, for Thou art the best of judges. And I am verily a servant among the penitent ones. I say what Thou hast sent down in the decree concerning the people of Thy Ridvan, in obedience to Thy command, in hope of Thy grace, in reliance upon Thy protection, and in trust upon the sovereignty of Thy divine omnipotence.

Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.