BB00228: Du’a’a’l-Khamis li’l-Avval

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

The Fifth Prayer

Verily, we are God’s and unto Him do we return. Glorified art Thou, O God! Thou art the Lord of destiny and decree, the Sovereign of permission and tribulation, the King of creation and composition, the Beloved of all who are on earth and in heaven, and the Ordainer of all things in accordance with what leadeth to the horizon of contentment. How can I remember Thee, O my God, at this time after having witnessed in Thy path, from among Thy creatures in the world, Thy holy lights, Thy manifestations among the most exalted ones, and Thy appearances at the Dawning-place of remembrance? Exalted, magnificent, transcendent and elevated is that which destiny hath ordained to be executed and creation hath made the ways of contentment to flow in the manifestations of Thy names.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Thou art the Seeker of those holy bloods, the Upraiser of those enchanted spirits, the Attractor of those exalted hearts, and the Fashioner of those unapproachable bodies. Thou hast ever been One God, Single, Unique, Eternal, Self-Subsisting, Ever-Living, All-Compelling. Thou hast taken neither consort nor son, and Thou wilt ever be as Thou hast been. Thou hast taken no protector and art not joined with anything, and Thou hast no partner in what Thou hast created, nor any guardian in what is Thine. Thou hast ever been alone in bringing things into being, dominant over all in the kingdoms of earth and heaven, transcendent above all things through Thy sovereign decree, and elevated above all things through the authority of Thy command.

Therefore, O God, send down Thy blessings upon those who gather their wealth to be known in the path of the spots which Thou hast chosen above the earth for the manifestations of Thy unity, and upon those who ascend unto them through what Thou hast ordained in them of the exaltedness of their love and the detachment of their beings, and upon the ears that have heard mention of their calamities, and upon the eyes that have shed tears in their exalted visitations, and upon the tongues that have remained silent at the raising of their word, upon the hands that write of what was ordained to pass upon them from their beginning to their end, and upon the hearts that were humbled at the elevation of their remembrance, and upon the faces that fell prostrate before the sublimity of Thy majesty in their regard—for these are Thy chosen ones whom Thou hast selected for the seats of Thy glory, and Thou hast caused Thy paradise to yearn for them in what Thou hast ordained for them of Thy wondrous, sublime, and impregnable handiwork of Thy Lordship.

Is there any heart, O my God, in the depths of the highest heaven that is not humbled at their mention? Are there any spirits in the book of those drawn nigh that do not bow down at their calamity? Are there any souls that are not detached unto them at the raising of their word? Are there any bodies whose eyes have not shed tears upon their cheeks for the afflictions which Thou didst ordain for them? By Thy might! Thou hast not created the like of this; nay, Thou hast created in the fire that which prostrated at the dawning of Thy will and wept over the magnitude of the afflictions of the manifestations of Thy unity. But how can this benefit them in what their hands have wrought?

Such is the sublimity of their affliction and the exaltedness of their calamity that no one with hearing can hear except they grieve, none with sight can witness except tears of Thy mercy flow therefrom, no heart except it testifies to this from the heights of Thy power, no tongue except it sends salutations upon them and curses upon their enemies, none with power save those who record the loftiness of their afflictions, and who send down that which is wrought by the hands of those who worship Thee not, yet who prostrate themselves before Thee by night and by day in ways they know not.

That which their hands have wrought shall profit them not. Therefore, O my God, send down upon them all Thy severity, Thy grasp, Thy might, and Thy vengeance. Seize them with the grasp of One mighty and powerful. Destroy them as Thou didst destroy those of old before them, and shalt destroy those who come after them. Verily, Thou art the Lord of great retribution, of severe chastisement, and of mighty power. Nothing escapeth Thy grasp. Only he who feareth escape for himself hastens in vengeance. Glory be unto Thee! Far be it from my heart to write thus, for Thy power hath ever been and shall ever remain exalted and supreme. Thy forbearance is naught but what Thou hast willed, that Thou mightest multiply upon them that which Thou hast ordained for them of Thy vengeance. Thy Will hath ever been swift in what Thou desirest, and transcendent above all things in its essence, its camphor-like purity, its firstness and lastness, its outwardness and inwardness. Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee.

Therefore, send down upon the Tree of Thy Oneness, upon its root and branch, its twigs and leaves and fruits, that which befitteth the loftiness of Thy bounty and which is worthy of Thy exaltation. Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee. Thou seest at this moment what is seen and unseen, and verily Thou, O my God, art in the Most Exalted Horizon. Sanctified be Thy names, exalted be Thy likenesses, and glorified be the manifestations of Thy light.

Glory be unto Thee, O God! Ordain at this moment for that Tree, for its root what befitteth Thy glory, for its branch what befitteth Thy majesty, and for its twigs, leaves, and fruits what befitteth the beauty of Thy sanctity and the exaltation and inaccessibility of Thy sovereign throne. For Thou art powerful over what Thou willest and mighty over what Thou desirest.

Then turn unto him who is established upon the clay of his existence and settled upon the dust of his paradise, and say: Glory be unto Thee, O God! Verily, Thou art the Lord of Glory, the Possessor of Glory, the Ordainer of Glory, and the Fashioner of Glory. How can I describe Thee, O my God, by Glory? Therefore, O God, send down the tokens of Thy might upon the Name of Thy Identity, which Thou hast placed above all Thy names, through which Thou hast caused the Qur’an to ascend, expounded the Bayan, opened the gates of heaven, and brought all things into the presence of Thy Oneness—the Countenance of Thy Lordship, the Sign of Thy Singleness, the Camphor of Thy Self-Subsistence, and the Essence of Thy Grandeur, which Thou hast freed from all similitude and names, and sanctified from all comparison and likeness.

And upon the manifestations of His Self and the gates of His might—the Letters of the Living, whom Thou didst create for the manifestation of the Point before all Thy names, for all else was created for It and through It. I beseech Thee, O God, by what Thou hast created for It before all things—and these are those sanctified names and glorified letters—to send down at this moment upon those who have been martyred in the path of Thy love that which befitteth the loftiness of Thy Countenance and the exaltation of Thy Sovereignty, and to send down Thy blessings upon them from me and from all things, at every moment, before every moment, and after every moment. And send down upon those who love them not all Thy retribution in every condition, before every condition, and after every condition. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things, and there is no might nor power save in Him, the Most High, the Most Great.