BB00271: on the Hadith of ‘the Land of Paradise’

In the name of God, the Most Great, the Most Great

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I bear witness, and all things bear witness, that Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone without peer. Thine is the kingdom and the dominion, Thine the might and the omnipotence, Thine the power and divinity, Thine the strength and glory, Thine the sovereignty and the earthly realm, Thine the majesty and grandeur, Thine the countenance and beauty, Thine the face and perfection, Thine the similitudes and parables, Thine the stations and magnificence, Thine the glory and invincibility, Thine the power and exaltation, Thine the greatness and independence, Thine the grandeur and sublimity, Thine the joy and gladness, Thine the sovereignty and might, and Thine whatsoever Thou hast loved or wilt love in the kingdom of Thy Cause and creation.

Thou hast ever been one God, single, eternal, self-subsisting, ever-living, all-compelling, sovereign, all-subduing, holy, everlasting, inaccessible, exalted, supreme, possessing, glorious, powerful. Thou hast taken neither consort nor son, nor hath there been any partner in what Thou hast created, nor any protector in what Thou hast fashioned. By Thy wisdom hast Thou ordered the kingdom of Thy heaven and earth, and by Thy will hast Thou perfected the affairs of all in the kingdom of Thy Cause and creation.

Thou hast ever been supreme above all contingent things, manifest above all existing things, inaccessible above all created things, exalted above all atoms, transcendent above all in the kingdoms of earth and heaven, sovereign above all in the kingdom of names and attributes, and powerful above all in creation. Sanctified are all Thy names, and exalted are all Thy parables. Thou hast made Thyself known to all things while nothing knoweth Thee, and Thou art hidden from all things while nothing findeth Thee. Thou art the Manifest above all things, and the Hidden beneath all things, the First before all things, and the Last after all things.

All glorify Thee, all sanctify Thee, all magnify Thee, all extol Thee, all proclaim Thy greatness, all prostrate before Thee, all are detached unto Thee, all are guided to Thee, all are victorious through Thee, all bow down before Thee, all turn their faces toward Thee. Thou hast ever been forgiving through bounty and grace, and compelling through might and justice. Thy giving is grace from Thy bounty, and Thy withholding is justice.

O God! Do Thou enrich all Thy creation from Thy presence, and send down upon all Thy evidence the dawning-places of Thy grace. Inspire all with Thy remembrance and gratitude, with the victory of Thy chosen ones and martyrs, with tranquility in Thy remembrance, with assurance in Thy grace, with fear of Thee and longing for Thee.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art He Who hath apportioned among Thy servants the measures to which they are proceeding, and granted to each one that which causeth his tongue to speak Thy praise and createth in him longing for Thy meeting and nearness. Praise be unto Thee, O my God, praise that filleth Thy heaven with the manifestation of Thy glory and Thy earth with the dawning of Thy holiness, and what lieth between them with the exaltation of Thy Cause and the invincibility of Thy remembrance.

Glorified, glorified art Thou! Thou hast favored none except through Thy knowledge, Thy love, Thy meeting, Thy affection and Thy good-pleasure. Do Thou send down upon the land wherein Thou hast caused Thy chosen ones to enter Thy paradise the highest of what may be in its surroundings that may cause their hearts to be firmly established in Thy religion, strengthen them through Thy power against those beneath them among Thy creation, purify them through Thy manifestation from all besides Thee among Thy servants. Send down the blessings of heaven upon them through Thy grace, bring forth for them the blessings of earth through Thy bounty, preserve them from before them and behind them, from their right and their left, from above their heads and beneath their feet […] enrich them through Thy riches, glorify them through Thy glory, assist them through Thy help, support them through Thy signs, and nurture them through Thy words.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art He Whose mercy hath encompassed all contingent things and Whose gifts surround every atom of existence. O my God! Shower upon Thy servants from the treasuries of Thy grace that which shall content them, and from the wonders of Thy bounty that which shall give them peace, and cause them to appear on earth through Thy manifestation and strengthen them on earth through Thy power. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art He Who causeth every soul to move according to what it hath earned. Thou admittest whom Thou willest into Thy love and good-pleasure, which is the highest of Thy heavens and Thy paradise, and Thou deniest whom Thou willest from recognizing Thy Proof and His good-pleasure—that is the fire which Thou hast promised to the sinning among Thy servants.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! By Thy might, I seek refuge with Thee in this life from that fire, for whoso entereth therein entereth after his death. And I beseech Thee for that paradise, for whoso entereth into the love of Thy Proof and His recognition shall enter therein after his death. Glorified and exalted art Thou! All worship Thee—some behold this with their eyes while others worship unknowingly. The heavens worship Thee through their steadfastness, the celestial spheres through their motion, the sun through its radiance, the moon through its light, the stars through their rising and setting, the earth through its stability, the mountains through their elevation, the seas through their waves, the trees through their fruits, and all things through that which proclaimeth their highest glory before Thee—such is their worship of Thee before Thine eyes.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou hast said—and Thy word is the truth—“there is nothing that doth not glorify His praise.” Yea, by Thy might, there is nothing that doth not glorify Thee from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end. Thou hast sent down Thy most beautiful names in Thy Words and Tablets, and bestowed them upon whom Thou willest among Thy creation as a mark of honor from Thee and a bounty from Thy presence, from Thy gifts.

O God! Send down upon all Thy guides, those who were and those who will be, that which shall show them the good of their world and their hereafter. Verily, Thou givest life and causeth death, then causeth death and givest life, and verily Thou art the Ever-Living Who dieth not, and the King Who passeth not away, and the Just Who wrongeth not, and the Sovereign Who changeth not, and the Single One from Whose grasp escapeth nothing whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art powerful over what Thou willest.