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O Thou Who art the Ruler of earth and heaven and the Author of all names!
Thou hearest the voice of my lamentation which from the fortress-town of
Akk谩 ascendeth towards Thee, and beholdest how my captive friends have
fallen into the hands of the workers of iniquity.
We render Thee thanks, O our Lord, for all the troubles which have touched
us in Thy path. Oh, that the span of my earthly life could be so extended
as to embrace the lives of the former and the latter generations, or could
even be so lengthened that no man on the face of the earth could measure
it, and be afflicted every day and every moment with a fresh tribulation
for love of Thee and for Thy pleasure's sake!
Thou well knowest, however, O my God, that my wish is wholly dissolved in
Thy wish, and that Thou hast irrevocably decreed that my soul should
ascend unto the loftiest mansions of Thy Kingdom, and pass into the
presence of my all-glorious Companion.
Hasten, by Thy grace and bounty, my passing, O my Lord, and pour forth
upon all them that are dear to Thee what will preserve them from fear and
trembling after me. Powerful art Thou to do whatsoever may please Thee. No
God is there except Thee, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise.
Thou seest, O my Lord, how Thy servants have left their homes in their
longing to meet Thee, and how they have been hindered by the ungodly from
looking upon Thy face, and from circumambulating the sanctuary of Thy
grandeur. Pour out Thy steadfastness and send down Thy calm upon them, O
my Lord! Thou art, in truth, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! Thou seest my tears and lamentations,
and hearest my sighing, my cry and bitter wailing. I am the one, O my
Lord, that hath held fast the cord of Thy mercy which hath surpassed the
entire creation. I am the one that hath clung to the hem of Thy
loving-kindness, O Thou in Whose hand is the empire of all names!
Have mercy upon me and upon all them that are in my company, through the
wonders of Thy grace and power. Shield us, then, O my God, from the
mischief of Thine enemies, and assist us to help Thy Faith, and to protect
Thy Cause, and to celebrate Thy glory. Thou art, verily, He Who from
everlasting hath inhabited the inaccessible heights of His unity, and will
continue to remain the same for ever and ever. Nothing whatsoever escapeth
Thy knowledge, nor is there anything that can frustrate Thee. No God is
there beside Thee, the Almighty, the Ever-Faithful, the Most Exalted, the
All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved.
Lauded and glorified art Thou, in Whose hand is the empire of all things!
Magnified be Thy name, O God, the Lord of heaven! Attire my head with the
crown of martyrdom, even as Thou didst attire my body with the ornament of
tribulation before all that dwell in Thy land. Grant, moreover, that they
whose hearts yearn over Thee may draw nigh unto the horizon of Thy grace,
above which the Day-Star of Thy beauty sheddeth its radiance. Ordain,
also, for them what will make them rich enough to dispense with aught else
except Thee, and rid them of all attachment to such as have repudiated Thy
signs.
There is none other God but Thee, the Guardian, the Self-Subsisting.
Praised be Thou, O my God! How can I thank Thee for having singled me out
and chosen me above all Thy servants to reveal Thee, at a time when all
had turned away from Thy beauty! I testify, O my God, that if I were given
a thousand lives by Thee, and offered them up all in Thy path, I would
still have failed to repay the least of the gifts which, by Thy grace,
Thou hast bestowed upon me.
I lay asleep on the bed of self when lo, Thou didst waken me with the
divine accents of Thy voice, and didst unveil to me Thy beauty, and didst
enable me to listen to Thine utterances, and to recognize Thy Self, and to
speak forth Thy praise, and to extol Thy virtues, and to be steadfast in
Thy love. Finally I fell a captive into the hands of the wayward among Thy
servants.
Thou beholdest, therefore, the exile which I suffer in Thy days, and art
aware of my vehement longing to look upon Thy face, and of mine
irrepressible yearnings to enter the court of Thy glory, and of the
stirrings of my heart under the influences of the winds of Thy mercy.
I entreat Thee, O Thou Who art the Ruler of the kingdoms of creation and