LXIV:  “Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God, my Master!...”

Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God, my Master!  Thou hearest the sighing of those who, though they long to behold Thy face, are yet separated from Thee and far distant from Thy court.  Thou testifiest to the lamentations which those who have recognized Thee pour forth because of their exile from Thee and their yearning to meet Thee.  I beseech Thee by those hearts which contain naught except the treasures of Thy remembrance and praise, and which show forth only the testimonies of Thy greatness and the evidences of Thy might, to bestow on Thy servants who desire Thee power to approach the seat of the revelation of the splendor of Thy glory and to assist them whose hopes are set on Thee to enter into the tabernacle of Thy transcendent favor and mercy.

Naked am I, O my God!  Clothe me with the robe of Thy tender mercies.  I am sore athirst; give me to drink of the oceans of Thy bountiful favor.  I am a stranger; draw me nearer unto the source of Thy gifts.  I am sick; sprinkle upon me the healing waters of Thy grace.  I am a captive; rid me of my bondage, by the power of Thy might and through the force of Thy will, that I may soar on the wings of detachment towards the loftiest summits of Thy creation.  Thou, verily, doest what Thou choosest.  There is no God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the All-Glorious, the Unconstrained.

LXV:  “Glorified art Thou, O my God!  Thou knowest that...”

Glorified art Thou, O my God!  Thou knowest that my sole aim in revealing Thy Cause hath been to reveal Thee and not my self, and to manifest Thy glory rather than my glory.  In Thy path, and to attain Thy pleasure, I have scorned rest, joy, delight.  At all times and under all conditions my gaze hath been fixed on Thy precepts, and mine eyes bent upon the things Thou hast bidden me observe in Thy Tablets.  I have wakened every morning to the light of Thy praise and Thy remembrance, and reached every evening inhaling the fragrances of Thy mercy.

And when the entire creation was stirred up, and the whole earth was convulsed, and the sweet savors of Thy name, the All-Praised, had almost ceased to breathe over Thy realms, and the winds of Thy mercy had well-nigh been stilled throughout Thy dominions, Thou didst, through the power of Thy might, raise me up among Thy servants, and bid me to show forth Thy sovereignty amidst Thy people.  Thereupon I arose before all Thy creatures, strengthened by Thy help and Thy power, and summoned all the multitudes unto Thee, and announced unto all Thy servants Thy favors and Thy gifts, and invited them to turn towards this Ocean, every drop of the waters of which crieth out, proclaiming unto all that are in heaven and on earth that He is, in truth, the Fountain of all life, and the Quickener of the entire creation, and the Object of the adoration of all worlds, and the Best-Beloved of every understanding heart, and the Desire of all them that are nigh unto Thee.