such a change will be greater than if the
decree had remained unaltered, all, therefore, should willingly acquiesce
in what God hath willed and confidently abide by the same.

The decree that is impending, however, is such that prayer and entreaty
can succeed in averting it.

God grant that thou who art the fruit of My Tree, and they that are
associated with thee, may be shielded from its evil consequences.

Say: O God, my God! Thou hast committed into mine hands a trust from Thee,
and hast now according to the good-pleasure of Thy Will called it back to
Thyself. It is not for me, who am a handmaid of Thine, to say, whence is
this to me or wherefore hath it happened, inasmuch as Thou art glorified
in all Thine acts, and art to be obeyed in Thy decree. Thine handmaid, O
my Lord, hath set her hopes on Thy grace and bounty. Grant that she may
obtain that which will draw her nigh unto Thee, and will profit her in
every world of Thine. Thou art the Forgiving, the All-Bountiful. There is
none other God but Thee, the Ordainer, the Ancient of Days.

Vouchsafe Thy blessings, O Lord, my God, unto them that have quaffed the
wine of Thy love before the face of men, and, in spite of Thine enemies,
have acknowledged Thy unity, testified to Thy oneness, and confessed their
belief in that which hath made the limbs of the oppressors among Thy
creatures to quake, and the flesh of the proud ones of the earth to
tremble. I bear witness that Thy Sovereignty can never perish, nor Thy
Will be altered. Ordain for them that have set their faces towards Thee,
and for Thine handmaids that have held fast by Thy Cord, that which
beseemeth the Ocean of Thy bounty and the Heaven of Thy grace.

Thou art He, O God, Who hath proclaimed Himself as the Lord of Wealth, and
characterized all that serve Him as poor and needy. Even as Thou hast
written: "O ye that believe! Ye are but paupers in need of God; but God is
the All-Possessing, the All-Praised." Having acknowledged my poverty, and
recognized Thy wealth, suffer me not to be deprived of the glory of Thy
riches. Thou art, verily, the Supreme Protector, the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise.

LXIX: CALL THOU TO MIND THE BEHAVIOR OF A_SH_RAF'S...

Call thou to mind the behavior of A_sh_raf's mother, whose son laid down
his life in the Land of Za (Zanjan). He, most certainly, is in the seat of
truth, in the presence of One Who is the Most Powerful, the Almighty.

When the infidels, so unjustly,