as deepest shadows fall away at the
first light of the breaking dawn.

Greetings be unto thee, and praise.

O God, my God! This is Thy radiant servant, Thy spiritual thrall, who hath
drawn nigh unto Thee and approached Thy presence. He hath turned his face
unto Thine, acknowledging Thy oneness, confessing Thy singleness, and he
hath called out in Thy name among the nations, and led the people to the
streaming waters of Thy mercy, O Thou Most generous Lord! To those who
asked He hath given to drink from the cup of guidance that brimmeth over
with the wine of Thy measureless grace.

O Lord, assist him under all conditions, cause him to learn Thy
well-guarded mysteries, and shower down upon him Thy hidden pearls. Make
of him a banner rippling from castle summits in the winds of Thy heavenly
aid, make of him a wellspring of crystal waters.

O my forgiving Lord! Light up the hearts with the rays of a lamp that
sheddeth abroad its beams, disclosing to those among Thy people whom Thou
hast bounteously favoured, the realities of all things.

Verily, Thou art the Mighty, the Powerful, the Protector, the Strong, the
Beneficent! Verily, Thou art the Lord of all mercies!

20: WHEN CHRIST APPEARED, TWENTY CENTURIES AGO, ALTHOUGH ...

(23)When Christ appeared, twenty centuries ago, although the Jews were
eagerly awaiting His Coming, and prayed every day, with tears, saying: 'O
God, hasten the Revelation of the Messiah,' yet when the Sun of Truth
dawned, they denied Him and rose against Him with the greatest enmity, and
eventually crucified that divine Spirit, the Word of God, and named Him
Beelzebub, the evil one, as is recorded in the Gospel. The reason for this
was that they said: 'The Revelation of Christ, according to the clear text
of the Torah, will be attested by certain signs, and so long as these
signs have not appeared, whoso layeth claim to be a Messiah is an
impostor. Among these signs is this, that the Messiah should come from an
unknown place, yet we all know this man's house in Nazareth, and can any
good thing come out of Nazareth? The second sign is that He shall rule
with a rod of iron, that is, He must act with the sword, but this Messiah
has not even a wooden staff. Another of the conditions and signs is this:
He must sit upon the throne of David and establish David's sovereignty.
Now, far from being enthroned, this man has not even a mat to sit on.
Another of the conditions is this: the promulgatio