imson
Ark and breast the seas of the Lord, and who have attained to the bounties
of the Abha realm, and who are steadfast in the Covenant--they, men and
women alike, young and old alike, share with these homeless ones the
anguish of our bereavement and this direst of ordeals. We could hear, with
the ear of the spirit, the wailing of those lovers of Him Who was the
Ravisher of hearts, those like us scorched by the fires of separation, and
from our own sad hearts we would lift our cries of sorrow to the heavens,
and weeping would send up our entreaties in such words as these, to the
threshold of the luminous Beauty of God:

O kind Lord! O Comforter of anguished hearts!

Send down Thy mercy upon us, and Thy grace, bestow upon us patience, give
us the strength to endure. With Thy generous hand, lay Thou a balm upon
our sores, grant us a medicine for this never-healing woe. Console Thou
Thy loved ones, comfort Thy friends and handmaids, heal Thou our wounded
breasts, and with Thy bounty's remedy, restore our festering hearts.

With the gentle breeze of Thy compassion, make fresh and green again these
boughs, withered by autumn blasts; restore Thou to flourishing life these
flowers, shrivelled by the blight of bereavement.

With tidings of the Abha Paradise, wed Thou our souls to joy, and rejoice
Thou our spirits with heartening voices from the dwellers in the realm of
glory.

Thou art the Bounteous, Thou art the Clement; Thou art the Bestower, the
Loving.

From the first dawning of the new light, that noble land shone with the
rays of the Great Announcement, and was lit by the sunbeams of the Ancient
Beauty. Like heavy rains, the bounties beat upon that sacred place, and
out of clouds of mercy, grace showered down upon that region of
resplendence, bringing freshness and new greenery, and the trees of being
then turned verdant, and there burst forth blossoms of the spirit, and
wind-flowers of true knowledge blew, and mystic myrtles grew and
flourished. And from out of that land came musk-laden gales, scenting with
their perfume the other lands as well, and scattering far and wide the
musk-deer sweetness of heavenly mysteries.

So it was that _Kh_urasan became the grove of the lions of God, and a
nesting-place for the birds of the Ridvan Paradise. The Ancient Beauty
singled out that blessed land for special favour, extending to it
uncounted blessings and gifts. Now in wondrous and most sweet voice, again
with the traci