ed art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou art He Who from
everlasting hath been clothed with majesty, with authority and power, and
will continue unto everlasting to be arrayed with honor, with strength and
glory. The learned, one and all, stand aghast before the signs and tokens
of Thy handiwork, while the wise find themselves, without exception,
impotent to unravel the mystery of Them Who are the Manifestations of Thy
might and power. Every man of insight hath confessed his powerlessness to
scale the heights of Thy knowledge, and every man of learning hath
acknowledged his failure to fathom the nature of Thine Essence.

Having barred the way that leadeth unto Thee, Thou hast, by virtue of
Thine authority and through the potency of Thy will, called into being
Them Who are the Manifestations of Thy Self, and hast entrusted Them with
Thy message unto Thy people, and caused Them to become the Day-Springs of
Thine inspiration, the Exponents of Thy Revelation, the Treasuries of Thy
Knowledge and the Repositories of Thy Faith, that all men may, through
Them, turn their faces towards Thee, and may draw nigh unto the kingdom of
Thy Revelation and the heaven of Thy grace.

I beseech Thee, therefore, by Thyself and by Them, to send down, from the
right hand of the throne of Thy grace, upon all that dwell on earth, that
which shall wash them from the stain of their trespasses against Thee, and
cause them to become wholly devoted to Thy Self, O Thou in Whose hand is
the source of all gifts, that they may all arise to serve Thy Cause, and
may detach themselves entirely from all except Thee. Thou art the
Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Unrestrained.

O my God, my Master, my Best-Beloved! I am Thy servant and the son of Thy
servant. I have held fast the cord of Thy grace, and clung to the hem of
the garment of Thy loving providence. I entreat Thee, by Thy Most Great
Name, Whom Thou hast appointed as the unerring Balance among the nations,
and Thine infallible Proof unto all men, not to forsake me, nor to abandon
me to my corrupt desires. Do Thou preserve me beneath the shadow of Thy
Supreme Sinlessness, and enable me to magnify Thine own Self amidst the
concourse of Thy creatures. Withhold not from me the Divine fragrance of
Thy days, and deprive me not of the sweet savors wafting from the
Day-Spring of Thy Revelation. Bestow on me the good of this world and of
the next, through the power of Thy grace that hath encompassed all created
things