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.

Though the fierce winds of the hatred of the wicked doers blew and beat on
this Lamp, He was, at no time, in His love for Thy beauty, hindered from
shedding the fragrance of His light. As the transgressions committed
against Thee waxed greater and greater, my eagerness to reveal Thy Cause
correspondingly increased, and as the tribulations deepened--and to this
Thy glory beareth me witness--a fuller measure of Thy sovereignty and of
Thy power was vouchsafed by me unto Thy creatures.

And finally, I was cast by the transgressors into the prison-city of Akka,
and my kindred were made captives in Ba_gh_dad. The power of Thy might
beareth me witness, O my God! Every trouble that hath touched me in Thy
path hath added to my joy and increased my gladness. I swear by Thee, O
Thou Who art the King of Kings! None of the kings of the earth hath power
to hinder me from remembering Thee or from extolling Thy virtues. Were
they to be leagued--as they have been leagued--against me, and to brandish
their sharpest swords and most afflictive spears against me, I would not
hesitate to magnify Thy name before all them that are in Thy heaven and on
Thy earth. Nay rather, I would cry out and say: "This, O my Beloved, is my
face which I have offered up for Thy face, and this is my spirit which I
have sacrificed for Thy spirit, and this is my blood that seetheth in my
veins, in its longing to be shed for love of Thee and in Thy path."

Though--as Thou beholdest me, O my God--I be dwelling in a place within
whose walls no voice can be heard except the sound of the echo, though all
the gates of ease and comfort be shut against us, and thick darkness
appear to have compassed us on every side, yet my soul hath been so
inflamed by its love for Thee, that nothing whatsoever can either quench
the fire of its love or abate the consuming flame of its desire. Lifting
up its voice, it crieth aloud amidst Thy servants, and calleth them, at
all times and under all conditions, unto Thee.

I beseech Thee, by Thy Most Great Name, to open the eyes of Thy servants,
that