nd set her face towards
Thee.

Thou art, verily, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

LXXXVIII: "LAUDED BE THY NAME, O MY GOD! I TESTIFY THAT NO..."

Lauded be Thy name, O my God! I testify that no thought of Thee, howsoever
wondrous, can ever ascend into the heaven of Thy knowledge, and no praise
of Thee, no matter how transcendent, can soar up to the atmosphere of Thy
wisdom. From eternity Thou hast been removed far above the reach and the
ken of the comprehension of Thy servants, and immeasurably exalted above
the strivings of Thy bondslaves to express Thy mystery. What power can the
shadowy creature claim to possess when face to face with Him Who is the
Uncreated?

I bear witness that the highest thoughts of all such as adore Thy unity,
and the profoundest contemplations of all them that have recognized Thee,
are but the product of what hath been generated through the movement of
the Pen of Thy behest, and hath been begotten by Thy will. I swear by Thy
glory, O Thou Who art the Beloved of my soul and the Fountain of my life!
I am persuaded of my powerlessness to describe and extol Thee in a manner
that becometh the greatness of Thy glory and the excellence of Thy
majesty. Aware as I am of this, I beseech Thee, by Thy mercy that hath
surpassed all created things, and Thy grace that hath embraced the entire
creation, to accept from Thy servants what they are capable of showing
forth in Thy path. Aid them, then, by Thy strengthening grace, to exalt
Thy word and to blazon Thy praise.

Powerful art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, truly, art the
All-Glorious, the All-Wise.

LXXXIX: "I KNOW NOT, O MY GOD, WHAT THE FIRE IS WITH WHICH..."

I know not, O my God, what the Fire is with which Thou didst light the
Lamp of Thy Cause, or what the Glass wherewith Thou didst preserve it from
Thine enemies. By Thy might! I marvel at the wonders of Thy Revelation,
and at the tokens of Thy glory. I recognize, O Thou Who art my heart's
Desire, that were fire to be touched by water it would instantly be
extinguished, whereas the Fire which Thou didst kindle can never go out,
though all the seas of the earth be poured upon it. Should water at any
time touch it, the hands of Thy power would, as decreed in Thy Tablets,
transmute that water into a fuel that would feed its flame.

I, likewise, recognize, O my God, that every lamp, when exposed to the
fury of the winds, must cease from burning. As to Thy Lamp