n
every city a new creation that shall turn towards Thee, and shall remember
Thee amidst Thy servants, and shall unfurl by virtue of their utterances
and wisdom the ensigns of Thy victory, and shall detach themselves from
all created things.

Potent art Thou to do Thy pleasure. No God is there but Thee, the Most
Powerful, He Whose help is implored by all men.

CIII: "GLORY BE TO THEE, THOU IN WHOSE HAND ARE THE..."

Glory be to Thee, Thou in Whose hand are the heaven of omnipotence and the
kingdom of creation. Thou doest, by Thy sovereignty, what Thou willest,
and ordainest, through the power of Thy might, what Thou pleasest. From
eternity Thou hast been exalted above the praise of all created things,
and wilt to eternity remain far above the glorification of any one of Thy
creatures. Existence itself testifieth to its non-existence when face to
face with the manifold revelations of Thy transcendent oneness, and every
created thing confesseth, by its very nature, its nothingness when
compared with the sacred splendors of the light of Thy unity. Thou hast,
in Thyself, been independent of any one besides Thee and rich enough, in
Thine own essence, to dispense with any one except Thy Self. Every
description by which they who adore Thy unity describe Thee, and every
praise wherewith they who are devoted unto Thee praise Thee, are but the
traces of the pen which the fingers of Thy strength and power have set in
motion--fingers whose movement is controlled by the arm of Thy decree--the
arm itself animated by the potency of Thy might.

Thy glory beareth me witness! How can I, aware as I am of this truth, hope
to befittingly make mention of Thee and celebrate Thy praise? Howsoever I
describe Thee, whichever of Thy virtues I recount, I cannot but blush and
feel ashamed of what my tongue hath uttered or my pen written.

The quintessence of knowledge, O my Lord, proclaimeth its powerlessness to
know Thee, and perplexity, in its very soul, confesseth its bewilderment
in the face of the revelations of Thy sovereign might, and remembrance, in
its inmost spirit, acknowledgeth its forgetfulness and effacement before
the manifestations of Thy signs and the evidences of Thy praise. What,
then, can this poor creature hope to achieve, and to what cord must this
wretched soul cling?

I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the Lord of the worlds, and the Beloved of
such as have recognized Thee, and the Desire of all that are in heaven