art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, the
Most Great.

XIV: "ALL PRAISE BE TO THEE, O MY GOD! THOU BEHOLDEST..."

All praise be to Thee, O my God! Thou beholdest my helplessness and
poverty, and bearest witness unto my woes and trials. How long wilt Thou
abandon me among Thy servants? Suffer me to ascend into Thy presence. The
power of Thy might beareth me witness! Such are the tribulations with
which I am encompassed that I am powerless to recount them before Thy
face. Thou, alone, verily, hast through Thy knowledge reckoned them.

I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art my Companion in my lowliness, to rain down
upon Thy loved ones from the clouds of Thy mercy that which will cause
them to be satisfied with Thy pleasure, and will enable them to turn unto
Thee and to be detached from all else except Thee. Ordain, then, for them
every good conceived by Thee and predestined in Thy Book. Thou art,
verily, the All-Powerful, He Whom nothing whatsoever can frustrate. From
everlasting Thou hast been clothed with transcendent greatness and power,
with unspeakable majesty and glory. There is no God beside Thee, the
Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving.

Glorified be Thy name, Thou in Whose hand are the kingdoms of earth and
heaven.

XV: "O THOU WHO ART THE RULER OF EARTH AND HEAVEN..."

O Thou Who art the Ruler of earth and heaven and the Author of all names!
Thou hearest the voice of my lamentation which from the fortress-town of
Akka ascendeth towards Thee, and beholdest how my captive friends have
fallen into the hands of the workers of iniquity.

We render Thee thanks, O our Lord, for all the troubles which have touched
us in Thy path. Oh, that the span of my earthly life could be so extended
as to embrace the lives of the former and the latter generations, or could
even be so lengthened that no man on the face of the earth could measure
it, and be afflicted every day and every moment with a fresh tribulation
for love of Thee and for Thy pleasure's sake!

Thou well knowest, however, O my God, that my wish is wholly dissolved in
Thy wish, and that Thou hast irrevocably decreed that my soul should
ascend unto the loftiest mansions of Thy Kingdom, and pass into the
presence of my all-glorious Companion.

Hasten, by Thy grace and bounty, my passing, O my Lord, and pour forth
upon all them that are dear to Thee what will preserve them from fear and
trembling after me. Powerf