driven by the fingers of Thy will--and were he to muse on its mysteries,
and its tokens, and all that it showeth forth, he would be so perplexed
that his tongue would fail to extol and describe Thee, and his heart would
be utterly unable to understand Thee. For he would, at one time, discover
that from this Pen there floweth out unto all created things the water
that is life indeed, and that the Pen itself hath been named by Thee the
trumpet whereby the dead speed out of their sepulchers. At another time he
would find that there proceedeth from this Pen such fire as Thine own
Revelation can kindle, and as He Who conversed with Thee (Moses) on Sinai
hath perceived.

How marvelous, then, are the manifold tokens of Thy might, and how great
are the diverse evidences of Thy power! The learned have, without
exception, admitted their ignorance when confronted with the radiance of
the Luminary of Thy knowledge; and the mighty have all confessed their
impotence in the face of the billowing Ocean of Thy power; and the rich
have one and all acknowledged their poverty before the effusions of the
Treasuries of Thy wealth; and the worldly wise have each recognized their
nothingness beside the splendors of the Light of Thy beauty; and the
exalted have all witnessed unto their abasement when face to face with the
effulgence of the Day-Star of Thy glory; and they who are in authority
have borne witness to their own evanescence and to the evanescence of
others, and discovered the eternity of Thy majesty, and of Thy
sovereignty, and of Thy sublimity, and of Thy power.

My God, and the God of all things, and my King and the King of all things,
and the Beloved of my soul, and the Goal of my desire! Thou knowest full
well that I make mention of Thee, in this day, in the name of such of Thy
creatures as have detached themselves from all except Thee, and I extol
Thy virtues through the tongue of those of Thy people that have recognized
Thy oneness, that haply there may pour out from the sighs which they utter
in their love and their yearning for Thee what will melt away all that may
hinder Thy servants from setting their faces towards the heaven of Thy
knowledge and the kingdom of Thy signs.

This, then, O my God and the God of all names, and the Creator of earth
and heaven, is the Day whereon He Whose heart gloweth with the flaming
fire of Thy presence is calling upon Thee. Where can separation from Thee
be found, O my God, so that reunion