so long
as Thine own kingdom endureth and Thine omnipotence will last, as a sign
of my acknowledgment of the tie that bindeth him to Thy name, the Creator,
I would, likewise,--and to this Thy glory beareth me witness--have to
confess my complete failure to do him adequate service, and my deprivation
of what can truly befit his station. And this for the reason that I
recognize in them naught else except the bond that bindeth them to Thy
names and Thine attributes. How can, then, such a man succeed in
befittingly extolling the One through a motion of Whose finger all the
names and their kingdom were called into being, and all the attributes and
their dominion were created, and Who, through yet another motion of that
same finger, hath united the letters B and E (Be) and knit them together,
manifesting thereby what the highest thoughts of Thy chosen ones who enjoy
near access to Thee are unable to grasp, and what the profoundest wisdom
of those of Thy loved ones that are wholly devoted to Thee are powerless
to fathom.

I swear by Thy glory, O Beloved of my soul! I am bewildered when I
contemplate the tokens of Thy handiwork, and the evidences of Thy might,
and find myself completely unable to unravel the mystery of the least of
Thy signs, how much more to apprehend Thine own Self. I beseech Thee,
therefore, O my God, by Thy Name through which Thou hast caused all such
as love Thee to soar in the atmosphere of Thy will, and hast guided all
them that yearn after Thee into the Paradise of Thy nearness and Thy
presence, to waft from the heaven of Thy loving-kindness the fragrance of
certainty upon the needy among Thy loved ones, in these days when the
tempests of trials have compassed them on every side, and so grievously
assailed them that the souls of men have been troubled and the foundations
of all beings have trembled at what hath been sent down unto them from the
heaven of Thine irrevocable Purpose. They were so shaken that the lamp of
their love for Thee and of their remembrance of Thee was ready to be
extinguished in the recess of their hearts. Powerful art Thou to do what
pleaseth Thee. Thou, in truth, art the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous.

Thou givest ear, O my God and my Master, to the sighing of them that are
dear to Thee, and hearest from all sides their cry, by reason of what hath
befallen them at the hands of those whose hearts have been deprived of the
sweet savors of Thy love. There is none either to befr