em, out of Thy marvelous
loving-kindness, what will enable them to dispense with all except Thee,
and will detach them from aught save Thyself, that the sovereignty of Thy
oneness may be revealed and the supremacy of Thy grace and Thy bounty
demonstrated.

Wilt Thou not, O my God, look upon the tears which Thy loved ones have
shed? Wilt Thou not pity, O my Beloved, the eyes which have been dimmed by
reason of their separation from Thee, and because of the cessation of the
signs of Thy victory? Wilt Thou not behold, O my Master, the hearts
wherein have beaten the wings of the dove of longing and love for Thee? By
Thy glory! Things have come to such a pass that hope hath well nigh been
banished from the hearts of Thy chosen ones, and the breaths of despair
are ready to seize them, by reason of what hath befallen them in Thy days.

Behold me, then, O my God, how I have fled from myself unto Thee, and have
abandoned my own being that I may attain unto the splendors of the light
of Thy Being, and have forsaken all that keepeth me back from Thee, and
maketh me forgetful of Thee, in order that I may inhale the fragrances of
Thy presence and Thy remembrance. Behold how I have stepped upon the dust
of the city of Thy forgiveness and Thy bounty, and dwelt within the
precincts of Thy transcendent mercy, and have besought Thee, through the
sovereignty of Him Who is Thy Remembrance and Who hath appeared in the
robe of Thy most pure and most august Beauty, to send down, in the course
of this year, upon Thy loved ones what will enable them to dispense with
any one except Thee, and will set them free to recognize the evidences of
Thy sovereign will and all-conquering purpose, in such wise that they will
seek only what Thou didst wish for them through Thy bidding, and will
desire naught except what Thou didst desire for them through Thy will.
Sanctify, then, their eyes, O my God, that they may behold the light of
Thy Beauty, and purge their ears, that they may listen to the melodies of
the Dove of Thy transcendent oneness. Flood, then, their hearts with the
wonders of Thy love, and preserve their tongues from mentioning any one
save Thee, and guard their faces from turning to aught else except
Thyself. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, verily, art the
Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

Protect, moreover, O my Beloved, through Thy love for them and through the
love they bear to Thee, this servant, who hath