thirst
in its ceaseless search after Thee. My sighs, O my God, proclaim the
bitterness of mine anguish, and the tears I shed attest my love for Thee.

I beseech Thee, by the praise wherewith Thou praisest Thyself and the
glory wherewith Thou glorifiest Thine own Essence, to grant that we may be
numbered among them that have recognized Thee and acknowledged Thy
sovereignty in Thy days. Help us then to quaff, O my God, from the fingers
of mercy the living waters of Thy loving-kindness, that we may utterly
forget all else except Thee, and be occupied only with Thy Self. Powerful
art Thou to do what Thou willest. No God is there beside Thee, the Mighty,
the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

Glorified be Thy name, O Thou Who art the King of all Kings!

XXVII: "THOU BEHOLDEST, O MY GOD, THE DAY-STAR OF THY..."

Thou beholdest, O my God, the Day-Star of Thy Word shining above the
horizon of Thy prison-city, inasmuch as within its walls He who is the
Manifestation of Thy Self and the Day-Spring of the light of Thy unity
hath raised His voice and uttered Thy praise. The fragrances of Thy love
have thereby been wafted over Thy cities and have encompassed all the
dwellers of Thy realm.

Since Thou hast revealed Thy grace, O my God, deter not Thy servants from
directing their eyes towards it. Consider not, O my God, their estate, and
their concerns and their works. Consider the greatness of Thy glory, and
the plenteousness of Thy gifts, and the power of Thy might, and the
excellence of Thy favors. I swear by Thy glory! Wert Thou to look upon
them with the eye of justice, all would deserve Thy wrath and the rod of
Thine anger. Hold Thou Thy creatures, O my God, with the hands of Thy
grace, and make Thou known unto them what is best for them of all the
things that have been created in the kingdom of Thine invention.

We testify, O my God, that Thou art God, and that there is no God besides
Thee. From eternity Thou hast existed with none to equal or rival Thee,
and wilt abide for ever the same. I beseech Thee, by the eyes which see
Thee stablished upon the throne of unity and the seat of oneness, to aid
all them that love Thee by Thy Most Great Name, and to lift them up into
such heights that they will testify with their own beings and with their
tongues that Thou art God alone, the Incomparable, the One, the
Ever-Abiding. Thou hast had at no time any peer or partner. Thou, in
truth, art the All-Glorious, the Almight