s equal to all things.

XXX: "LAUDED BE THY NAME, O LORD MY GOD! THOU SEEST..."

Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou seest me in this day shut up in my
prison, and fallen into the hands of Thine adversaries, and beholdest my
son (The Purest Branch) lying on the dust before Thy face. He is Thy
servant, O my Lord, whom Thou hast caused to be related to Him Who is the
Manifestation of Thyself and the Day-Spring of Thy Cause.

At his birth he was afflicted through his separation from Thee, according
to what had been ordained for him through Thine irrevocable decree. And
when he had quaffed the cup of reunion with Thee, he was cast into prison
for having believed in Thee and in Thy signs. He continued to serve Thy
Beauty until he entered into this Most Great Prison. Thereupon I offered
him up, O my God, as a sacrifice in Thy path. Thou well knowest what they
who love Thee have endured through this trial that hath caused the
kindreds of the earth to wail, and beyond them the Concourse on high to
lament.

I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by him and by his exile and his imprisonment,
to send down upon such as loved him what will quiet their hearts and bless
their works. Potent art Thou to do as Thou willest. No God is there but
Thee, the Almighty, the Most Powerful.

XXXI: "PRAISED BE THOU, O MY GOD! I BESEECH THEE BY..."

Praised be Thou, O my God! I beseech Thee by them who have circled round
the throne of Thy will, and soared in the atmosphere of Thy good-pleasure,
and turned with all their affections towards the Horizon of Thy Revelation
and the Day-Spring of Thine inspiration, and the Dawning-Place of Thy
names, to aid Thy servants to observe what Thou hast commanded them in Thy
days--commandments through which the sacredness of Thy Cause will be
demonstrated unto Thy servants and the affairs of Thy creatures and of Thy
realm will be set aright.

I testify, O my God, that this is the Day whereon Thy testimony hath been
fulfilled, and Thy clear tokens have been manifested, and Thine utterances
have been revealed, and Thy signs have been demonstrated, and the radiance
of Thy countenance hath been diffused, and Thy proof hath been perfected,
and Thine ascendancy hath been established, and Thy mercy hath overflowed,
and the Day-Star of Thy grace hath shone forth with such brilliance that
Thou didst manifest Him Who is the Revealer of Thyself and the Treasury of
Thy wisdom and the Dawning-Place of Thy ma