Glory Be To Thee, Thou In Whose Hand Are The

Sources: Prayers And Meditations

Glory be to Thee, Thou in Whose hand are the heaven of omnipotence and the

kingdom of creation. Thou doest, by Thy sovereignty, what Thou willest,

and ordainest, through the power of Thy might, what Thou pleasest. From

eternity Thou hast been exalted above the praise of all created things,

and wilt to eternity remain far above the glorification of any one of Thy

creatures. Existence itself testifieth to its non-existence when face o

face with the manifold revelations of Thy transcendent oneness, and every

created thing confesseth, by its very nature, its nothingness when

compared with the sacred splendors of the light of Thy unity. Thou hast,

in Thyself, been independent of any one besides Thee and rich enough, in

Thine own essence, to dispense with any one except Thy Self. Every

description by which they who adore Thy unity describe Thee, and every

praise wherewith they who are devoted unto Thee praise Thee, are but the

traces of the pen which the fingers of Thy strength and power have set in

motion--fingers whose movement is controlled by the arm of Thy decree--the

arm itself animated by the potency of Thy might.



Thy glory beareth me witness! How can I, aware as I am of this truth, hope

to befittingly make mention of Thee and celebrate Thy praise? Howsoever I

describe Thee, whichever of Thy virtues I recount, I cannot but blush and

feel ashamed of what my tongue hath uttered or my pen written.



The quintessence of knowledge, O my Lord, proclaimeth its powerlessness to

know Thee, and perplexity, in its very soul, confesseth its bewilderment

in the face of the revelations of Thy sovereign might, and remembrance, in

its inmost spirit, acknowledgeth its forgetfulness and effacement before

the manifestations of Thy signs and the evidences of Thy praise. What,

then, can this poor creature hope to achieve, and to what cord must this

wretched soul cling?



I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the Lord of the worlds, and the Beloved of

such as have recognized Thee, and the Desire of all that are in heaven and

on earth, by Thy Name through which the cry of every suppliant hath

ascended into the heaven of Thy transcendent holiness, through which every

seeker hath soared to the sublimities of Thy unity and grandeur, through

which the imperfect have been perfected, and the abased exalted, and the

tongue of every stammerer unloosed, and the sick made whole, and whatever

was unworthy of Thy highness and beseemed not Thy greatness and Thy

sovereignty made acceptable unto Thee,--I beseech Thee to aid us by Thine

invisible hosts and by a company of the angels of Thy Cause. Do Thou,

then, accept the works we have performed for love of Thee, and for the

sake of Thy pleasure. Cast us not away, O my God, from the door of Thy

mercy, and break not our hopes in the wonders of Thy grace and favors.



Our limbs, our members, O my Lord, bear witness to Thy unity and oneness.

Send down upon us Thy strength and power, that we may become steadfast in

Thy Faith and may aid Thee among Thy servants. Illumine our eyes, O my

Lord, with the effulgence of Thy beauty, and enlighten our hearts with the

splendors of Thy knowledge and wisdom. Write us up, then, with those who

have fulfilled their pledge to Thy Covenant in Thy days, and who, through

their love for Thee, have detached themselves from the world and all that

is therein.



Powerful art Thou to do what Thou pleasest. No God is there beside Thee,

the All-Powerful, the Omniscient, the Supreme Ruler, the Help in Peril,

the Self-Subsisting.