I Know Not, O My God, Whether I Should Speak

Sources: Prayers And Meditations

I know not, O my God, whether I should speak forth the wonders of Thy

praise among Thy servants, and lay bare before them the secrets of Thy

mercy and the mysteries of Thy Cause, or keep them wrapped up within the

receptacle of my heart. Though the lover be loth to share with any one the

intimate conversation of his beloved, yet at whatever time Thine

inescapable commandment to declare Thy Cause reacheth me, I will

unh sitatingly obey it. I would proclaim Thee, undeterred by the darts of

affliction that may rain down upon me from the clouds of Thy decree.



I swear by Thy might! Neither the hosts of the earth nor those of heaven

can keep me back from revealing the things I am commanded to manifest. I

have no will before Thy will, and can cherish no desire in the face of Thy

desire. By Thy grace I am, at all times, ready to serve Thee and am rid of

all attachment to any one except Thee.



What I desire, however, O my God, is that Thou shouldst bid me unveil the

things which lie hid in Thy knowledge, so that they who are wholly devoted

to Thee may, in their longing for Thee, soar up into the atmosphere of Thy

oneness, and the infidels may be seized with trembling and may return to

the nethermost fire, the abode ordained for them by Thee through the power

of Thy sovereign might.



Thou dost consider, O my Lord, how Thy dear ones are sore pressed by Thine

enemies, and hearest from all sides their sighing by reason of what hath

befallen them in Thy path. Thou knowest, O my Lord, that their one desire

was to seek Thy face, and that the sole Object of their adoration was

Thee. They who wronged them had no other purpose except to turn them away

from Thee, and to extinguish the fire which Thou hadst kindled with the

hands of Thine almighty power.



Unseal the lips of Thy will, O my Lord, and let a word proceed therefrom

that shall subject unto itself the world and all that is therein. How long

shalt Thou behold these things and tarry, O my God? Darkness hath

enveloped the whole earth, and Thy tokens are ready to be blotted out

throughout Thy realm.



Forgive me, O my God, for what I have spoken, for Thou art the One that

knoweth all things, and in Thee are wrapped up the secrets that are hid

from all else except Thyself. When Thy promise shall come to pass, Thou

wilt manifest what Thou wilt, and subdue as Thou pleasest. We should wish

only what Thou hast wished for us. In Thee is the knowledge of all things,

and with Thee is the issue of all things. Thou art, verily, the Truth, the

Knower of things unseen.



Forgive me, then, my sins and the sins of them that love me, and supply

them with the good of this world and of the next.



Thou art, verily, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.