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shed their radiance in the heaven of Thine irrevocable decree, and the

Beauty of the Unseen hath shone forth above the horizon of creation. I

testify, moreover, that with but a movement of Thy Pen Thine injunction

Be Thou hath been enforced, and God's hidden Secret hath been divulged,

and all created things have been called into being, and all the

Revelations have been sent down.



I bear witness, moreover, that through Thy beauty the beauty of the Adored

One hath been unveiled, and through Thy face the face of the Desired One

hath shone forth, and that through a word from Thee Thou hast decided

between all created things, causing them who are devoted to Thee to ascend

unto the summit of glory, and the infidels to fall into the lowest abyss.



I bear witness that he who hath known Thee hath known God, and he who hath

attained unto Thy presence hath attained unto the presence of God. Great,

therefore, is the blessedness of him who hath believed in Thee, and in Thy

signs, and hath humbled himself before Thy sovereignty, and hath been

honored with meeting Thee, and hath attained the good pleasure of Thy

will, and circled around Thee, and stood before Thy throne. Woe betide him

that hath transgressed against Thee, and hath denied Thee, and repudiated

Thy signs, and gainsaid Thy sovereignty, and risen up against Thee, and

waxed proud before Thy face, and hath disputed Thy testimonies, and fled

from Thy rule and Thy dominion, and been numbered with the infidels whose

names have been inscribed by the fingers of Thy behest upon Thy holy

Tablets.



Waft, then, unto me, O my God and my Beloved, from the right hand of Thy

mercy and Thy loving-kindness, the holy breaths of Thy favors, that they

may draw me away from myself and from the world unto the courts of Thy

nearness and Thy presence. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou,

truly, hast been supreme over all things.



The remembrance of God and His praise, and the glory of God and His

splendor, rest upon Thee, O Thou Who art His Beauty! I bear witness that

the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee. Thou wast

immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an ocean of tribulations. At one

time Thou wast in chains and fetters; at another Thou wast threatened by

the sword of Thine enemies. Yet, despite all this, Thou didst enjoin upon

all men to observe what had been prescribed unto Thee by Him Who is the

All-Knowing, the All-Wise.



May my spirit be a sacrifice to the wrongs Thou didst suffer, and my soul

be a ransom for the adversities Thou didst sustain. I beseech God, by Thee

and by them whose faces have been illumined with the splendors of the

light of Thy countenance, and who, for love of Thee, have observed all

whereunto they were bidden, to remove the veils that have come in between

Thee and Thy creatures, and to supply me with the good of this world and

the world to come. Thou art, in truth, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the

All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.



Bless Thou, O Lord my God, the Divine Lote-Tree and its leaves, and its

boughs, and its branches, and its stems, and its offshoots, as long as Thy

most excellent titles will endure and Thy most august attributes will

last. Protect it, then, from the mischief of the aggressor and the hosts

of tyranny. Thou art, in truth, the Almighty, the Most Powerful. Bless

Thou, also, O Lord my God, Thy servants and Thy handmaidens who have

attained unto Thee. Thou, truly, art the All-Bountiful, Whose grace is

infinite. No God is there save Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most

Generous.



_The Tablet of Visitation._