Thou seest me, O my God, bowed down in lowliness, humbling
myself before Thy commandments, submitting to Thy sovereignty, trembling at the
might of Thy dominion, fleeing from Thy wrath, entreating Thy grace, relying
upon Thy forgiveness, shaking with awe at Thy fury. I implore Thee with a
throbbing heart, with streaming tears and a yearning soul, and in complete
detachment from all things, to make Thy lovers as rays of light across Thy
realms, and to aid Thy chosen servants to exalt Thy Word, that their faces may
turn beauteous and bright with splendour, that their hearts may be filled with
mysteries, and that every soul may lay down its burden of sin. Guard them then
from the aggressor, from him who hath become a shameless and blasphemous doer
of wrong.
Verily Thy lovers thirst, O my Lord; lead them to the wellspring of bounty and grace. Verily, they hunger; send
down unto them Thy heavenly table. Verily, they are naked; robe them in the
garments of learning and knowledge.
Heroes are they, O my Lord, lead them to the field of
battle. Guides are they, make them to speak out with arguments and proofs.
Ministering servants are they, cause them to pass round the cup that brimmeth
with the wine of certitude. O my God, make them to be songsters that carol in
fair gardens, make them lions that couch in the thickets, whales that plunge in
the vasty deep.
Verily Thou art He of abounding grace. There is none other
God save Thee, the Mighty, the Powerful, the Ever-Bestowing.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
