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In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

O my God! I bear Thee witness that I am Thy servant, who hath believed in Thee and in Thy signs, and I implore Thy forgiveness for all that Thy knowledge embraceth concerning me. And Thou, O my God, dost surely know that I have recounted unto Thy creatures Thy bounty in my regard, such as Thou hast not vouchsafed unto any one of the worlds in the realm of Thy servants, inasmuch as Thou hast honoured me with Thy praise and Thy favours, and hast perfected Thine argument upon my servitude through mighty and conclusive signs, such as are hidden from none, either from Thee or from those who strive in Thy path.

I have, moreover, manifested my certitude in Thy decree regarding me in the Sacred Mosque, through a man well known among the people, in the presence of just witnesses from among Thy servants. Thine, then, be the Most Great Beauty and the Supreme Splendour, by reason of that which Thou dost possess of might and majesty. Unto Thee do I complain of my grief and my sorrow for what hath befallen me and the chosen ones among Thy servants, through the decree which Thy judgment hath ratified. In Thee do I hope for my recompense, and for the recompense of everyone who seeketh Thy good-pleasure; and I testify that Thou dost not cause the reward of them that do good to be lost.

Unto Thee be praise and thanksgiving for that which Thou hast chosen for me of Thy good-pleasure and the abode of eternity, and for that I have borne of the hurt inflicted by Thy creatures for Thy sake. Behold, I am patient in Thy Self, resigned to what is pleasing unto Thee, and I fear, in Thy Cause, the rebuke of no man. And Thou, verily, art aware of what I proclaim of Thy bounty, and that none accounted me a liar. In the midst of them I was a very embodiment of truthfulness and trustworthiness; yet now their souls have prompted them to belie me, and they imagine that they render service unto their religion.

Glorified art Thou, glorified art Thou! Thou hast spoken, and Thy Word is the truth: “They would hasten Thee on with chastisement,” while lo, hell verily encompasseth the disbelievers. Alas, alas, for a people evil and ignorant! Unto Thee be praise for the wrong they have done me in Thy Cause; unto Thee be praise for their denial of me in Thy religion; unto Thee be praise for the charges of falsehood they have hurled against me for Thy Face’ sake; and unto Thee be praise for the hurt they have inflicted upon me in Thy command.

By Thy might and Thy majesty! No doubt assaileth me concerning my love for Thee; no evil surmise do I harbour touching Thy mercy unto me; I fear none save Thee, and I set my hopes on none but Thee. I am indeed assured of Thy bounty, that in truth it is not that the people (in reality) belie me, or revile me, or deny me; nay rather, they are heedless of Thy decree, they turn aside from Thy Face, and they repudiate Thy signs.

By reason of my love for Thy Cause and my good-pleasure with Thy Face, it is as though I were, in the Garden of Paradise, upon couches raised high, nor doth the denial of any soul grieve me in that station. Through Thy protection and Thy guarding care I am, indeed, in evident certitude. And Thou dost surely know that this day a noble Book (or honoured letter) hath reached me from one of Thy friends, after Thou hadst constrained me—by reason of the denial of most men—from returning any answer in accordance with reality and rectitude.

I have taken my covenant—this as an honour unto mine own self—from their necks, in accordance with the decree of the Book, following in the footsteps of Husayn, peace be upon him, after having attained to certitude of abasement and loneliness….