BB00051: Du’a’a’i-Avval li’l-Avval

Part 1: “Glorified art Thou, O my God! I testify…”

In the Name of God, the Most Unapproachable, the Most Holy

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I testify, and all things testify, to that which Thou hast testified concerning Thyself, and all things bear witness thereunto, that Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone, without peer. Thine is the Kingdom and the Dominion, and Thine the Glory and the Might, and Thine the Power and the Divine Realm, and Thine the Authority and the Sapphire Realm. Thou givest life and causest death, and causest death and givest life, and verily Thou art the Ever-Living Who dieth not. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst whatsoever Thou willest, how Thou willest, by Thy command. Thou art, verily, powerful over all things.

Moreover, I bear witness, together with the Primary Letters, the number of the Unity, to that wherewith Thy Being hath glorified itself, Thy Essence hath sanctified itself, Thy Identity hath unified itself, and Thy Self hath magnified itself, and to that which Thou hast ordained for these Divine Manifestations and Eternal Dawning-Places, and that whereby Thou hast revealed Thyself unto all things, when there was none besides Thee possessed of remembrance, neither before nor after, nor any besides Thee possessed of sovereignty in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, nor any besides Thee possessed of might or power in the kingdom of Command and Creation.

For all the evidences of Thy Lordship and the manifestations of Thy power have created the Tree of Unity, making its root the Point, its trunk the Letter Sin, its branches and fruits from its own letters, then its leaves from the manifestations of Thy names and the dawning-places of Thy examples. Thou didst desire to manifest thereby the oneness of Thy Essence, the glorification of Thy Being, the sanctification of Thy Camphor-like Nature, and that which befitteth Thy Pure Reality.

I beseech Thee, O my God, by what Thou hast enumerated upon that Tree of Thy names from the First Letters to the Seven wherein there is no name, and from the first name—Thy name the Eternal of seven letters—and what Thou hast enumerated from the rank of Will to that Most Exalted Book, and what Thou hast enumerated above this until it terminateth at Thy name the Mustaghath, since Thou hast not revealed in the Bayan any number higher than that Name. I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy might, that Thou cause that Tree to put forth leaves with all Thy names until they are numbered to the extent of what Thy knowledge hath encompassed, for there is no limit to Thy remembrance and no end to what is with Thee.

I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy names which Thou hast enumerated upon that Tree from the Eternal [abad] to the Mustaghath, wherein naught is seen save Thee, that Thou establish that Tree in the palm of Thy Eternality and the right hand of Thy Oneness, and that Thou cause to descend upon it in every moment from the time when Thou didst plant it in the heaven of Thy Lordship—having made its earth from its water, and its water from its fire, and its fire from its air, and all of it from its parts, and its parts from all of it, and its beginning from its end, and its outer from its inner, and its branch from its root, and its fruits from its branches, and its leaves from what Thou hast caused to grow therein—for this is a Tree that hath glorified itself through Thy glorification of it, sanctified itself through Thy sanctification of it, unified itself through Thy unification of it, and magnified itself through Thy magnification of it—One without number and Exalted beyond mention or hope that names be mentioned therein, for they are from its attributes and its manifestation unto its manifestations, and if there be concealed therein what riseth from it, it is from the foundation of its power.

All things are in the place of Thy manifestation. Glorified art Thou, there is no God but Thee, to the extent possible in creation. This is the Tree of Thy sanctification and glorification, of Thy unity and magnification, and of that which transcendeth all utterance.

Glorified art Thou beyond being described by what is possible or impossible! Rather, this is from what Thou hast specifically bestowed upon me, having made me the root of that Tree and all that returns unto it in its beginning and its end, demonstrating that Thou art [exalted] above its praise and transcendent above its knowledge. Indeed, it is a Tree that hath grown in the soil of its own self, by its own self, from naught but itself. It hath glorified its Lord through the manifestation of its own essence unto itself, by itself, and hath ascended from the beginning of names to the end of attributes through the sublimation of its camphor-like essence and the realization of its pristine nature. Verily, it is exalted above all exaltation through the exaltation of its Revealer, and sanctified above all sanctification through the sanctification of its Nurturer.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Nothing is greater in Thy sight than this Tree, for all aspects of turning unto Thee have sprung from it and return unto it. All who have declared “There is no God but Thee” have only done so through it, and all who have glorified Thee, sanctified Thee, magnified Thee, prostrated before Thee, or extolled Thee have only comprehended aught thereof through it. For hadst Thou not previously manifested Muhammad, Thy Beloved, could anyone have said “There is no God but Thee”? Even so, all things are from Thee, of Thee, with Thee, unto Thee, and there is no power except through Thee.

I testify unto Thee that this Tree’s encompassing power hath embraced all creation and invention, and its knowledge encompasseth all that is in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. It is indeed a garden whose breadth is as the breadth of the heavens and the earth and all that lieth between them. In its smallest particle is seen its supreme exaltation, and in its supreme exaltation is mentioned its power.

I beseech Thee, O God, by this Tree—than which nothing in Thy sight is its equal, nor hath it any likeness, peer, similitude, or companion—to raise it up through all Thy power to true exaltation, and to manifest it through all Thy power above every manifestation and inaccessibility. And since nothing’s reality is manifested except through its opposite, Thou hast created for it a shadow in the dust that it might know itself according to what is within it, and what is in its shadow according to what is upon it.

Thou hast made this Tree the Tree of negation at the time of Thy affirmation, and Thou didst not create it except through its acceptance after the manifestation of Thy proof upon it and the exaltation of Thy Word in the kingdoms of the heavens and earth and what lieth between them, upon it and upon what is on its right and its left and all its directions.

O God! Cast down the Tree of negation and annihilate it as though it had never existed. O God! Raise up the Tree of affirmation and manifest it in such wise that no manifestation or exaltation is possible above it. For that Tree hath ascended to the ultimate heights in the path of Thy love, while this one hath descended to the uttermost depths through what its hands have wrought. It hath descended to a depth none hath preceded it to, and I know of none equal to it. Verily, the Tree of Thy affirmation hath been raised to such a station as is not possible in contingent existence higher than this, such that some of its leaves, branches, fruits, and boughs have been adorned through the shedding of their blood.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Through this Thou hast planted the Tree of Thy sanctification, and through this have grown the leaves of Thy praise. Through this hast Thou established the essences of Thy glorification, and through this have arisen the manifestations of Thy unity. Accept, O my God, through Thy bounty, these sacred drops of blood into the water of the Tree of Thy Unity, for no blood befits Thee save these drops, since they worshipped none but Thee and prostrated before none other than Thee. Indeed, one drop thereof equals not the blood of all that is in the heavens and earth and what lies between them. Even if it were but the blood of a single letter of the One before that Tree, it would suffice to establish unity more than the blood of all upon the earth, for all things were created through it, sustained by it, and are made to die and live through it. By Thy might! A drop thereof equals not the blood of all Thy trustees, chosen ones, loved ones and friends. How exalted, magnificent, pure, lofty and holy it is, returning to its Lord as it began! That Tree stood as firm as mountain upon mountain.

Glorified art Thou! Glorified art Thou! This is Thy power in manifesting Thy proofs—one who has no equal in Thy work, no peer in the kingdom of Thy heaven and earth, no likeness in what Thou hast created. It is among the wondrous innovations of Thy Lordship that any creation would be content with the light of his heart without his Lord’s permission to ascend wholly unto Thee and attribute the blood of his being before Thee. Glorified art Thou! This stems only from the loftiness of Thy grandeur and the exaltation of Thy majesty.

I bear witness, as do those near Thee, that at that time it ascended unto Thee, the Tree of Proof stood with perfect independence, for if all upon earth were to be martyred in the path of Thy love, their blood would not equal nineteen nineteen grains of mustard seed of blood from that Name which Thou hast placed above all Thy names and through which Thou hast magnified all in the kingdom of Thy earth and heaven. Therefore, O God, reward him with the true reward of the Bayan, raise him, O God, to the highest chambers of Paradise, and enable me, O God, to meet him when I return to the primal life, in such exalted glory and sublime majesty that all faces bow before it and all souls present themselves to it.

Make him, O God, and what Thou hast ordained for him a shelter for those who believe in Me and a door for those who seek Me, for Thou art the Powerful over what Thou willest and the Inaccessible in the kingdom of creation. Raise him then, O God, with his branches, leaves and fruits to the highest heights, and send down upon him what befits the loftiness of Thy countenance and the sublimity of Thy grandeur. How great is Thy right and how mighty Thy station, that Thou hast consented that those sacred drops be sacrificed in establishing that inaccessible Tree!

Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee. I have nothing except through Thee, from Thee, and unto Thee. There is no power nor strength except through Thee. Thou art the One Who sustains every soul, the Subduer of all things, the Manifest above all things, the Inaccessible above all things, and the Exalted above all things. Nothing can frustrate Thee, neither in the heavens nor on earth, nor can anything escape Thy knowledge in the kingdom of Command or Creation.

Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee. Thine is the Creation and the Command, before and after. Thou hast manifested all Thy signs through the raising of the Tree of Sin, and Thou hast destroyed, through what the Tree of Piety has earned, all its letters. This is for one who has understanding or a heart capable of knowing anything, for above that there is no victory in affirming Your unity, nor below this is there abasement for one whom You have forsaken by Your power, that You might annihilate him before Your detachment. For all else are changing conditions, all returning unto that.

But O my God, since You have created in Your kingdom the wondrous manifestations of Your power, no soul can comprehend all Your victory in affirming Your unity and the obliteration of negation before it, after having fulfilled the right of fulfillment, after the days of negation had passed through what its tree had earned, where there was no extinction with You.

Thus was established at the Tree of Your affirmation the tree of the independence of Your singleness, through all being melted in the path of Your love, where there was no affirmation above that in Your knowledge. From You unto You—and You did not annihilate any tree of negation at its extinction as You annihilated this one, nor establish any tree of affirmation as You established this one through those sanctified souls upon the branch of the Tree of Your oneness and the boughs of Your eternality.

I testify with my heart, my spirit, my soul, my body, my hearing, my sight, my blood, my skin, my hair, and all that You have caused me to possess, that there is no God but You, for You have truly annihilated in the Primal Word the manifestations of negation through what their people’s hands have earned, where no extinction in creation is possible above this. And You have established the tree of Your unity, Your sanctification and Your oneness through having witnessed the blood of Your loved ones in the path of Your Cause upon the truth of inaccessibility and affirmation, where there is nothing in creation above that.

Therefore glorified are You, there is no God but You. I see in the letters of “there is no god” only the truth of Your grasp, and in “but You” only the truth of Your grace. I beseech You, O God, by Yourself, to manifest the extinction of negation through what the hearts of the weak among Your servants may comprehend and the souls of the exalted among Your chosen ones may feel, and to elevate the tree of affirmation through what may tranquilize the hearts of Your friends and cool the breasts of Your trusted ones. For all that appears of elevation is the effect of those purified bloods, and all that appears of seizure and vengeance from You upon Your enemies is the recompense of that which their hands have earned.

Therefore manifest, O God, through Your power which nothing can frustrate and Your sovereignty which is exalted above all things, the truth of manifestation in the appearances of Your affirmation and the truth of destruction in what You have made to be the letters of negation with You, through what the sight of every soul may perceive, despite its remoteness and what is in it and upon it. For none sees Your might in Your good-pleasure nor Your grasp in aught else; rather this is for those who seek guidance among the people of thought and those who are endowed with insight among the people of vision.

Part 2: “Therefore manifest, O God, what those…”

Therefore manifest, O God, what those in the regions and valleys may perceive, through the ultimate consciousness of what You have created therein, that the letters of Your affirmation may witness upon the throne of Your sovereignty and the independence of Your grandeur, manifest without being veiled, and that You might give them power over the letters of negation that they may seize them for what their hands have earned and take vengeance upon them for what they have unjustly inflicted in the path of Your Cause. For verily You are the One powerful over that, none besides You, and the One mighty over this, none except You.

Therefore aid, O God, with all Your aid, that through which all souls and spirits may recognize the manifestations of Your affirmation, and forsake, O God, with all Your forsaking, the tree of negation and hatsoever exists therein and thereupon, through what all minds perceive, beyond the selves and spirits of all Thy servants. Verily, Thou art over all things powerful, and there is no might nor strength except through Thee, and verily Thou art the All-Strong, the All-Powerful, the All-Mighty.

Then say, when thou dost encounter the Tree of Sin: Verily, the Most Glorious and Most Splendid Splendor from God, the Lord of the last and the first, be upon thee, O thou to whom He hath manifested Himself through what was manifested in thee, comprising all that is seen and unseen from the highest heights to the primal atom.

Through thee He hath created and sustained, then caused to die and brought to life whatsoever His knowledge hath encompassed. How exalted is thy station next to the Point, and how impregnable thy immunity before God, its Lord!

Thou hast indeed recognized thy Lord with true recognition through thy heart, spirit, soul, body and form, and hast nullified the deeds of those who profess God’s unity with their tongues while negating the Tree of Negation through their utterance.

Thou hast established, through thy acceptance to see thyself as thou hast seen, and what is in thy shadow as thou hast witnessed, the Tree of Affirmation with true affirmation through thy heart, spirit, soul, body and form—not like those who profess God’s unity with their tongues while they neither negate negation nor affirm the letters of affirmation, speaking of that which they comprehend not.

Thou art the one who hath recognized true unity in thy entirety and hast been truthful in thy recognition of God thy Lord, having witnessed the fire in negation where thou didst extinguish it with all thy might, and having witnessed Paradise in affirmation where thou didst establish it with all thy power.

This indeed is better in God’s sight than all who have recognized God’s unity before or will recognize it hereafter, for this is the essence of the Bayan for whoso desireth to recognize thy Lord.

How many servants glorify God while they eliminate not from themselves the manifestations of glorification through which they glorify! That is but a word their tongues pronounce, and they have no way therein save to recognize its Manifestations and glorify them according to their capacity.

When they turn wholly to God while glorifying Him day and night through their words—and how many servants sanctify God and praise Him while they know not the letters of praise nor affirm God, speaking of what they know without true knowledge or exposition—how can this benefit them before God unless they affirm the letters of praise to God not merely through their tongues but through the height of their power?

Perchance God may accept their words when they praise, else all praise Him, glorify Him, recognize His unity and magnify Him according to what God hath ordained, without comprehending aught of what God intended thereby.

So glory be to God, and praise be to God, and there is no God but God, and God is Most Great, according to what my heart, spirit, soul, body and all that my Lord hath given me have witnessed. I shall surely glorify God as He hath willed, and praise God as He hath desired, and outwardly recognize His unity just as I have recognized [the Embodiment of] the ornament of the Bayan, the essence of the Qur’an, and the Manifestation of the All-Merciful [and the Dayspring of] glory, and I shall surely magnify God by recognizing their Manifestations in the seats of their revelation, just as I have gained God before reciting His verses in what I have loved, believed in, been drawn to, magnified His Cause, and elevated His remembrance.

O my God! Prepare me for what Thou lovest and art pleased with. O my God! Make known to all the Letters of the Bayan the stations of Thy Command, that they may recognize Thy unity in Essence, then Thy unity in Attributes, then Thy unity in Deeds, then Thy unity in Worship, for verily I worship none but Thee and we worship none other than Thee, and I see naught but Thy creation in Thy grasp.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! Send down upon that Divine Name, that glorious Manifestation, that eternal Light, that divine Mystery, and that Sign which hath no equal—for I have indeed recognized Thy unity as it hath appeared before Thee, while all others today profess Thy unity with their tongues yet are among the letters of negation in Thy sight and know not.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! Send down upon Him and upon the Manifestations of His Self and the Gates of His Glory what Thou hast specially ordained among Thy names for the Manifestation of the Point, the Dayspring of Thyself, before all names through their attendance and prostration before It—those Eight Letters before the Ten—as befitteth the loftiness of Thy power and the exaltation of Thy majesty.

Verily I glorify Thee with my tongue and limbs and all that pertains to my return and abode, ascending thereby to the highest horizon and seeking Thy good-pleasure in that most glorious station. I see no pure glory save in glorifying Thee, though I be cast upon the dust, and I praise Thee likewise, seeing no true exaltation save in praising Thee, even shouldst Thou witness me in such a station.

I shall profess Thy unity likewise, seeing no glory of beauty save in how He Who was content to be the first Tree of Thy affirmation hath recognized Thy unity—if Thou ordainest for me this bounty from Thee; and if not, then what Thou ordainest is best for my return and abode.

I shall magnify Thee likewise, seeing no pure glory save in recognizing Thy grandeur and the exaltation of the Manifestations of Thy eternity, though I witness in but one letter thereof that it possesseth not even a garment to clothe it, after Thou hast created all things for God and through Him.

Glorified art Thou: there is none other God but Thee. This is what I have caused Thee to witness unto through the very essence of my being; and I have glorified Thee with the camphor of mine own selfhood, and sanctified Thee with the quintessence of mine “I-ness,” and confessed Thine oneness in my inmost self and in my outward state. Thus, on that Day, I acquit all who are in the Fire, in that I am, verily, quit of it and of all that are therein; and I testify concerning those who are in Paradise that they abide beneath the shadow of the shades of the Tree of Thy unity. They love me, and I shall assuredly love them in the path of Thy love. I have not appointed love for any lover of God save in the path of Thy oneness; and time hath singled me out unto Thee in this my station, by reason of that which I have spoken in Thy praise—and beyond this there is naught. Thine, therefore, be praise for this; and from Thee … for that. And how can I have power to perform aught of Thy praise, or to manifest any portion of Thy glorification?

Nay, by Thy might! Thy good-pleasure towards me—though I be but this clay—is better than the sovereignty of the world to come and of this world. For when Thou takest me unto Thyself, if I be within Thy good-pleasure Thou wilt sustain me in Thy good-pleasure; and though Thou shouldst destroy me throughout the East and the West of the earth, I would seek refuge from aught save Thy good-pleasure at the moment Thou summonest me unto Thee, in whatsoever state. Nay rather, Thy good-pleasure profiteth me in that hour in which Thou sustainest me thereby, even as it sustaineth me at that time when Thou didst uplift them unto Thee through what Thou didst send down from Thy presence—of the signs of Thy good-pleasure, the manifestations of Thy bounties, and the abodes of Thy favour.

Nay, by Thy might! Were Thou to love me in the manner Thou wiliest that I should love Thee—then if Thou shouldst give me dominion over the East and the West of the earth, I would love that only because of Thy love for me; and if Thou shouldst love that I behold myself in such a state, I would love it for the love wherewith Thou hast caused me to love it. For when the spirit is wholly severed from all else, that which reacheth me from God is Thy good-pleasure and Thy meeting; and that which uplifteth me unto the loftiest height of the chambers of good-pleasure is none other than Thy bounty and Thy gift.

Therefore unto Thee do I entrust the Tree of Thy oneness in me, with me, upon me, before me, after me, above me, beneath me, before my face, and from every direction. However Thou dost cause it to flourish, that is best for it; however Thou dost make it firm, that is glory for it; however Thou dost raise it up, that is a bounty for it from Thy presence. For naught is hidden from Thy knowledge, and all that Thou causest to happen to it is what Thou hast chosen for it.

Unto Thee be praise in the heights of praise, unto Thee be glory in the summit of glory, unto Thee be sovereignty and exaltation, unto Thee be might and invincibility, unto Thee be radiance and joy, unto Thee be awe and detachment, unto Thee be power and grandeur, unto Thee be majesty and splendor, unto Thee be love and good-pleasure, unto Thee be the examples and the names, unto Thee be […] Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee. Thou hast ever been and will ever be. Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee in whatsoever Thou hast created or wilt create by Thy power in all existence.

Therefore raise me up unto Thee at all times through that which causeth my heart to accept Thy remembrance, even if it be but a single remembrance. And cause my heart to dwell in remembrance of the Manifestations of Thy Self, even if it be but a single remembrance. Though I be immersed in the oceans of verses and soar in the heaven of words where there is neither beginning nor end, yet this is but provision for those among Thy near ones who desire to ascend unto Thee, Thy chosen pure ones, Thy sincere servants, and Thy tested servants.

That which satisfieth my heart is that there is no God but Thee, alone with no partner. Thine is the kingdom and Thine is the praise. Thou givest life and causest death, and Thou causest death and givest life. Naught is hidden from Thy knowledge and naught escapeth Thee, neither in the heavens nor on the earth nor between them, and Thou art powerful over all things.

Then say unto him: O Essence of utterance, Camphor of the Qur’an, Countenance of Glory, Sign of the All-Merciful, and Mystery of creation! My heart findeth no rest save through Thee, nor my spirit save through Thee, nor my soul save through Thee, nor my body save through Thee, being certain that naught is hidden from Thy knowledge, no voice is veiled from Thee, and no places nor boundaries of any numbered thing can come between me and Thee. I shall prepare myself to meet Thee again after the first time, for unto God belong the last and the first. He raiseth me up unto Thee again as He willeth, even as He caused me to descend upon Thee in the highest horizon. I love not to part from Thy dust, yet God hath ordained for me what He hath ordained from the station which He hath given me, and for each is a portion from His presence.

Therefore I shall return from Thy presence hoping that Thou wilt permit me and raise me unto Thee better than Thou didst raise me before, and that Thou wilt exchange my station there for my station with Thee, and that Thou wilt grant me to attain Thy presence on the day of Thy return, and that Thou wilt make me among those who have believed in the name of Thy Lord, who have recognized His signs, who have been guided by the light of Thy guidance, and who have been exalted through the exaltation of Thy beloved ones. For this is in Thy hands, as God hath entrusted unto Thee the command of His servants from before and after, and there is no power except in God. All are His servants and all shall return unto Him.

I seek refuge with God, Thy Lord, from being among those who expect not Thy days, who curse not those who love Thee not, who believe not in Thee, and who follow not what Thou hast borne of the Book of God. And should I be of these, then upon me be the curse of God and the curse of all whom God hath created or will create. And if I be not of these, then upon me be the blessings of God and the blessings of all that He hath created, for this is the Most Glorious honor from His presence for those who believe in His signs. Thus doth God cause to flow from the tongues of those who showed pride before Thee the curse of their own souls through their words, which shall testify against them on the Day of Resurrection before Thy Lord, even though on that Day they shall speak without knowing. Thus shall God take vengeance upon the letters of negation and send down His mercy upon the letters of truth from His presence through what He revealeth in the Book by His command, for He hath power over all things.