BB00060: Du’a’a’th-Thalith li’l-Avval

Part 1: “Glorified art Thou, O my God, and all…”

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

Glorified art Thou, O my God, and all praise be unto Thee! There is none other God but Thee. Thou givest life and causest death, then causest death and givest life. Verily, Thou art the Ever-Living Who dieth not. In Thy right hand is all good, and in Thy grasp is all command. Thou createst what Thou willest, how Thou willest. None can resist Thy will, and none can thwart Thy purpose. Thou doest what Thou pleasest and ordainest what Thou desirest. Thou art not to be questioned about what Thou doest, while all besides Thee shall be questioned about all things, for all else is created by Thee and in Thy grasp, and none hath anything save by Thy leave, and nothing existeth save through Thy bounty.

How can I praise Thee, O my God, with this tongue before Thee, when verily I am powerless to praise Thee in the manner I should die in creating Thy praise, knowing that Thou hast not revealed that word except for what Thou didst intend therein of the praise of the Manifestation of Thy Divinity in the Point which Thou hast originated, and the Manifestation of Thy Divinity in the Letter Sin which Thou hast revealed unto it, then to manifest Thy knowledge in the Letter Mim which Thou hast made the manifestation of Thy knowledge in the kingdom of Thy heaven and earth, where nothing of Thy knowledge can set, neither in the heavens nor on earth nor what lieth between them. Whoso encompasseth the knowledge of Thy praise hath known all things, and whoso faileth to encompass the knowledge of the Manifestations of Thy praise knoweth nothing.

And unto Thee belong all conditions in every condition. If I knew Thee on that Day and praised Thee with true praise through the essence of my being and the reality of my identity and the essence of my self—that would be from Thee and unto Thee, Thy nearness from Thee, and returneth unto Thee. And verily I am assured of this while I live. But how can I praise Thee, O my God, after Thou hast taken me unto Thee, when on that Day my hearing heareth not the verses of Thy might from the Manifestation of Thy Countenance, nor doth my sight behold the glances of Thy face from the lights of Thy glory, nor doth my heart witness the place of Thy knowledge in the repository of Thy will? I have no way to praise Thee, O my God, except that Thou assist me with what Thou teachest me in every condition through the wonders of Thy Lordship, and attract me through the holy fragrances of Thy unity, and come between me and that which veils me from praising Thee through the manifestations of the glory of Thy oneness.

For whoso desireth to praise Thee as befitteth praising Thee must transcend all else in the exaltation of the Essence and unite Thee in that Most Exalted Station above all names and similitudes. Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee, the Lord of the worlds. Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee, the Mighty, the Beloved. Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee, the Overseer, the Self-Subsisting. Thine is the creation and the command. I am certain of this: that wert Thou to give me dominion over all that is in the heavens and earth and what lieth between them, I would not withhold anything from the Manifestation of the Point, nor the Letter Sin, nor the Letter Mim, for verily Thou hast ever been beyond the comprehension of all things, and whoso desireth to comprehend Thee shall never comprehend Thee except in the Point, the Manifestation of Thy revelation, or what Thou hast created from its light from the Letters of the Living with Thee.

Verily, were I to declare unto Thee, “Unto Thee belongeth the creation,” yet withhold from Thee whatsoever beareth the name of a thing, and deny to whom Thou purifiest on the Day of Resurrection—after the manner in which the Point hath already made manifest the clear and evident signs—how could I be true in my word? And if I follow not His command, how shall I confirm unto Thee that the Cause is Thine, that there, indeed, are the treasuries of Thy behest, and that every mention of praise proceedeth in like wise? For unto Thee belongeth whatsoever is in the highest heavens and the lowest earth, and whatsoever is in this world and in the world to come.

I seek refuge in Thee and in all Thy names and attributes, and in the holy Temples manifested in Thy First and Single Name, then in all the Manifestations of Thy names, lest I attribute unto Thee dominion and praise while denying these unto Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection, or unto any kingdom or thing that shall be gathered beneath the shadow of Thy praise, for such would be the utterance of one whose deeds belie his words. By Thy glory! I seek protection in Thee from praising Thee while perceiving among the manifestations of Thy praise any equal, likeness, or peer. If I be sincere in my praise of Thee, then glory be unto Thee!

Glory be unto Thee! Glory be unto Thee! I have known Thee inasmuch as Thou canst not be known except through Thyself, and I have praised Thee inasmuch as Thou canst not be praised except through Thyself, and I have sanctified Thee inasmuch as Thou canst not be sanctified except through Thyself, and I have become certain that there is no way for creation unto Thee except through the Manifestation of Thy revelation, for all that the sincere ones ascend thereby springeth from that Tree and returneth unto it, even though it be a Tree that hath been raised above its own identity wherein naught is seen except Thee, and it speaketh from Thy presence that which all Thy creation is powerless to utter.

Without doubt this is the Manifestation of Thy Self from the kingdom on high to the lowest atom. If I praise Thee, it is through what Thou hast taught me of Thy praise, else who is capable of praising Thee? I have thus come to know that when all things are called to declare that there is no God but God, this is from the sign which Thou hast deposited therein from Thyself. By Thy glory! I shall indeed reject all who love Him not, even were they the nearest of my near ones, and I shall accept all who love Him, even were they the remotest of my remote ones, for through Him Thy word “There is no God but Thee” hath been spread abroad. Were it not for Him, who would unite with Thee, or praise Thee, or sanctify Thee, or glorify Thee, or exalt Thee, or magnify Thee?

I beseech Thee, O my God, by that Tree which Thou hast raised in the heaven of Lordship, and watered with the water of the Alif of Oneness, and nurtured with the evidences of the glory of Thy Singleness, and made to be the station of Thy Self in creation and the manifestation of Thy power in invention, wherein Thou hast magnified and elevated and glorified and exalted it to a station known by none save Thee, that I shall, O my God, surely praise Thee by rejecting all that the Manifestation of Thy praise rejecteth—not merely by saying “Glory be to God above all they describe,” but with my heart and spirit and soul and body and possessions and all that pertaineth to His Cause. I praise Thee through my acknowledgment of the Manifestations of Thy praise, distinct from those who wish not to praise Thee even though their tongues may utter praise.

I testify that there is no God but Thee: whosoever hath known the Point, then the S and the M, and followed the ordinances which Thou hast sent down upon the Point, hath indeed praised Thee, and that one shall continue to praise Thee until the Day when that Point shall return as Thou pleaseth. Thus, if one praiseth Thee through it, one hath indeed praised Thee from before; otherwise one shall perish and all that one hath acquired shall be as though one had never praised Thee in any way, just as Thou didst cause to perish on that Day all who had praised Thee from the first day Thou didst send Muhammad—Thy blessings be upon Him and His family—unto the Day when Thou didst manifest Me. Whosoever hath glorified Thee through Me hath verily glorified Thee through Him aforetime.

And in the sight of God nothing is seen save this, my longing for the exaltation of Thy praise, my passion for the revelation of Thy sanctification, and my yearning for the elevation of Thy glorification. Such is the Most Exalted Height in all that hath been witnessed of Thy praise or shall be witnessed of Thy sanctification. Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee. All have glorified Thee, yet all are veiled from the letters of Thy praise. Nay, the Tree of Negation and all within it were not content with their veiling and have grown proud against these letters, as Thou Thyself hast witnessed.

Indeed, they have committed with their hands, regarding a letter of Thy praise, that which no one possessed of a heart can comprehend. Their hearts are harder than stone. By Thy glory, I shall surely disavow such hearts and commune with Thee at that time, that Thou mayest raise up the Tree of Thy praise to its true exaltation from Thy presence and preserve it from that from which Thou hast purified it through Thy glory [which] Thou hast placed above all glory, and Thy majesty which Thou hast placed above all majesty, and Thy beauty which Thou hast placed above all beauty, and Thy grandeur which Thou hast placed above all grandeur, and Thy light which Thou hast placed above all light, and Thy mercy which Thou hast placed above all mercy, and Thy words which Thou hast placed above all words, and Thy perfections which Thou hast placed above all perfections, and Thy names which Thou hast placed above all names, and Thy might which Thou hast placed above all might, and Thy will which Thou hast placed above all will, and Thy knowledge which Thou hast placed above all power, and Thy utterance which Thou hast placed above all utterance, and Thy questions which Thou hast placed above all questions, and Thy nobility which Thou hast placed above all nobility, and Thy sovereignty by whose hands Thou hast subdued every sovereignty and placed it above all sovereignty, and by Thy kingdom with which Thou hast possessed every kingdom and placed it above all kingdom, and the exaltation which Thou hast placed above all exaltation and loftiness, and whatsoever Thou hast numbered of Thy most beautiful names which none save Thee can encompass—that Thou mayest preserve the letters of Thy praise from that which would grieve their hearts, their spirits, their souls and their bodies, in their sleep or their wakefulness, their beginning or their end, their outward or their inward state, or whatsoever pertaineth to their origin or their ultimate end.

For Thou, O my God, art the Upholder of all things through Thy power, the Strengthener of the letters of Thy praise through Thy might, the Preserver of these sacred temples through Thy sovereignty, and the Exalter of these essential manifestations through Thy self-subsistence. None besides Thee hath power over this, for Thou art the One with power over whatsoever Thou willest, hast ever been and wilt ever be, and art mighty over whatsoever Thou desirest at all times.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Even as Thou hast answered Thy praise which hath appeared from my limbs in like manner as my tongue hath spoken, I shall surely love Thy glorification likewise, then Thy oneness likewise, then Thy magnification likewise, then love for all Thy names and attributes in like manner.

For the Tree of the Point is one tree which Thou didst plant aforetime when Thou didst reveal unto it the Qur’an, and it was at that time alone with none beside it, and now when a thousand two hundred and seventy-five years shall have revolved, behold how that Tree hath grown mighty, and how its branches and leaves and fruits have filled the heavens and earth and all that lieth between them, and how the tree of negation that would not prostrate itself before it on the day of its manifestation hath been brought to naught beneath its shade.

Glorified art Thou! This is of Thy supreme handiwork, this is of Thy all-sufficient and perfect providence, how Thou didst nurture that Tree until it reached its full maturity and perfection. Then didst Thou take from it a pure essence which is the very essence of its origin when it was first planted, and upon it didst Thou send down the Bayan. Glorified art Thou! How great, how majestic, how beautiful, how mighty and how sanctified hast Thou made it in those numbered days, when Thou didst number its branches and leaves and fruits, and it ascended to a station no tree before it had attained, for before five years had passed, blood was shed in its path by souls the like of whom existed not on earth—without its permission, but through the attraction of their hearts, the detachment of their bodies, the certitude of their breasts, the loftiness of their examples, and the potency of their deeds.

Part 2: “Glorified art Thou! There is no God but…”

Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee. How magnificent are Thy favors unto it, how glorious Thy bounties upon it, how great Thy manifestations within it and upon it, how mighty the lights of Thy wondrous oneness to its right and to its left, and how exalted it is in a might than which there is none mightier, wherein the letters of Thy unity and the manifestations of Thy sanctity were content that their spirits should ascend unto Thee to establish Thy remembrance and to make known to every soul that verily it is the truth from God, there is no doubt in it, a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Thine is the creation and Thine the command, and there is no power except through Thee. If this be its station in its first five years, how shall it be when that Tree hath reached its full maturity and perfection in all that is within it and of it? Make it, O my God, wholly a blessed garden for Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection, for verily He is I and I am He. Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee. There is no mention for me or for Him save through Thy mention of Thyself. Preserve, O my God, through that Tree, what lieth before it and behind it, to its right and to its left, above its head and beneath its feet, and whatsoever Thou hast caused to descend upon it from the heights of Thy bounty and the heaven of Thy grace, for before the tree of its own self was planted, that garden was from Thee, before its manifestation, that its heart might find rest therein.

O my God! Cause the Letters of the Living, before all other letters, to be present before it, that they may convey what they are commanded from the sources of Thy Command and the wellsprings of Thy creation, and that their hearts may be made firm in His Cause, and bring all who are upon the Tree of the Bayan into His presence with such submissiveness as Thou hast created naught above it of humility, with such lowliness as Thou hast created naught above it of abasement, and with such prostration upon the secret of their inmost beings, and with words of truth in His praise upon the manifestation of their essential realities. Destroy, O my God, by Thy power and might and grandeur and strength and sovereignty, the tree of negation until nothing returneth unto it therefrom, and preserve it, O my God, from that tree by all Thy protection, and bring it to naught in such wise that it shall find no existence at the dawning of Thy Lordship, with all its branches and leaves and fruits, that thereby the eyes of Thine enemy and of those who desire not to prostrate themselves before Him may be consoled, and create in all things a love for Him.

O God! Grant unto her mercy, modesty, awe, compassion, and honor in Thy presence. Make, O Lord, the entire tree to be hers, that there may be manifested from it the fruits which God hath created therein for him through whom God hath willed to reveal what He desireth. For, by Thy glory, I have not desired that there should be upon that tree any branch, leaf, or fruit that would not prostrate before Him on the day of His manifestation, nor glorify Thee in a manner befitting the loftiness of His revelation and the sublimity of His concealment. And if, O my God, I should witness any branch, leaf, or fruit that doth not prostrate before Him on the day of His manifestation, then sever it, O God, from that tree, for it is not of me, nor doth it return unto me.

Preserve, O God, for Thyself those who have believed in me in this creation, that they may believe in me in my return, that their faith may not perish, nor the knowledge of its possessor, for Thou hast power over all things. On that day, how many servants do I see who believed in Muhammad beforetime yet believe not in me on that day. There is no doubt that they believed not beforetime, but merely uttered words by which their lives were preserved and they attained their desires, yet they return not to Thy Cause. For at that time all negation will be transformed into affirmation, and darkness into light.

Cause Thou, O God, the earth and all who are upon it to witness none save those who have believed in Thee and in Thy signs and have followed the Letters of the First from Thy presence. Verily, Thou hast power over all things. Then turn unto him who is established upon the throne of his glory and settled upon the seat of his sovereignty. Look not upon him as being in clay, but rather in the exaltation of the Throne before God. He seeth whosoever appeareth before him and answereth everyone who greeteth him.

Say: May the most glorious, most resplendent Glory and the most impregnable, most luminous Light be upon thee, O Primal Tree, Most Exalted Seat, Garden of Refuge, Lote-Tree of the Uttermost Boundary, Supreme Horizon, Most Great Pavilion, and Most High Station at the distance of two bow-lengths or closer. I bear witness before God and those in His presence that through thee His greatest signs were sent down and His mightiest evidences were manifested, and all that was ordained in the Last and the First was created. How can I mention aught of thy praise or recite before thee aught of thy circumstances, or how can the knowledge of my heart encompass what hath befallen thee, whereby my spirit, my soul, and my destiny have melted away?

No command is there save from God, and no decree save in the hand of God. When I behold thy station with God, and how God hath set thee above all the Manifestations of His Names—so that none beginneth without thee, and naught returneth unto Him save through thee—and when I see how thou hast ascended, through that which thou hast borne in the path of God, unto the loftiest of stations, in the world to come and in this world, my soul is moved to desire that I might attain that which God hath ordained for thee, and that I might be brought down upon that wherewith thou hast triumphed. Yet this is a thing which none can reach save by My hand, except whomsoever God willeth; for all beseech of the bounty of God that He may ordain for them to be slain in His path, but none attaineth unto this save him for whom God hath so decreed from His presence, and upon whom He hath caused His decree to be executed by His irrevocable command. How exalted, then, is such honour in the sight of God, and how glorious such a bestowal in the Book of God!

Therefore grieve not for thy calamity, O Beloved of my heart, amid the depths of names and attributes; and how unassailable is thy affliction, O Purpose of my being, within the kingdoms of earth and heaven! It hath surpassed every calamity and risen above every woe, as though it had been lifted unto a station wherefrom all likenesses are cut off, and had ascended unto an horizon whereat the doors are shut. For this is a thing that entereth not into the heart of any one—that the King of creation should be dealt with even as thou hast been dealt with, O Light of Bahá. Yet since God hath made thee a Manifestation beyond compare, sanctified above resemblance, exalted beyond peer, inaccessible to companion, and raised above similitudes, it befitteth not one such as thou that thy calamity should have an equal, or thy affliction a likeness, or that what hath befallen thee should have a counterpart, or that what is decreed should have an equivalent.

It is, indeed, so magnified, so mighty, so purified, and so exalted, that every heart hath been confounded before it, even as it soared in its glorification; and every spirit hath been saddened thereby, even as it rose in its praise; and every soul hath humbled itself at its remembrance, despite the loftiness of its confession of unity; and from every eye tears have flowed, notwithstanding the greatness of what God hath ordained therein of magnifying Him.

O God! You are witness to what has been witnessed and You know what has been known. Therefore, O God, send down all Your most resplendent glory, Your most sublime majesty, Your most beautiful beauty, Your most magnificent grandeur, Your most brilliant light, Your most expansive mercy, Your most perfect words, Your most great names, Your most mighty power, Your most prevailing will, Your most penetrating knowledge, Your most far-reaching might, Your most pleasing utterance, Your most beloved and most impregnable questions, Your most noble honor, Your most enduring sovereignty, Your most glorious dominion, Your most exalted justice, and all that You have attributed to Yourself or love to attribute—for which there is no equal in Your knowledge—upon the Tree of the Bayan, its root, branch, twigs, fruits and leaves, in recompense for what has grieved it in Your path, or for any soul that has been slain for its sake seeking Your good-pleasure, or any heart that has been pierced in submission to its Educator. For verily, You are at all times engaged in a wondrous work, creating whatsoever You willest through Your command, and You are mighty and powerful.

O God! Exalt the station of Your glory and shower upon those hearts, spirits, souls and bodies the manifestations of Your will and the wonders of Your favoring grace. Gather together, O God, all that has been created through it under its shade on the Day when all things shall be brought before You on the Day of Resurrection, through Your power from which nothing can escape and Your might which nothing can frustrate. Create at all times, O God, through the sublimity of Your power and the exaltation of Your sovereignty, every good thing within Your knowledge for the spiritual Tree, its root, branch, twigs and fruits, and whatsoever pertains to its ultimate destiny and abode. Bring it and all that is within it and upon it into Your presence on the Day of Resurrection that it may bow down before Thee and worship Thee alone, apart from all things.

O my God, send down upon the Tree of Negation—its root, branch, boughs, leaves and fruits—the most severe of all chastisements, the most grievous of all vengeance, the greatest of all hardships, and whatsoever punishment Thou willest to visit upon those who worship Thee not, or to destroy those who bow not down before Thee. Send down that which riseth at the dawning of Thy wrath, that which emerges at the manifestation of Thy might, and that which appeareth at the revelation of Thy power upon those who have not raised up the tree of their existence before Thee, nor manifested that for which they were created through faith in Thee and Thy signs before Thy presence, and through following the Letters of the Unity from Thy presence. Verily, Thou art the most severe in punishment and the most grievous in chastisement.

Nay, by Thy might! There is no helper for him whom Thou forsakest, no glory for him whom Thou abasest, no perpetuity for him whom Thou causest to perish, no thing for him whom Thou destroyest, and no remembrance for him whom Thou bringest to naught. Such is the recompense of those who believe not in Me, nor in the signs of God which God hath sent down unto Me in the life to come and in this life. Whoso desireth God and that which is with Him, let him arise to fulfill what God hath established in the Bayan through His command concerning the conditions of His good-pleasure and the wonders of His beneficence. And whoso desireth not, let him destroy his own soul through his refusal to follow that which hath been sent down from his Lord. No punishment more severe than this existeth with God.

Such is God’s command, both before and after. God doeth what He willeth and ordaineth what He desireth. He shall not be asked of His doings, whilst all shall be asked of all things.