BB00103: Ziyarat for the martyrs

Part 1: “Verily, all glory from God, Who is none…”

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

Verily, all glory from God, Who is none other than He, be upon thy heart and the heart of what is within thy heart, upon thy spirit and the spirit of what is within thy spirit, upon thy soul and what is within thy soul, and upon thy body and what is within thy body. Then all loftiness from God be upon thy heart and the heart of what was created from the light of thy glorification, upon thy spirit and what was created from the spirit of thy praise, upon thy soul and what was created from the soul of thy unity, and upon thy body and what was created from the light of thy magnification.

Thou hast ascended and none above thee hath ascended as thou hast, and thou hast drawn nigh and none below thee hath drawn nigh as thou hast. All essences have glorified God through the pure essence of thy glorification, all realities have praised through the camphor of thy praise, all souls have unified through the substance of thy unification, and all beings have magnified through the abstraction of thy magnification. All glorify God through thee, all sanctify God through thee, all unify God through thee, and all magnify God through thee. So great was thy calamity that all calamities of all contingent beings were severed from association with it, and thy tribulation was exalted to such a station that all tribulations were separated from mention with it among all contingent beings.

By Thy might! There is nothing besides God except that it weepeth for thee, abideth beneath thy shadow, glorifieth God as thou hast glorified, sanctifieth God as thou hast sanctified, unifieth God as thou hast unified, and magnifieth God as thou hast magnified. Thou hast ever been and wilt ever be in the heights of holiness and majesty, and thou shalt ever be in the summit of sanctity and beauty. Thou art the Manifest through the manifestation of thy Lord and the Hidden through the concealment of thy Lord, the First where there is no first besides thee and the Last where there is no last other than thee. Thou hast ascended in creation to a horizon that none hath preceded thee to, and thou hast established thyself above the throne of thy might in the highest horizon of paradise where God knoweth naught higher than it.

I do verily cause Thee—and all things—to bear witness that He hath appeared as a Manifest One, manifesting His Manifestation; and that through the superabundance of His remembrance the essences of contingent beings have been made manifest, the intrinsic realities of substances sanctified, and the souls of immaterial beings brought into being; and that all things have been purified from the confines of mere allusion. How, then, shall I remember Thee, O Beloved of my heart, O King of my might and my decree, O Sovereign of my beginning and my end? For whatsoever is in existence hath been created by Thy light, and whatsoever is intended cometh into being through Thy Revelation. Thou art He Who hath ever been mighty, and all are made mighty through Thy might; nor is there aught abased in any station when Thou art present. And at the hour when Thy sovereignty was established above the dust, all worshipped God through Thee, and beheld in Thee naught save Him. Is there any exalted might that can equal this, or any splendid glory that can resemble it? All magnify God and exalt Thy greatness.

What fruit, O my God, could be compared with one such as Thee? And what jewel could be more exalted than the essence that hath no likeness to Thine? Therefore do I bear witness unto God, and unto all things, that God hath manifested Thee beyond all similitude, and hath bestowed upon Thee that which He hath bestowed upon none of His creatures—not the earth and whatsoever is upon it alone, but the Kingdom of Ridvan and all who dwell therein. No heart doth conceive the mention of grandeur or majesty but that it falleth, with all that is upon it, into remembrance of abasement before Thee, descending unto the dust of Thy presence with the utmost humility. By Thy truth!

In the Bayan naught hath diminished Thy worth by even the weight of a mustard seed; nay, Thou hast ascended with Thy whole being until Thou didst take possession of all things. Who is able to praise Thee, or encompass Thy knowledge? Verily Thou hast traversed the Path on that Day whose beginning hath no beginning and whose end hath no end—nearer than the mention of the kaf to the nun—and Thou didst stand firm in Thy love amid the abodes of sorrow, as though Thou wert a mountain in creation, which none of the forces of invention could move.

God hath never ceased to bless Thee, and God hath never ceased to gaze upon the dust of Thy resting-place, forasmuch as Thou didst proclaim the oneness of God, Thy Lord, unto all that could possibly exist, and Thou didst heed not the reproach of any reproacher in all creation. Thou didst separate those who worshipped not God, and didst consign them unto the Fire, though Thou Thyself didst not know Thy station; and Thou didst endure from every rending trial that which none could endure, for had they known Thy reality they would have prostrated themselves before Thee, and would not have raised their heads until death overtook them. How could they contend with Thee by idle imaginings? Nay, by Thy might!

The Paradise of Thy near ones is naught but the knowledge of Thy Self, their contentment in Thy Essence, their steadfastness in Thy love, and their glory in remembrance with Thee in Thy presence. And the Fire appointed for them that waxed arrogant against Thee is naught but that which they have themselves earned; for the punishment that overtakes them is the fruit thereof. For verily, when God—glorified be He—willeth to chastise a servant, He causeth his own disobedience and his veiling from the splendour of Him before Whom he prostrateth himself by night and by day, by His decree, to be the instrument thereof. And when God willeth to admit a soul into His good-pleasure, He inspireth him with guidance from His presence, and bestoweth upon him success in that which draweth him nigh unto Him—wherefrom branch forth all good; even as from the former branch forth all that is its contrary.

And I send blessings upon You and upon those who loved You and upon those who were with You and upon those […] in Your court, and upon those who raise me through Your afflictions and weep for You due to the sublimity of Your trials and tribulations and the exaltation of Your calamity and Your decree. And God shall surely reach unto all who were not for You but against You. And what they earned regarding You […] they had earned the like of it before regarding every believing man and believing woman, nay, regarding all things. Such ones shall never enter paradise, nor shall their fire ever be exchanged for light eternally. God shall surely magnify through You and reach unto his soul from whence he knows not.

Had he known himself, he would surely have accepted with his hands or fled to the mountains to dwell in […] for what his hands had earned, and he has no protector or helper. It is as if I witness the angels of the Throne and the Chair and the heavens and the supreme Paradise and the most glorious Ridvan circling around Your dust, taking the water of eyes from whoever manifests in Your love and presents it before God Your Lord. God looks upon whoever attains that station and inscribes His good pleasure upon him and singles him out for every grace possible in His creation. For no drop of water is more beloved to God than what flows in Your calamity and appears […] in the exaltation of Your tribulation.

Part 2: “I bear witness before God and all things…”

I bear witness before God and all things that I draw near to You and through You to God in Your station, though there be nothing lower in creation, yet that horizon has none higher. That dust has been adorned and magnified and sanctified and glorified and beautified and embellished and elevated by having borne You and those with You. I bear witness that Your spirit and the spirits of them who have detached themselves unto God in the most exalted horizon of the Ridvan—God doth regard them, and the angels shall enter upon them from every gate. Therein shall ye have all that your souls desire, and God shall increase it for you at all times through His grace. Verily, He is the All-Bountiful, the Most Generous.

Then pray two brief rak’ahs, more delicate than any leaf, for when that soul desired to ascend unto God, it was in a state of such weakness as had been decreed. When thou art startled, say: “Glory be unto Thee, O God! O my God! Thou art the First, and naught is before Thee. Thou art the Last, and naught is after Thee. Thou art the Manifest, and naught is above Thee. Thou art the Hidden, and naught is below Thee. Thou art the Almighty, and none is Thy peer. Thou hast risen above all heights and drawn nigh in utter remoteness. Thou hast caused all the spheres to move at the testimony of Thy Proof, and the Pens in the Most Exalted Paradise have fallen still at the manifestation of Thy countenance. Thou art exalted—there is naught above Thee; and Thou art near—there is naught below Thee. Thou seest and art not seen. Thou art at the highest horizon. Who can flee from Thy dominion? Thy might prevaileth over all created things. Who can escape Thy grasp? Thy power is manifest over all existing things.

Thou hast admitted to the Ridvan those who believe in Thy unity, having bestowed upon them glory and immortality. And Thou hast destroyed those who believe not in Thy unity and cast them into the fire for what their hands have wrought. Thy sign admits of no doubt. Who is mightier than Thee in punishment, and greater than Thee in prowess? Such is Thy punishment for him who believeth not in Thee, whom Thou cursest along with all things, even their own souls, by names before them until the Day of Resurrection. And who is greater than Thee in bounty and nearer than Thee in generosity, when Thou hast bestowed upon those who believe in Thy unity that which Thou sendest down upon them until the Day of Resurrection—of every splendor its most splendid, of every majesty its most majestic, of every beauty its most beautiful, of every grandeur its most grand, of every light its most luminous, of every mercy its most expansive, of every word its most perfect, of every name its most great, of every glory its most glorious, of every will its most compelling, of every knowledge its most penetrating, of every power its most extensive, of every utterance its most pleasing, of every matter its most beloved and most impregnable with Thee, of every nobility its most noble, of every sovereignty its most enduring, of every dominion its most magnificent, of every exaltation its most exalted, and of all that Thou hast loved or lovest what befitteth the loftiness of Thy generosity and the sublimity of Thy grace.

For whomsoever Thou hast remembered, all things remember him; and from whomsoever Thou hast exacted retribution, all things exact retribution from him. How exalted is the loftiness of Thy punishment and Thy chastisement! How supreme is the height of Thy vengeance and Thy might! How great is he whom Thou wouldst destroy for want of Thy love, for in every Manifestation, whoso harboureth in his heart aught but Thy love is veiled from Thy Manifestation and entereth into the fire of separation from Thee. But that is that negation which Thou hast annihilated, and its aspects are remembered in its shadow. Therefore, O God, cause the tree of Thy love to grow with all that is in it and upon it, for that in its station hath no equal, save when Thou purifiest the earth from it. Then shall the essence of fire be concealed in the souls of those in whom it existed before, and faith shall be made manifest, yet their hearts remain veiled such that they acknowledge not the Primal Letters and those who love Thee, for as Thou hast shown me, O my God! In the Most Great Name and the most noble symbols, none is known save the letters Ra and Sad.

Therefore, O Lord, shower Thy mercy upon these souls. And if in that Manifestation I should witness such souls, and it be ordained that all should enumerate this until the Day of Resurrection—after which my heart would not wish to bear witness—then let all things be content therewith when they desire to call upon Thee by Thy greatest names and Thy nearest symbols. O Lord, grant unto him who desires this but is unable to achieve it, a double reward if he be truthful in his words yet unable to attain it.

And upon him who enters the arena of the high and sanctified Cherubim who glorify and unite, and between what Thou hast graciously bestowed upon the successful ones, bestow that which Thy knowledge encompasses through Thy ordainment. Verily, Thou art powerful over whatsoever Thou willest. Thou hast ever been praised in what Thou hast done and doest, and just in what Thou hast decreed and decreest. Therefore, O Lord, judge now between me and those who worship Thee not through Thy power which prevaileth over all things, for Thou art the Best of judges. O Lord, through Thy might, preserve all Thy believing servants at all times, before all times and after all times.

O Great Name! Know thou the measure of these exalted words, for verily a single letter thereof equals not the kingdom of earth and all that is thereon. Thou hast indeed attained two victories, achieved two goodly things, and performed two migrations. Perhaps from thy Lord’s Book thou shalt receive two measures of Baha’u’llah’s justice and two portions of every good thing. Weep thou as much as thou art able, and cause to weep those who can weep, for God loveth to behold faces whose tears flow from their pain. And what deed could be more excellent than this in the sight of God and of those who are endowed with knowledge in the Book of God, did ye but know. No soul weepeth for God in the Manifestations of God’s Cause and the Exponents of God’s remembrance but that Paradise is assured for him, and the sea of fire is forbidden him, through God’s grace. Verily, He is the One, the Effulgent.