BB00109: Du’ayi Laylatu aula min Shahri’llah

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

In the name of God, the Most Invincible, the Most Holy

Glorified art Thou, O my God! This is a night which Thou hast magnified, honored, exalted, adorned and sanctified by associating it with Thyself. Thou hast caused to appear therein a sign that proclaimeth it to be a wondrous night of a wondrous month, which Thou hast favored, honored, exalted, magnified, illumined, elevated and loved. Therein do those who call upon Thee and glorify Thee in the watches of the night and the hours of the day, and Thou hast given leave to the angels to raise unto Thee the voices of Thy believing servants, Thy assured ones, Thy chosen ones, Thy beloved ones and those who are detached from all else save Thee.

How exalted, O my God, is Thy gift to those who call upon Thee! How invincible, O my Beloved, is Thy bounty to those who are devoted to Thee! Unto Thee boweth down in worship whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth and all that lieth between them, and unto Thee glorifieth whatsoever is in the kingdom of command and creation and all that is beneath them. I testify and am assured that Thou canst never be attributed with any trait of Thy creation or any characteristic of Thy servants. When I describe Thee, O my God, as the Most Merciful in the realms of pardon and forgiveness, that attribute falls short of the mercy Thou hast created in the essence of Thy creation, for the mercy attributed to Thee hath no equal. And when I remember Thee, O my God, as the Most Severe in the realms of chastisement and tribulation, that too falls short of how I have described Thee, for it cannot be compared to the severity of Thy creation.

And if I say, O my God, that Thou art the Most Generous of the generous, or the Nearest of the near, or the Most Hearing of those who hear, or the Most Seeing of those who see, or the Swiftest in reckoning, or the Most Truthful of those who speak—all of these cut off what is beneath Thee from being associated with Thee. Thy names have ever been exalted above all names, and Thy attributes have ever been elevated above all similitudes and attributes.

Exalted is Thy Being, O my God, above the mention of similitudes and allusions, or description through geometry and attributes. For all names are but signs of the sovereignty of Thy Self-Subsistence, yet Thou art free from them, transcendent above them, manifesting them through their own essence. Even were I to describe Thee through the highest essences of geometry and attributes, these would be but signs of the Sovereign of Thy Holiness and Glory, yet they would still be cut off from attaining unto Thy presence, Thy exaltation, Thy might, and the meeting with Thee.

O Thou Who existed before all things in independence, and through Whose manifestation all things came to be, and Who remaineth after all things in unattainability, and Who art with all things in exaltation! Thou seest all Thy creation and hearest those who call upon Thee on this most exalted night, each according to their own essence and how Thou hast manifested Thyself unto them. They turn toward Thee and worship Thee, yet exalted is Thy Being above accepting praise from one who knoweth not the Manifestation of Thy Countenance, or answering the prayer of one who is not assured of the Image of Thy Presence, for none can ascend unto Thee save through Him.

How many are Thy servants, O my God, who call upon Thee with humility, supplication, submissiveness and detachment, yet their prayers rise not beyond their own ears. Though Thou punish them not, Thou answereth them not, for they have heard Thy verses from Thy Manifestation and witnessed the wonders of Thy words from Thy Presence, yet they are veiled by that which profiteth them not with Thee. Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee! How many are the pens of those who call upon Thee, worship Thee, glorify Thee, bow before Thee, magnify Thee and are devoted to Thee in such wise that were I now to […]

Glorified art Thou! Glorified art Thou by the supreme exaltation of Thy power and transcendence! Thou hast created naught except that it may know Thy oneness, yet how can all things recognize Thy unity when they know not the Dawning-Place of Thy oneness, nor recognize the Dayspring of Thy sanctity, nor comprehend the Source of Thy glorification? Can they, O my God, offer any praise before Thee, or possess any worth in Thy presence? Nay, by Thy glory! Verily, by Thy might, I shall glorify Thee with certitude that there is no God but Thee, and I shall praise Thee with sincerity that there is no God but Thee, and I shall proclaim Thy unity in prostration before Thee that there is no God but Thee, and I shall magnify Thee in humble submission that there is no God but Thee, being certain of the manifestations of Thy Cause and beholding the Daysprings of Thy glory. For Thou art the Manifest, and none is manifest besides Thee; Thou art the Subduer, and none subdues besides Thee; Thou art the Exalted, and none is exalted besides Thee; Thou art the Inaccessible, and none is inaccessible besides Thee.

Glorified art Thou above whatsoever may glorify Thee or hath glorified Thee! Glorified art Thou above that any should praise Thee or hath praised Thee! Glorified art Thou above that any should proclaim Thy unity or hath proclaimed Thy unity! Glorified art Thou above that any should magnify Thee or hath magnified Thee! The sweet-scented breezes of the sanctity of Thy sovereign Lordship have ever drawn the hearts of Thy loved ones to the source of the glory of Thy countenance, and the rays of the light of Thy beauty ever shine upon those who glorify Thee, drawing them to the atmosphere of Thy bounty and grace.

O my God! No mercy hath been joined with Thy mercy through which I might seek intercession with Thee, no bounty with Thy bounty through which I might beseech Thee, no generosity with Thy generosity through which I might make my petition to Thee, no grace with Thy grace through which I might seek refuge with Thee, and no forgiveness with Thy forgiveness through which I might implore Thy aid. Thou seest what creation deserveth of poverty and evanescence, and Thou witnessest what it meriteth of glory and perpetuity. Thy mercy hath perfected all created things, and Thy proof hath reached all beings. The effulgence that shineth from Thy words hath dominated all who dwell in the kingdom of names and attributes.

Therefore, O my God, I beseech Thee by those who know Thee and worship Thee, by those who glorify Thee and bear witness to Thee, and by those who magnify Thee and call upon Thee, that Thou make me one of those upon whom Thou hast gazed at the dawning of this Night, and whose mention and praise Thou hast loved to hear, and upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy grace and bounty, and whose name Thou hast loved to remember among the manifestations of Thy glory and sovereignty, and for whom Thou hast ordained from Thy grace and bounty that whereby he may be independent of all else besides Thee.

O my God! If I ask Thee about Thy glory, verily Thou art more exalted than that! If I ask Thee about Thy majesty, verily Thou art greater than that! If I ask Thee about Thy beauty, verily Thou art more inaccessible than that! If I ask Thee about Thy grandeur, verily Thou art more elevated than that! If I ask Thee about Thy light, verily Thou art more powerful than that! Yea, O my God, I ask Thee by Thyself, for there is no glory equal to Thy justice, no majesty comparable to Thee, no beauty similar to Thee, no grandeur like unto Thee, and no light resembling Thee. Nothing in the heavens or on the earth or between them can be hidden from Thy knowledge, and nothing in the kingdom of command or creation or below them can frustrate Thee.

Part 2: “Therefore, O God, send down upon the hearts…”

Therefore, O God, send down upon the hearts that have ascended unto Thee that which beseemeth the loftiness of Thy glorification, and upon the spirits that have turned unto Thee that which beseemeth the sublimity of Thy praise, and upon the souls that have risen unto Thee that which beseemeth the inaccessibility of Thy unity, and upon those that became seized with rapture in Thy path and ascended unto the Most Exalted Horizon … that which befitteth the exaltation of Thy glorification, and that Thou mayest send down upon … from the Tree of Thy unity that which befitteth the sublimity of Thy grace, Thy bounty, Thy generosity and Thy favor, and that Thou mayest manifest that whereby Thou hast willed to make manifest Thy religion, and that Thou mayest aid that whereby Thou hast willed to manifest and …, and that Thou mayest seize through Thy might that which Thou hast ordained to seize for the exaltation of Thy sanctification, and that Thou mayest destroy whom Thou hast willed to destroy for the exaltation of Thy glorification, and that Thou mayest abase whom Thou hast willed to abase for the invincibility of Thy glorification, and that Thou mayest forsake whom Thou hast willed to forsake for the jubilation of the light of Thy sanctification, and that Thou mayest remove from the earth whom Thou hast willed to remove for the sovereignty of Thy divine dominion and oneness.

For I, O my God, by Thy glory, seek Thy protection from all the fire, and I beseech Thee of Thy grace concerning what Thou hast ordained in all of Paradise. For Thy retribution shall never cease from this through what … hath earned and its people, and Thy mercy shall never cease from this through what itself and those within it have prostrated. Thou art He Who hath subdued through the sovereignty of Thy dominion all created things, until Thou didst possess the sovereigns through the sovereignty of Thy dominion with power and independence. And Thou art He Who hath shown Thy might through the holy kingdom … above all contingent things, until Thou didst subject every possessor of sovereignty through Thy glory and grandeur and the kingdom of Thy mighty dominion with divinity and invincibility.

O my God, Thou beholdest the stations of those who call upon Thee and hast power over the exaltation of their souls and their stations. Therefore, O God, hasten in this through that which Thy Being deserveth, not through what the souls of Thy loved ones deserve, for through Thy desert every possessor of right receiveth his right and every possessor of love beholdeth what he loveth. Therefore I beseech Thee, O God, by the merit of Thy Lordship and the independence of Thy divine dominion, that Thou mayest utterly annihilate the tree of negation and send down upon it Thy retribution in every condition, and that Thou mayest preserve the tree of Thy oneness and send down upon it that which befitteth the sublimity of Thy gracious favor and the exaltation of Thy sovereignty. For were the veil to be lifted from the insight of those in the fire, they would desire naught save what Thou hast ordained for them, and were it lifted from the insight of those in Paradise, they would desire naught save what Thou hast ordained for them. This hath never ceased … and perisheth, and this shall never cease to endure and be exalted. This is from the command of God; verily He hath power over all things.

And bless, O God, the Point of the Bayan and whatsoever is related unto it, and exalt it, O my God, through Thine exaltation, and magnify it, O my God, through Thy grandeur, and glorify it, O my God, through Thy glory, and strengthen it, O my God, through Thy might, and empower it, O my God, through Thy sovereignty, and grant unto it that which will gladden its heart and beyond what will please it and beyond what it desireth from the treasuries of the wonders of Thy divine dominion and the repositories of the mystery of Thy holiness, for there is no equal to Thy bounty.

And ordain, O God, for the letters of its self, eighteen before ten, whatsoever Thou hast ordained for it of every good thing which Thy knowledge hath encompassed, and upon all the manifestations of its names and the dawning-places of its likenesses, and upon those who have sought shelter in its shade from among the first and the last, the outward and the inward. For there was not at that time upon the earth any who would worship Thee in truth except these, nor prostrate before Thee in truth except these, nor glorify Thee in truth except these, nor praise Thee in truth except these, nor testify to Thy unity in truth except these, nor … in truth except these! By Thy might, these are none other than these! None recite Thy Book except these, none seek Thy good-pleasure except these, none succeed to Thy justice except these, none […] Thy presence except these, none raise Thy remembrance except these, none make manifest Thy Cause except these, none aid Thy Faith except these, none establish Thy Word except these.

O God, at this time, through Thy grace, grant that which will cause this Tree to reach its loftiest heights and attain its uttermost ascendancy, and to witness what Thou hast ordained in its glory and to testify to what Thou hast decreed for its exaltation. And cause its eyes to be gladdened by what Thou hast ordained for it from the treasuries of Thy bestowals and the heights of Thy gifts, for all things besides Thee are poor before Thee and unto Thee, and whatsoever is other than Thee are Thy creatures and Thy servants before Thee. Grant unto me, O my God, and unto them that love me and them that are under my authority, whether of the past or yet to come until the Day of Resurrection, that which beseemeth the ascendancy of the sovereignty of Thy Self-Subsistence, and the inaccessibility of the kingdom of Thy Divine Unity, and the joy of the carpet of the glory of Thy Oneness. For Thy gifts have no equal, neither before nor after, and Thy bounties have no likeness, neither in the kingdom of command nor of creation.

Verily Thou art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing. Verily Thou art the Munificent, the Near One. Verily Thou art the Invincible, the All-Seeing. Verily Thou art the Bestower, the Most Generous. Verily Thou art the All-Merciful, the Most Kind. There is no power nor strength except through Thee, and Thou hast encompassed all things with Thy knowledge.