BB00199: Ziyarat for the first and last to believe, on Friday

The Visitation of the First and the Last unto the Presence of the One, the Incomparable—His Holiness ʿAlí-Muhammad, the Teacher

In the Name of God, the Most Inaccessible, the Most Holy.

I bear witness, O my God, on this Friday, unto the perfection of all things and that Thou art God, and that there is none other God but Thee, alone without partner, and that what Thou hast revealed in the Bayan is Thy proof unto Thy creation, and that those Seven Letters are Thy servant and Thy Gate, and that the Letters of the Living are Thy Names and Thy Proofs, and that whosoever hath believed in Thee and in Thy verses is a leaf from the tree of Thy love, and whosoever hath not believed in Thee nor in Thy verses is a leaf from the tree of fire. I seek refuge in Thee from it and from all that pertaineth unto it. Preserve me through Thy power, Thy might, Thy grandeur, Thy sovereignty, Thy dominion, Thy self-subsistence, Thy majesty, and Thy glory from all that is not of Thee.

I bear witness, and all things bear witness, that all things are Thy creation and within Thy grasp. Thine is the might and the majesty, Thine the greatness and the beauty, Thine the power and the independence, Thine the strength and the action, Thine the dominion and justice, Thine the similitude and the examples, Thine the mercy and bounty, Thine the glory and the exaltation, Thine the gift and the bestowal, Thine the might and the invincibility, Thine the victory and the triumph, Thine the power and the ascendancy, Thine the joy and the gladness, Thine the love and detachment, Thine the grandeur and the majesty, Thine the kingdom and the realm, Thine the glory and the might, Thine the power and the divinity, Thine the strength and the ruby, Thine the sovereignty and the human realm, Thine all that is seen and unseen from the highest heights to the lowliest atom.

I am assured that every object of worship besides Thee is null, all besides Thee perisheth and changeth, and every goal save Thee fadeth away. Wherefore, O my God, send down at this moment upon the first to believe in Thy Gate and upon the last to seek Thee through Thy verses, and upon all who were martyred between them among Thy Prophets, Thy chosen ones, Thy witnesses and Thy loved ones, from every most resplendent glory, from every most sublime majesty, from every most beauteous beauty, from every most magnificent grandeur, from every most brilliant light, from every most abundant mercy, from every most perfect word, from every most noble name, from every most mighty might, from every most efficacious will, from every most victorious knowledge, from every most powerful power, from every most pleasing utterance, from every most attractive love, from every most enduring sovereignty, from every most excellent exaltation, from every most elevated height, and from all that Thou lovest that hath no equal, no likeness, no peer, no similitude, no associate and no example.

Thou hast ever existed from all eternity, and wilt ever remain the Eternal, the Unique, without movement or transfer. Thou art the One Who existed before all things in independence, and Who bringeth all things into being through exaltation, and Who remaineth after the passing of all things in invincibility, Who existeth in the sublimity of holiness and majesty, and in the sovereignty of glory and beauty. All things forever bow down before Thee to the utmost of their capacity and seek Thy good-pleasure to the fullest extent of their station, for the promise of Thy Lord is too exalted to be likened unto aught else when it attaineth unto Thy love.

Yet I observe that if there be anyone from among the people of Thy wondrous creation who remaineth steadfast in his religion and boweth not down before Thee according to what Thou hast subsequently revealed of religions and sent down in the Bayan, but rather prostrateth himself before Thee according to what Thou didst create for him within his limitations and seeketh to draw nigh unto Thee through what Thou hast ordained for him in Thy religion—though this would not be, for one who hath not entered beneath the shadow of that Manifestation hath no worth—I would say this is one who prostrateth himself before Thee in this Revelation, for in every Revelation all the essences of Thy creation are Thy worshippers, Thy servants, Thy devoted ones, Thy channels, Thy faithful ones, and Thy visitors.

Thus it behooveth to be, else they enter not the arena of them that are nigh, and glorify Thee with the angels on high who praise Thee night and day and never cease. Then the veil is not lifted from the countenance of that soul’s heart; else, by Thy glory, he would become the most prostrating of them that prostrate when he knoweth Thee, and the most worshipful of them that worship when he findeth Thee. Is he distracted by aught wherein is not Thy love, or by aught that loveth not to prostrate before Thee? Glory be unto Thee! Were this so, that soul would not have prostrated in Adam’s religion. Rather, according to his knowledge doth he prostrate before Thee, except that veils have come between Thee and him. Indeed, he hath supposed Thy good-pleasure to lie in his standing still, and worship of Thee in his being veiled. Else, glory be unto Thee and exalted art Thou!

All shall worship Thee according to their capacity, all shall prostrate before Thee according to their capacity, all shall glorify Thee according to their capacity, all shall thank Thee according to their capacity, and all shall remember Thee according to their capacity.

Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee. I shall glorify Thee above all that contingent beings have glorified or shall glorify, and I shall sanctify Thee beyond all that existent things have sanctified or shall sanctify, and I shall exalt Thee above all that created things have called upon or shall call upon in unity, and I shall magnify Thee above all that atoms have magnified or shall magnify. Thou art the Most High and there is naught above Thee, Thou art the Most Exalted and there is naught beneath Thee. I shall testify that all besides Thee is created and within Thy grasp, and none hath anything save through Thy Will.

O God! Bestow all Thy goodness upon them that have entered the Bayan, and send down, O Lord, the hosts of Thy victory upon the letters of Thy Name, the Most Merciful. Seize, O God, by all Thy might and power, them that prostrate not before Thee and believe not in Thy signs. Verily, Thou art the Most Compelling of them that compel, the Most Powerful of them that are powerful, the Most Severe of them that are severe, the Most Forceful of them that are forceful, the Most Manifest of them that are manifest, the Most Invincible of them that are invincible, and the Most Sovereign of them that are sovereign.

O God! Do Thou establish the Tree of Thy affirmation and cause to perish whosoever entereth not beneath the Tree of Thy affirmation. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things. There is no power nor strength save in God, the Most High, the Most Great.

Verily the Glory is from the Glory of God, the Most Glorious, and Paradise is from the Majesty of God, the Most Majestic, and Beauty is from the Beauty of God, the Most Beautiful, and Grandeur is from the Grandeur of God, the Most Grand, and Light is from the Light of God, the Most Luminous, and Mercy is from the Mercy of God, the Most Merciful, and Words are from the Words of God, the Most Perfect, and Might is from the Might of God, the Most Mighty, and Names are from the Names of God, the Most Great, and Will is from the Will of God, the Most Decisive, and Knowledge is from the Knowledge of God, the Most Penetrating, and Power is from the Power of God, the Most Extensive, and Love is from the Love of God, the Most Loving, and Sovereignty is from the Sovereignty of God, the Most Enduring, and Dominion is from the Dominion of God, the Most Glorious, and Loftiness is from the Loftiness of God, the Most High, and all things are from the Essence of all things, the Most Exalted.

Upon Thee, O Thou Sublime and Impregnable Glory, and upon them that are beneath Thy shade! Then upon Thee, O Thou Sublime and Lofty Excellence, and upon them that are beneath Thy shade! Verily, the heavens and the earth and all that is between them grieve for your affliction and the affliction of them that are beneath your shade. How great, how majestic, how mighty, how luminous, and how glorious it is, that every possessor of glory weepeth over you both, and every possessor of loftiness grieveth before you both. And verily all that existeth besides God hath been created.

For God hath, through your light, created and through your remembrance, exalted that which beseemeth, from God and from those who dwell beneath your shadow, and from all who have believed in God and His signs, the loftiness of God’s bestowal upon you both and the sublimity of His gift unto you. God hath given you that which is envied by those who were before and those who shall come after, by those who are manifest and those who are hidden, and this because ye have detached yourselves unto God and have prostrated yourselves at the Gate in prostration before God, your Lord, the Lord of the heavens and of the earth and of whatsoever is between them. Ye have professed the unity of God, exalted be His glory, by your words, your hands, your souls and whatsoever is related unto you.

Such is the state of him who hath known God, then worshipped Him, who hath glorified God, then proclaimed His oneness. The angels of Paradise have ever descended from the most exalted heights unto your court, and through you have drawn nigh unto God, your Lord. Therefore, upon you, and upon you, O ye hearts that glorify, O ye sanctified spirits, O ye souls that are enthralled, O ye bodies that are purified, O ye faces that beam with light, until such time as God shall cause you to return unto the Manifestation of Him Whom God shall make manifest on the Day of Resurrection, when ye shall, on that Day, circle round about Him. There is no power nor strength except in God, the Most High, the Most Great.