BB00223: Ziyarat for the first [to believe]

The First Visitation Prayer, upon him be the Glory of God

In the Name of God, the Most Luminous, the Most Luminous

The Glory from God be upon His Most Luminous Light and upon those who resemble that Light among His Most Manifest, Most Manifest Guides. I testify that God, glorified be He, has ever been from time immemorial and will ever be as He has been. His are the most beautiful names, from before and after, and the most exalted similitudes in the kingdom of the heavens and earth. There is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Beloved.

God created naught in His Most Exalted Paradise except that He created in relation to it religion, and all its particular aspects are manifestations of the Mighty One in the Divine Garden, and all its joyous aspects are manifestations of Glory in Paradise. Therefore, remember what was ordained in that religion in the days of the appearance of the Eternal Dawn and the Ancient Dayspring. Verily, the greatest of what transpired was first what was ordained for Him, then for the First Living One, then for His guides, as mentioned in the Book.

Therefore, remember what was ordained for that Living One and for the First One to whom God revealed Himself, for that Living Spirit in those Primary Letters. Those Divine Letters have acquired the glory of God, exalted be His glory, and have been clothed in the majesty of God, exalted be His majesty, and have been adorned with the beauty of God, exalted be His beauty, and have been magnified by the grandeur of God, exalted be His grandeur, and have been illumined by the light of God, exalted be His light, and have been elevated by the sovereignty of God, exalted be His sovereignty, and have been exalted by the loftiness of God, exalted be His loftiness, and have been made impregnable by the impregnability of God, exalted be His impregnability, and have been strengthened by the might of God, exalted be His might, and have been raised by the transcendence of God, exalted be His transcendence, and have been endowed with the knowledge of God, exalted be His authority, and have been empowered by the power of God, exalted be His power, and have been blessed with the good-pleasure of God, exalted be His good-pleasure, and have been ennobled by the nobility of God, exalted be His glory, and have been invested with the dominion of God, exalted be His dominion, and have been granted the sovereignty of God, exalted be His sovereignty.

When thou desirest to present thyself before that Unity, begin with the remembrance of God and His praise in such wise that shouldst thou attain unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, exalted be His proof, thou shalt not be veiled by the Most Exalted One from those Most Exalted Letters, for all that is in the heavens and earth and what lies between them shall come before Him on the Day of Resurrection as servants. Thereafter, seek permission at the gates of that House, then enter by God’s leave and say before the Letter Sin or whomsoever thou willest:

The Glory be upon thee, O Essence of God! Then the Majesty be upon thee, O Camphor of God! Then the Beauty be upon thee, O Soul of God! Then the Grandeur be upon thee, O Being of God! Then the Light be upon thee, O Entity of God! Thou hast been raised up and there is none above thee in elevation, then thou hast descended and there is none like thee in humility. How lofty is thy station and how glorious thy rank, wherein God hath honored thee with faith in the Manifestation of His Self before all things and hath created in thee the word of the Covenant before all things. Through thee hath God opened the gates of the Bayan and created the essences of Paradise. There is no right after God like thy right over all who dwell in the kingdom of the heavens and earth and what lies between them.

Thou hast been exalted until thou hast been invested with the mantles of Primal Unity from the Dawning-Place of the Sun of Primality. Therefore, all glorify through thee, all sanctify through thee, all unite through thee, all magnify through thee. Thou wert never abased, as God hath ever been thy strengthener, nor wert thou ever vanquished, as God hath ever been thy victor. May God, exalted be His glory, be pleased with thy good-pleasure and send down His vengeance upon those who are not pleased with the exaltation of thy power. What heart does not grieve for thee, when thou hast glorified God in words both outwardly and inwardly? What soul does not sorrow for thee, when thou hast praised God openly while standing? What being does not mourn for thee, when thou hast unified God manifestly and supremely? What body’s tears do not flow from its eyes upon its cheeks, when thou hast magnified God thy Lord openly and loftily? Thou didst worship God thy Lord after witnessing the veiling of all His creation, and thou didst desire the exaltation of thy Creator’s mention after witnessing all being extinguished therein.

How exalted is thy right over those in the Bayan, and how lofty thy station in that Paradise! None hath believed in God, nor in the Letters of the Seven, except that he acknowledged thy right therein and thy response to thy Lord’s command before all souls in His presence. Thou didst take the maidens of the gardens of unity before any heaven or earth or aught between them was created, and thou didst ascend unto God and dwell with Him when none but thee existed before God in prostration. God hath ever loved those who grieve for thee, and God hath ever loved those who exalt thy mention, and God hath ever loved those who acknowledge thy right, and God hath ever loved those who appear before thee, and God hath ever loved those who invoke blessings upon thee, and God hath ever loved those who take vengeance on such as are veiled from thee and curse those who are proud before thee.

The heavens and the earth and all between them wept at the loftiness of thy affliction, and the kingdom on high unto the lowest atom grieved at the sublimity of thy calamity. Thou didst love God thy Lord with a response resplendent, majestic, beauteous, magnificent, luminous, great, mighty, exalted, sovereign, powerful, well-pleased, noble, loving, manifest, hidden, transcendent, impregnable and unconquerable—a response that filled the highest heavens with the words “there is no God but God,” and the lowest earths with the words “there is no God but God,” and all below them with the words “there is no God but God,” and all above them with the words “there is no God but God,” and all beneath them with the words “there is no God but God.” How glorious art thou as a Gate towering and lofty! How exalted art thou as a Book sublime and impregnable!

How many servants in Islam were strengthened by thy might and entered God’s religion through the grace of thy manifestation before thy throne of glory, yet all became distant from thy presence when thou didst appear before God thy Creator. Nay, by thy glory, all they comprehended of God’s religion before did not equal thy response. Yea, in that Manifestation, while this endureth until the Day of Resurrection, this one, if he entereth not herein, perisheth and hath neither highest station nor mightiest seat. Thou didst attain until thou reached the throne on high and drew nigh, thou didst arrive at the distance of two bow-lengths or closer, when thou didst not comprehend in the latter life greater than what thou didst comprehend in the former life, for thy delivery of thy Lord’s message in those numbered days was greater than what thou hadst delivered before.

Upon thee be from God, exalted be His glory, then from the Point of Reality, then from thyself, then from the Letters who were guided by thy guidance, then from all who enter that religion until the Day of Resurrection, that which befitteth the loftiness of God’s grace in thee and the sublimity of God’s bounty with thee. Then upon thee and upon those martyred in thy path and those who joined thee in the highest pavilion of Paradise that which should descend from God, the One, the Bestower. Verily He is the Single, the Supreme, the Transcendent, the All-Glorious.