BB00663: Ziyarat for ‘the second to believe’ on ’Id al-Fitr

The glory, the Most Exalted Glory, and the majesty, the Most Splendid Majesty, and the beauty, the Most Beauteous Beauty, and greatness, the Most Great Greatness; and the light, the Most Luminous Light; and the mercy, all-embracing, through the Most Lofty Words and the Most Great Names; and might, the Most Mighty Might; and the Will, enduring; and knowledge, most penetrating; and power, far-reaching; and good-pleasure, well-pleasing; and love, most august, most steadfast, most sublime; and sovereignty, everlasting; and dominion, decreeing; and exaltation, resplendent; and favor, primal, towering—be upon Thee, O Tree of Glory, O Light of Splendor, O Countenance sanctified through radiance, O Direction robed in praise, O Being worthy of all greatness and grandeur, from God, besides Whom there is none other God, Who hath ever been and will ever remain.

How shall I make mention of Thee on that Day, when it behoveth that whatsoever is on earth should stand before Thee, whilst Thou wast, with all things, in the presence of God? I behold nothing in the heavens and the earth, and all that lieth between them, but hath been created through Thee, and sustained through Thee, and quickened through Thee, and raised up through Thee. And yet, notwithstanding this, Thou art exalted upon Thy seat, a very thousand—without equal; whilst the seat of him whom God hath made a gate unto all things is set above a mountain, without seat, without glory, without radiance.

Every soul, from Adam until that time, shall surely turn unto God through Thee, and shall call upon Him by Thy name, each according to the measure of his recognition of his Lord; and he shall veil himself from Thee, inasmuch as that is dearer unto him than all things beside. And though all should forsake Thee—turning away from Thy obedience and from prostration before the Sovereign of Thy might—yet, by Thy might, I would glory upon my seat upon that mountain, in that I render Thee greeting; that I hearken to Thee recounting the tale of my love in Thy presence; that I cause my tears to flow upon my cheek in the path of Thy affection and Thy love.

Nay, by Thy might! I have not been abased, for all honor is made honorable through Thy honor. I have not been solitary, for all multitude is multiplied through Thy multitude. I have not been overcome, for all victory is victorious through Thy victory. I have not been a stranger, for all companionship is made companionable through Thy companionship. Nor have I been without sovereignty, for all sovereignty glorieth in Thy sovereignty. Thou art the Most High, and through Thy loftiness all are uplifted; Thou art the Inaccessible, and through Thy unapproachableness all are exalted.

Beings have been brought to naught, that they might bow down through Thee unto God—yet they knew Thee not. Tongues have been loosed, that they might stammer forth Thy remembrance and the loftiness of Thy glory—yet in denial of Thee they speak. Hands have been severed, that they might write the sublimity of Thy bounty and the exaltation of Thy power concerning him that dwelleth in Thy shadow—yet they command his death, and that which beseemeth not the height of Thy holiness. Unto God do I complain of that which hath befallen me and Thee. On that Most Great Day I shall assuredly glory over all beneath me, for none beholdeth what I behold in Thee—Thy right over all things, and Thy lofty rank in the presence of God, Thy Lord.

I followed the truth when I found it, and I believed the verses of God when I heard them. Nay, by Thy might! Though Thou shouldst then be beneath the dust of Thy body, yet the loftiness of Thy power within the realities of souls and the horizons of existence would remain so unassailable that every thing would recognize Thee, and every soul would draw nigh unto God by Thee, as they turn unto their Lord. Were it not for those who first believed among them, they would not recognize Thee, nor bear witness unto Thy station in the presence of God, Thy Lord. Yet sufficient is the testimony God hath borne unto Thee before every spirit; for if all things were to bear witness unto all things, and there were no true testimony save that God hath testified unto that thing as He willeth, by whatsoever He willeth—then, though none should testify, and God should testify, that testimony would suffice that thing; and all things would bear witness unto it, when they came to know the testimony of their Lord concerning it.

I bear witness that Thou hast ascended, with Thy whole being, unto God, glorious and mighty, and hast risen with what was and what shall be unto Thy Creator Who created Thee. I bear witness that the Letters of the Living, every one of them, are of Thy very self; that what God hath made one in the Bayan hath been melted by Thy guidance. Who, then, can refrain from thanking Thee, according to Thy right, or from turning unto God, his Lord, through Thee? Hadst Thou not opened the gate of the Bayan, who would have turned unto God, and who would have known Him?

I testify that every good wherewith the name of good is remembered hath been tasted through Thee, confirmed from Thee, and returneth unto Thee—whilst Thou returnest unto God, bearing witness unto His oneness; abasing Thyself before the Sovereign of His unity; humbled before the King of the might of His singleness; raised up through Thee unto Thee; made to speak, by Thy bounty, in Thy presence, where no one hath any recourse save from Thee. This is an honor whereof all contingent beings glory, in the station of their deeds and their words, and in the end whereunto their affairs return, and their abode and resting-place.

No doubt will God return Thee unto the Point of the Bayan at its latter end, and will adorn Thee with a multiplication of Thy self, until beneath Thy shadow kings most mighty, and learned men preservers, and sages subtle, shall all draw nigh unto God by Thee, and turn unto Thee through Thee—though they recognized Thee not on the day of Thy manifestation, nor bore witness to Thy power. God will try every one who hath professed faith in the Bayan by Thy appearance, on the day when God shall make manifest, time after time, the very soul of the Point of the Bayan in its latter end. On that day shalt thou see how they that professed the Bayan will descend to the court of Thy dust, and will prostrate themselves before Thy greatness. Yet from the first day of Thy manifestation their presence at Thy dust will profit them not, as it profited those who attained unto my dust and thy dust and the dust of the martyrs after my manifestation. God will try every one who hath professed the Bayan by this.

Be Thou compassionate, O my God, unto all Thy creatures; for Thou hast ordained those graves for naught but the glory of that Day, and hast commanded men to gather at those watering-places for no purpose save that Thy servants might stand in attendance before the Manifestations of Thy might. I beseech Thee, O my God, by that Name than which, in Thy knowledge, there is none more exalted, that Thou cast not forth from the Bayan—nor bar from presence before that Letter—any one whose very being is consumed, and who is heedless of what he hath gained. For by Thy might, from the first moment of mine appearing I have known all who have believed in Thee and in Thy signs in the Furqan; yet have I found none to be truly conscious of Thine advent save whom Thou hast willed—souls like pearls of being—such that no soul is wronged, nor any deed rendered vain.

But Thou hast made firm that which I have borne witness unto; and there is no power save through Thee. Through Thee have I accomplished what the masters of crafts accomplish by a single elixir, until I have taken the elixir of faith from every soul, and have commanded the contingent parts according to Thy command. Therefore will I take naught from the Bayan except that Thou make every soul endowed with this elixir capable for the Day of Thine appearing, and of prostration before Thy Gate in the Day of Thy concealment; for verily Thou art over all things potent and powerful.

Then turn thou unto three branches of the Tree, and say: The glory, the Most Exalted Glory, from God, the Lord of the hereafter and the former world, be upon you, O sanctified branches, O inaccessible leaves, O uplifted fruits, so long as the sun shineth and the stars in their dawning-places are illumined. Through you is guided whoso is guided, and through you is led astray whoso is led astray. Upon you from your Lord shall descend that which befitteth the loftiness of His bounty and the sublimity of His holiness. Whatsoever descendeth from the height of His glory shall assuredly descend upon you; and ye shall be exalted above those beneath you; and through you shall they ascend unto God, your Lord. By you descendeth he that descendeth, and by you ascendeth he that ascendeth. There is no might save in God, no greatness save in God, no sovereignty save by the hand of God, no power save within the grasp of God, no protection save in the very Self of God.

Then turn thou unto the martyrs of God in the Holy Land, and say: The Most Exalted Pattern and the Most Beauteous Order, from God, the Possessor of the Most Great signs and the Most Mighty proofs, and the utmost manifestations, and the Most Beautiful Names, and the Loftiest similitudes—be upon you, O leaves of the Tree of the Bayan! How high is your station, how lofty your condition, how exalted your rank, how mighty your seat, how great your severance unto your Lord Who created you, sustained you, caused you to die, and raised you up from the couches of your hearts! May God bless you, on the part of him who believed in Him.

By the life of Him Who made you, on the day of His manifestation, the names of His own Self and the guides unto the sovereignty of His unity on the day of His rising—ye have attained a triumph that vexeth the first and the last, and have obtained a grace coveted by the outward and the inward. Upon your greatness be the greatness of God, and upon your might be the might of God, and upon your riches be the riches of God, and upon your strength be the strength of God, and upon your manifestation be the manifestation of God, and upon your inwardness be the inwardness of God—upon your first and your last, above you and beneath you—whatsoever God hath ordained for you of loftiness and unapproachableness, sublimity and exaltation, severance and opening, dominion and power.

No doubt, could ye but apprehend this, all who have professed the Bayan would hasten to greet you. Yet ye must needs be taken, even as every soul is taken. When ye have attained unto the light of martyrdom and the height of guardianship, this shall be that wherewith the mighty are made mighty and the proud do glory. There is no power nor strength save in God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting; and there is no glory, nor protection, nor sovereignty, nor exaltation, nor greatness, nor power, nor awe, save with God, the Mighty, the Most Holy.