Selections From the Writings of the BábBab, ʻAli Muhammad Shirazi
Religion
Selections From the Writings of the Báb
Bab, ʻAli Muhammad Shirazi
Babism; Bahai Faith
Far be it from the sublimity of Thy Being, O my God, that anyone seek Thy
loving-kindness or favour. Far be it from Thy transcendent glory that
anyone entreat Thee for the evidences of Thy bestowals and tender mercy.
Too high art Thou for any soul to beseech the revelation of Thy gracious
providence and loving care, and too sanctified is Thy glory for anyone to
beg of Thee the outpourings of Thy blessings and of Thy heavenly bounty
and grace. Throughout Thy kingdom of heaven and earth, which is endowed
with manifold bounties, Thou art immeasurably glorified above aught
whereunto any identity could be ascribed.
All that I beg of Thee, O my God, is to enable me, ere my soul departeth
from my body, to attain Thy good-pleasure, even were it granted to me for
a moment tinier than the infinitesimal fraction of a mustard seed. For if
it departeth while Thou art pleased with me, then I shall be free from
every concern or anxiety; but if it abandoneth me while Thou art
displeased with me, then, even had I wrought every good deed, none would
be of any avail, and had I earned every honour and glory, none would serve
to exalt me.
I earnestly beseech Thee then, O my God, to graciously bestow Thy
good-pleasure upon me when Thou dost cause me to ascend unto Thee and make
me appear before Thy holy presence, inasmuch as Thou hast, from
everlasting, been the God of immense bounty unto the people of Thy realm,
and the Lord of most excellent gifts to all that dwell in the exalted
heaven of Thine omnipotence.
“How numerous the souls raised to life who were exposed ...”
How numerous the souls raised to life who were exposed to dire humiliation
in Thy Path for exalting Thy Word and for glorifying Thy divine Unity! How
profuse the blood that hath been shed for the sake of Thy Faith to
vindicate the authenticity of Thy divine Mission and to celebrate Thy
praise! How vast the possessions that were wrongfully seized in the Path
of Thy love in order to affirm the loftiness of Thy sanctity and to extol
Thy glorious Name! How many the feet that have trodden upon the dust in
order to magnify Thy holy Word and to extol Thy glory! How innumerable the
voices that were raised in lamentation, the hearts that were struck with
terror, the grievous woes that none other than Thee can reckon, and the
adversities and afflictions that remain inscrutable to anyone except
Thyself; all this to establish, O my God, the loftiness of Thy sanctity
and to demonstrate the transcendent character of Thy glory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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