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
All majesty and glory, O my God, and all dominion and light and grandeur
and splendour be unto Thee. Thou bestowest sovereignty on whom Thou
willest and dost withhold it from whom Thou desirest. No God is there but
Thee, the All-Possessing, the Most Exalted. Thou art He Who createth from
naught the universe and all that dwell therein. There is nothing worthy of
Thee except Thyself, while all else but Thee are as outcasts in Thy holy
presence and are as nothing when compared to the glory of Thine Own Being.
Far be it from me to extol Thy virtues save by what Thou hast extolled
Thyself in Thy weighty Book where Thou sayest, ‘No vision taketh in Him
but He taketh in all vision. He is the Subtile, the All-Perceiving.’(79)
Glory be unto Thee, O my God, indeed no mind or vision, however keen or
discriminating, can ever grasp the nature of the most insignificant of Thy
signs. Verily Thou art God, no God is there besides Thee. I bear witness
that Thou Thyself alone art the sole expression of Thine attributes, that
the praise of no one besides Thee can ever attain to Thy holy court nor
can Thine attributes ever be fathomed by anyone other than Thyself.
Glory be unto Thee, Thou art exalted above the description of anyone save
Thyself, since it is beyond human conception to befittingly magnify Thy
virtues or to comprehend the inmost reality of Thine Essence. Far be it
from Thy glory that Thy creatures should describe Thee or that any one
besides Thyself should ever know Thee. I have known Thee, O my God, by
reason of Thy making Thyself known unto me, for hadst Thou not revealed
Thyself unto me, I would not have known Thee. I worship Thee by virtue of
Thy summoning me unto Thee, for had it not been for Thy summons I would
not have worshipped Thee. Lauded art Thou, O my God, my trespasses have
waxed mighty and my sins have assumed grievous proportions. How
disgraceful my plight will prove to be in Thy holy presence. I have failed
to know Thee to the extent Thou didst reveal Thyself unto me; I have
failed to worship Thee with a devotion worthy of Thy summons; I have
failed to obey Thee through not treading the path of Thy love in the
manner Thou didst inspire me.
Thy might beareth me witness, O my God, what befitteth Thee is far greater
and more exalted than any being could attempt to accomplish. Indeed
nothing can ever comprehend Thee as is worthy of Thee nor can any servile
creature worship Thee as beseemeth Thine adoration. So perfect and
comprehensive is Thy proof, O my God, that its inner essence transcendeth
the description of any soul and so abundant are the outpourings of Thy
gifts that no faculty can appraise their infinite range.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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