Yet what would profit oft-repeated prayer To one like me who stand aloof from God? If to the mosque I sometimes turn my way ’Tis only to behold the beauty there. I lift mine hands in prayer toward the place Where the fair women of the assembly sit. Oft at the Portal Beautiful I wait, To mask my sins by such religious guise. Sad is the plight in which I find myself; O Lord, forgive the evil I have done. For under thy control, O Lord most high, Are works of good and works of evil set. Were it obedient for a thousand years, The world could never see thee as thou art And sins committed for a thousand years Could not impair one jot thy worthiness. And I, who can do nothing of myself, How could I, Lord, obedient prove to thee Yet in thy unity do I believe, And with a heart sincere observe thy law. Show me the pathway of the unity, That in it I may lead myself aright. Grant that mine eyes may still reflect thy face; My heart receive the light thy knowledge yields. Leave not my soul in darkness absolute, But cast the light of grace upon my path. Drive from my breast the instincts that degrade, And fill it with the radiance of thy love. Oh, make mine eyes reflect thee constantly; My tongue forever speak of thee alone; My heart be filled with love of thee, and lit With all the splendor of thy unity. Let me behold thy secret state unveiled, And manifest to me thyself alone. For why should human glances seek the light And turn toward the countenance of God? Make me with wine of love inebriate, And of my nothingness, thy creature form. I call for the delirium of love; And naught but thee, Jehovah, do I seek. Therefore the name of God is on my lips; And still I cry, “There is no god but God.” I care not that my soul perdition see So long as I behold the great Amen. Grant only that my soul be filled with truth. And my heart led along the path of light. Sincerity my rule I do ordain, And gratitude the watchword of my life. Of secret falsehoods shall my heart beware; Of pride and rancor’s desolating flame. Oh, change my being; open wide to me, Poor as I am, the treasury of thy grace, And quench the flame of anger in my soul. Kill in me avarice, and concupiscence; Let pleasure never dominate my life, Nor chastity be wanting in my heart. Inflame me not with wrath’s pernicious fire, But quench it in the steady stream of thought. Send me not forth on paths of cruelty And give thy justice to direct the world. Make truthfulness my guardian; and let me see The dear Kaaba stone of my desire. Contentment be my storehouse as I haste Upon my journey to the wished-for land, And when the vision dawns upon my sight, Grant that I never more may leave thy law. Grant that my habits ne’er may master me,