All hail to thee, thou messenger of God! My heart goes out to thee, and ye, who stand As mediators in the path of truth, Weigh well the good and evil of the heart. Prophet, my spirit is with rapture filled. Be gracious to me, listen to my cry, For when thou pleadest for sinners all the band Of followers pay their homage at thy feet. For in the bygone days there was revealed A rule of right and wrong, and in the scale Of justice all was cast. The world for thee Has hoped, O mediator, all the world. Become thou, then, a mediator for me, And make me with the peace of Eden blest. Why fear I when my guilt is infinite, If infinite the grace that thou canst give? For my infirmities are without bound, And in transgression am I swallowed up. My sins, my sins are multitudinous And I have failed to see the end of God. Now at thy footstool do I prostrate lie, I touch thy hands, I supplicate thy face, For if thy kindness will not intercede What is the intercession of this sigh? And if thy tenderness refuse support My soul must wander in the maze of grief, And yet I hope thy interceding prayer Will win some respite to my tortured soul; And I call myriad blessings on thy head And upon all who follow in thy train, On all who travel on the path of good; To all the leaders of the saintly band; On those the four elect ones, on all friends; On the primordial powers of either world. Upon the sovereign king of wisdom’s realm, On Ebubeker, who is lord of truth, Then upon him who is the one just lord, Omer, the noblest, purest among men; Next upon him, the Koran’s faithful scribe, Upon the lordly Osman, Haffan’s son; On Ali, friend of me and friend of all; To whom all realms of knowledge were revealed. Next on the pair, for whom my vision thirsts-- On Hassan and on Huscin, princes both, Noblest in purpose and in dignity; On Omar, Hamsa, Abbas, whom I greet, With myriad salutations, while I lay A thousand gratulations at their feet. VII WHAT WAS THE OCCASION OF THIS POEM AND THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE NARRATIVE