ha which
thou hast compiled. This is indeed very advisable. This service shall
cause thee to acquire an effulgent face in the Abha Kingdom, and shall
make thee the object of the praise and gratitude of the friends in the
East as well as in the West. But it is to be undertaken with the utmost
care, so that the exact text may be reproduced and will exclude all
deviations and corruptions committed by former translators.

190: THOU SEEST ME, O MY GOD, BOWED DOWN IN LOWLINESS, ...

Thou seest me, O my God, bowed down in lowliness, humbling myself before
Thy commandments, submitting to Thy sovereignty, trembling at the might of
Thy dominion, fleeing from Thy wrath, entreating Thy grace, relying upon
Thy forgiveness, shaking with awe at Thy fury. I implore Thee with a
throbbing heart, with streaming tears and a yearning soul, and in complete
detachment from all things, to make Thy lovers as rays of light across Thy
realms, and to aid Thy chosen servants to exalt Thy Word, that their faces
may turn beauteous and bright with splendour, that their hearts may be
filled with mysteries, and that every soul may lay down its burden of sin.
Guard them then from the aggressor, from him who hath become a shameless
and blasphemous doer of wrong.

Verily Thy lovers thirst, O my Lord; lead them to the wellspring of bounty
and grace. Verily, they hunger; send down unto them Thy heavenly table.
Verily, they are naked; robe them in the garments of learning and
knowledge.

Heroes are they, O my Lord, lead them to the field of battle. Guides are
they, make them to speak out with arguments and proofs. Ministering
servants are they, cause them to pass round the cup that brimmeth with the
wine of certitude. O my God, make them to be songsters that carol in fair
gardens, make them lions that couch in the thickets, whales that plunge in
the vasty deep.

Verily Thou art He of abounding grace. There is none other God save Thee,
the Mighty, the Powerful, the Ever-Bestowing.

O ye my spiritual friends! For some time now the pressures have been
severe, the restrictions as shackles of iron. This hapless wronged one was
left single and alone, for all the ways were barred. Friends were
forbidden access to me, the trusted were shut away, the foe compassed me
about, the evil watchers were fierce and bold. At every instant, fresh
affliction. At every breath, new anguish. Both kin and stranger on the
attack; indeed, one-time lovers, faithless and