will rid me of
all save Thee, and draw me nigh unto Thyself. I beseech Thee, O my Lord,
by Thy name, which Thou hast made the king of names and the manifestation
of Thyself to all who are in heaven and on earth, to rend asunder the
veils that have intervened between me and my recognition of the
Dawning-Place of Thy signs and the Dayspring of Thy Revelation. Thou art,
verily, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Bounteous. Deprive me not,
O my Lord, of the fragrances of the Robe of Thy mercy in Thy days, and
write down for me that which Thou hast written down for Thy handmaidens
who have believed in Thee and in Thy signs, and have recognized Thee, and
set their hearts towards the horizon of Thy Cause. Thou art truly the Lord
of the worlds and of those who show mercy the Most Merciful. Assist me,
then, O my God, to remember Thee amongst Thy handmaidens, and to aid Thy
Cause in Thy lands. Accept, then, that which hath escaped me when the
light of Thy countenance shone forth. Thou, indeed, hast power over all
things. Glory be to Thee, O Thou in Whose hand is the kingdom of the
heavens and of the earth.

Nasiri'd-Din Shah

186 O King of the Earth! Hearken unto the call of this Vassal: Verily, I
am a Servant Who hath believed in God and in His signs, and have
sacrificed Myself in His path. Unto this bear witness the woes which now
beset Me, woes the like of which no man hath ever before sustained. My
Lord, the All-Knowing, testifieth to the truth of My words. I have
summoned the people unto none save God, thy Lord and the Lord of the
worlds, and have endured for love of Him such afflictions as the eye of
creation hath never beheld. To this testify those whom the veils of human
fancy have not deterred from turning unto the Most Sublime Vision, and,
beyond them, He with Whom is the knowledge of all things in the preserved
Tablet.

187 Whensoever the clouds of tribulation have rained down the darts of
affliction in the path of God, the Lord of all names, I have hastened to
meet them, as every fair-minded and discerning soul shall attest. How many
the nights which found the beasts of the field resting in their lairs, and
the birds of the air lying in their nests, while this Youth languished in
chains and fetters with none to aid or succour Him!

188 Call Thou to mind God's mercy unto Thee; how, when Thou wert
imprisoned with a number of other souls, He delivered Thee and aided Thee
with the hosts of the seen and th