e Single, the Incomparable, the
Ever-Abiding. Thou didst not take unto Thyself a partner in Thy dominion,
nor didst Thou choose a peer for Thyself upon earth. All created things
have borne witness unto that which the Tongue of Thy grandeur hath
testified ere their creation. Verily Thou art God; there is none other God
but Thee! From everlasting Thou wast sanctified from the mention of Thy
servants, and exalted above the description of Thy creatures. Thou
beholdest, O Lord, the ignorant seeking the ocean of Thy knowledge, the
sore athirst the living waters of Thine utterance, the abased the
tabernacle of Thy glory, the poor the treasury of Thy riches, the
suppliant the dawning-place of Thy wisdom, the weak the source of Thy
strength, the wretched the heaven of Thy bounty, the dumb the kingdom of
Thy mention.

"I testify, O my God, and my King, that Thou hast created me to remember
Thee, to glorify Thee, and to aid Thy Cause. And yet, I have aided Thine
enemies, who have broken Thy Covenant, who have cast away Thy Book,
disbelieved in Thee, and repudiated Thy signs. Alas, alas, for my
waywardness, and my shame, and my sinfulness, and my wrong-doing that have
withheld me from the depths of the ocean of Thy unity and from fathoming
the sea of Thy mercy. Wherefore, alas, alas! and again alas, alas! for my
wretchedness and the grievousness of my transgressions! Thou didst call me
into being, O my God, to exalt Thy Word, and to manifest Thy Cause. My
heedlessness, however, hath deterred me and compassed me about, in such
wise that I have arisen to blot out Thy signs, and to shed the blood of
Thy loved ones, and of the dawning-places of Thy signs, and of the
daysprings of Thy revelation, and of the repositories of Thy mysteries.

"O Lord, my Lord! and again, O Lord, my Lord! and yet again, O Lord, my
Lord! I bear witness that by reason of mine iniquity the fruits of the
tree of Thy justice have fallen, and through the fire of my rebelliousness
the hearts of such of Thy creatures as enjoy near access to Thee were
consumed, and the souls of the sincere among Thy servants have melted. O
wretched, wretched that I am! O the cruelties, the glaring cruelties, I
inflicted! Woe is me, woe is me, for my remoteness from Thee, and for my
waywardness, and mine ignorance, and my baseness, and my repudiation of
Thee, and my protests against Thee! How many the days during which Thou
didst bid Thy servants and Thy loved ones to protect me, whil