Thy Sovereign Name: then
increase its light by the oil of Thy wisdom: verily Thou art Potent over
whomsoever is in Thy earth and Thy heaven.

"O Lord, I ask of Thee by the Supreme Word, whereat whosoever is in the
earth and the heaven feareth save him who taketh hold of the 'Most Firm
Handle,'(42) that Thou wilt not abandon Me amongst Thy creatures: lift Me
up unto Thee, and make Me to enter in under the shadow of Thy mercy, and
give Me to drink of the pure wine of Thy grace, that I may dwell under the
canopy of Thy glory and the domes of Thy favors: verily Thou art powerful
unto that Thou wishest, and verily Thou art the Protecting, the
Self-Sufficing.

"O King! The lamps of justice are extinguished, and the fire of
persecution is kindled on all sides, until that they have made My people
captives. This is not the first honor which hath been violated in the way
of God. It behooveth everyone to regard and recall what befell the kindred
of the Prophet until that the people made them captives and brought them
in unto Damascus the spacious; and amongst them was the Prince of
Worshipers, the Stay of the elect, the Sanctuary of the eager (the soul of
all beside him be his sacrifice). It was said unto them, 'Are ye
seceders?' He said, 'No, by God, we are servants who have believed in God
and in His signs, and through us the teeth of faith are disclosed in a
smile, and the sign of the Merciful One shineth forth; through our mention
spreadeth Al-Batha,(43) and the darkness which intervened between earth
and heaven is dispelled.' It was said, 'Have ye forbidden what God hath
sanctioned, or sanctioned what God hath forbidden?' He said, 'We were the
first who followed the commandments of God: we are the source of command
and its origin, and the firstfruits of all good and its consummation: we
are the sign of the Eternal, and His commemoration amongst the nations.'
It was said, 'Have ye abandoned the Qur'an?' He said, 'Through us did the
Merciful One reveal it; and we are gales of the All-Glorious amidst [His]
creatures; we are streams which have arisen from the most mighty Ocean
whereby God revived the earth after its death; from us His signs are
diffused, His evidences are manifested, and His tokens appear; and with us
are His mysteries and His secrets.' It was said, 'For what fault [then]
were ye afflicted?' He said, 'For the love of God and our severance from
all beside Him.'

"Verily We have not repeated his expressions (upon