-Glorious, Whose help is implored by all
men.

CXIV: "MINE EYES ARE CHEERED, O MY GOD, WHEN I CONTEMPLATE..."

Mine eyes are cheered, O my God, when I contemplate the tribulations that
descend upon me from the heaven of Thy decree, and which have encompassed
me on every side according to what Thy pen hath irrevocably established. I
swear by Thy Self! Whatsoever is of Thee is well pleasing unto me, though
it involve the bitterness of mine own death.

He Who was Thy Spirit (Jesus), O my God, withdrew all alone in the
darkness of the night preceding His last day on earth, and falling on His
face to the ground besought Thee saying: "If it be Thy will, O my Lord, my
Well-Beloved, let this cup, through Thy grace and bounty, pass from me."

By Thy beauty, O Thou Who art the Lord of all names and the Creator of the
heavens! I can smell the fragrance of the words which, in His love for
Thee, His lips have uttered, and can feel the glow of the fire that had
inflamed His soul in its longing to behold Thy face and in its yearning
after the Day-Spring of the light of Thy oneness, and the Dawning-Place of
Thy transcendent unity.

As to me--and to this Thou art Thyself my witness--I call upon Thee saying:
"I have no will of mine own, O my Lord, and my Master and my Ruler, before
the indications of Thy will, and can have no purpose in the face of the
revelation of Thy purpose. I swear by Thy glory! I wish only what Thou
wishest, and cherish only what Thou cherishest. What I have chosen for
myself is what Thou hast Thyself chosen for me, O Thou the Possessor of my
soul!" Nay, I find myself to be altogether nothing when face to face with
the manifold revelations of Thy names, how much less when confronted with
the effulgent splendors of the light of Thine own Self. O miserable me!
Were I to attempt merely to describe Thee, such an attempt would itself be
an evidence of my impiety, and would attest my heedlessness in the face of
the clear and resplendent tokens of Thy oneness. Who else except Thee can
claim to be worthy of any notice in the face of Thine own revelation, and
who is he that can be deemed sufficiently qualified to adequately praise
Thee, or to pride himself on having befittingly described Thy glory?
Nay--and to this Thou dost Thyself bear witness--it hath incontrovertibly
been made evident that Thou art the one God, the Incomparable, Whose help
is implored by all men. From everlasting Thou wert alone, with none