d away from Thy beauty! I testify, O my God, that if I were given
a thousand lives by Thee, and offered them up all in Thy path, I would
still have failed to repay the least of the gifts which, by Thy grace,
Thou hast bestowed upon me.

I lay asleep on the bed of self when lo, Thou didst waken me with the
divine accents of Thy voice, and didst unveil to me Thy beauty, and didst
enable me to listen to Thine utterances, and to recognize Thy Self, and to
speak forth Thy praise, and to extol Thy virtues, and to be steadfast in
Thy love. Finally I fell a captive into the hands of the wayward among Thy
servants.

Thou beholdest, therefore, the exile which I suffer in Thy days, and art
aware of my vehement longing to look upon Thy face, and of mine
irrepressible yearnings to enter the court of Thy glory, and of the
stirrings of my heart under the influences of the winds of Thy mercy.

I entreat Thee, O Thou Who art the Ruler of the kingdoms of creation and
the Author of all names, to write down my name with the names of them who,
from eternity, have circled round the Tabernacle of Thy majesty, and clung
to the hem of Thy loving-kindness, and held fast the cord of Thy tender
mercy.

Thou art, in truth, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

XIX: "PRAISED BE THOU, O LORD MY GOD! I IMPLORE THEE,..."

Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! I implore Thee, by Thy Most Great Name
through Which Thou didst stir up Thy servants and build up Thy cities, and
by Thy most excellent titles, and Thy most august attributes, to assist
Thy people to turn in the direction of Thy manifold bounties, and set
their faces towards the Tabernacle of Thy wisdom. Heal Thou the sicknesses
that have assailed the souls on every side, and have deterred them from
directing their gaze towards the Paradise that lieth in the shelter of Thy
shadowing Name, which Thou didst ordain to be the King of all names unto
all who are in heaven and all who are on earth. Potent art Thou to do as
pleaseth Thee. In Thy hands is the empire of all names. There is none
other God but Thee, the Mighty, the Wise.

I am but a poor creature, O my Lord; I have clung to the hem of Thy
riches. I am sore sick; I have held fast the cord of Thy healing. Deliver
me from the ills that have encircled me, and wash me thoroughly with the
waters of Thy graciousness and mercy, and attire me with the raiment of
wholesomeness, through Thy forgiveness and bounty. Fix, then, mine eyes
upon