and Thou wouldst behold me in the condition in
which Thou didst behold such of Thy servants as have drawn nigh unto Thee,
and those of Thy righteous creatures as have been chosen by Thee!

I give Thee thanks, O my God, that Thou hast decided through the power of
Thy decree, and wilt continue to decide through Thine irrevocable
appointment and purpose. I entreat Thee, O my Beloved, by Thy Name through
which Thou didst lift up the ensigns of Thy Cause, and shed the splendors
of the light of Thy countenance, to send down upon me and upon such of Thy
servants as are wholly devoted to Thee all the good Thou hast ordained in
Thy Tablets. Establish us, then, upon the seats of truth in Thy presence,
O Thou in Whose hands is the kingdom of all things!

Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Most Merciful.

CLXXX: "THE PRAISE WHICH HATH DAWNED FROM THY MOST..."

The praise which hath dawned from Thy most august Self, and the glory
which hath shone forth from Thy most effulgent Beauty, rest upon Thee, O
Thou Who art the Manifestation of Grandeur, and the King of Eternity, and
the Lord of all who are in heaven and on earth! I testify that through
Thee the sovereignty of God and His dominion, and the majesty of God and
His grandeur, were revealed, and the Day-Stars of ancient splendor have
shed their radiance in the heaven of Thine irrevocable decree, and the
Beauty of the Unseen hath shone forth above the horizon of creation. I
testify, moreover, that with but a movement of Thy Pen Thine injunction
"Be Thou" hath been enforced, and God's hidden Secret hath been divulged,
and all created things have been called into being, and all the
Revelations have been sent down.

I bear witness, moreover, that through Thy beauty the beauty of the Adored
One hath been unveiled, and through Thy face the face of the Desired One
hath shone forth, and that through a word from Thee Thou hast decided
between all created things, causing them who are devoted to Thee to ascend
unto the summit of glory, and the infidels to fall into the lowest abyss.

I bear witness that he who hath known Thee hath known God, and he who hath
attained unto Thy presence hath attained unto the presence of God. Great,
therefore, is the blessedness of him who hath believed in Thee, and in Thy
signs, and hath humbled himself before Thy sovereignty, and hath been
honored with meeting Thee, and hath attained the good pleasure of Thy
will, and circled