Prayers and Meditations of Baha’u’llah, http://www.bahai.org/r/684960567 XXXII:

Thou seest Thy dear One, O my God, lying at the mercy of Thine enemies, and hearest the voice of His lamentation from the midst of such of Thy creatures as have dealt wickedly in Thy sight.  He it is, O my Lord, through Whose name Thou didst beautify Thy Tablets, and for Whose greater glory Thou didst send down the Bayán, and at Whose separation from Thee Thou didst weep continually. Look Thou, then, upon His loneliness, O my God, and behold Him fallen into the hands of them that have disbelieved in Thy signs, have turned their backs upon Thee, and have forgotten the wonders of Thy mercy.

He it is, O my God, about Whom Thou hast said:

“But for Thee the Scriptures would have remained unrevealed, and the Prophets unsent.”

And no sooner had He, by Thy behest, been manifested and spoken forth Thy praise, than the wicked doers among Thy creatures compassed Him round, with the swords of hate drawn against Him, O Thou the Lord of all names! Thou well knowest what befell Him at the hands of such as have rent asunder the veil of Thy grandeur, and cast behind their backs Thy Covenant and Thy Testament, O Thou Who art the Maker of the heavens! He is the One for Whose sake Thou (the Báb) hast yielded Thy life, and hast consented to be touched by the manifold ills of the world that He may manifest Himself, and summoned all mankind in His name. As soon as He came down, however, from the
heaven of majesty and power, Thy servants stretched out against Him the hands of cruelty and sedition, and caused Him to be afflicted with such troubles that the scrolls of the world are insufficient to contain a full recital of them.

Thou seest, therefore, O Thou Beloved of the world, Him Who is dear to Thee in the clutches of such as have denied Thee, and beholdest Thy heart’s desire under the swords of the ungodly. Methinks He, from His most exalted station, saith unto me:

“Would that my soul, O Prisoner, could be a ransom for Thy captivity, and my being, O wronged One, be sacrificed for the adversities Thou didst suffer! Thou art He through Whose captivity the standards of Thine almighty power were hoisted, and the day-star of Thy revelation shone forth above the horizon of tribulation, in such wise that all created things bowed down before the greatness of Thy majesty.

“The more they strove to hinder Thee from remembering Thy God and from extolling His virtues, the more passionately didst Thou glorify Him and the more loudly didst Thou call upon Him. And every time the veils of the perverse came in between Thee and Thy servants, Thou didst shed the splendors of the light of Thy countenance out of the heaven of Thy grace. Thou art, in very truth, the Self-Subsisting as testified by the tongue of God, the All-Glorious, the one alone Beloved; and Thou art the Desire of the world as attested by what hath flowed down from the Pen of Him Who hath announced unto Thy servants Thy hidden Name, and adorned the entire creation with the ornament of Thy love, the Most Precious, the Most Exalted.

“The eyes of the world were gladdened at the sight of Thy luminous countenance, and yet the peoples have united to put out Thy light, O Thou in Whose hands are the reins of the worlds! All the atoms of the earth have celebrated Thy praise, and all created things have been set ablaze with the drops sprinkled by the ocean of Thy love, and yet the people still seek to quench Thy fire. Nay—and to this Thine own Self beareth me witness—they are all weakness,
and Thou, verily, art the All-Powerful; and they are but paupers and Thou, in truth, art the All-Possessing; and they are impotent and Thou art, truly, the Almighty. Naught can ever frustrate Thy purpose, neither can the dissensions of
the world harm Thee.  Through the breaths of Thine utterance the heaven of understanding hath been adorned, and by the effusions of Thy pen every moldering bone hath been quickened. Grieve not at what hath befallen Thee, neither do Thou lay hold on them for the things they have committed in Thy days. Do Thou be forbearing toward them. Thou art the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.”

 

 

 

(32)

تَرَى مَحْبُوبَكَ يا إِلهِي بَيْنَ أَيْدِي أَعْدائِكَ

Thou seest Thy dear One, O my God, lying at the mercy of Thine enemies,

 وَتَسْمَعُ حَنِينَهُ بَيْنَ أَشْقِياءِ خَلْقِكَ،

and
hearest the voice of His lamentation from the midst
of such of Thy creatures as have dealt

wickedly
in Thy sight.

 

أَيْ رَبِّ هذا لَهُوَ الَّذِيْ زَيَّنْتَ الأَلْواحَ بِاسْمِهِ

He
it is, O my Lord, through Whose name Thou didst
beautify Thy Tablets,

 

وَنَزَّلْتَ البَيانَ لِثَنائِهِ 

and
for Whose greater glory Thou didst send down the Bayán,

 

وَبَكِيتَ فِيْ كُلِّ الأَحْيانِ لِفِراقِهِ،

and
at Whose separation from Thee Thou didst weep continually.

 

إِذًا تَراهُ يا إِلهِي وَحْدَهُ بَيْنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآياتِكَ

Look
Thou, then, upon His loneliness, O my God, and behold Him fallen into the hands
of them that have disbelieved in Thy signs,

 

وَأَعْرَضُوا عَنْ حَضْرَتِكَ

have
turned their backs upon Thee,

 

وَغَفَلُوا عَنْ بَدَائِعِ رَحْمَتِكَ،

and
have forgotten the wonders of Thy mercy.

 

يا إِلهِي هذا هُوَ الَّذِيْ قُلْتَ

He
it is, O my God, about Whom Thou hast said:

 

فِيْ حَقِّهِ لَوْلاهُ مَا نُزِّلَتِ الكُتُبُ

“But for Thee the
Scriptures would have remained unrevealed,

 

وَما أُرْسِلَتِ الرُّسُلُ،

and
the Prophets unsent.”

 

فَلَمَّا ظَهَرَ بِأَمْرِكَ

And
no sooner had He, by Thy behest, been manifested

 

وَنَطَقَ بِثَنائِكَ

and
spoken forth Thy praise,

 

اجْتَمَعَ عَلَيْهِ أَشْرارُ خَلْقِكَ

than
the wicked doers among Thy creatures compassed Him round,

 

بِأَسْيافِ البَغْضآءِ

with
the swords of hate drawn against Him,

 

يا مالِكَ الأَسْمآءِ،

O
Thou the Lord of all names!

 

وَأَنْتَ تَعْلَمُ مَا وَرَدَ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الَّذِينَ هَتَكُوا سِتْرَ الكِبْرِياءِ

Thou
well knowest what befell Him at the hands of such as
have rent asunder the veil of Thy grandeur,

 

وَنَبَذُوا عَنْ وَرَائِهِمْ عَهْدَكَ وَمِيثاقَكَ يا فاطِرَ السَّمآءِ،

and
cast behind their backs Thy Covenant and Thy Testament, O Thou Who art the
Maker of the heavens!

 

وَهذا هُو الَّذِيْ أَنْفَقْتَ رُوحَكَ لِنَفْسِهِ

He
is the One for Whose sake Thou (the Báb) hast yielded Thy life,

 

وَقَبِلْتَ ضُرَّ العالَمِينَ لِظُهُورِهِ

and
hast consented to be touched by the manifold ills of the world that He may
manifest Himself,

 

وَنَادَيْتَ الْكُلَّ بِاسْمِهِ،

and
summoned all mankind in His name.

 

فَلَمَّا أَتَى مِنْ سَماءِ العَظَمَةِ وَالاقْتِدارِ

As
soon as He came down, however, from the heaven of majesty and power,

 

بَسَطَ عَلَيْهِ عِبادُكَ أَيادِيَ الظُّلْمِ وَالنِّفاقِ

Thy
servants stretched out against Him the hands of cruelty and sedition,

 

وَوَرَدَ عَلَيْهِ ما لا يَتِمُّ بِالأَوْراقِ،

and
caused Him to be afflicted with such troubles that the scrolls of the world are
insufficient to contain a full recital of them.

 

تَرَى يا مَحْبُوبَ الآفاقِ مَحْبُوبَكَ تَحْتَ مَخالِبِ المُنْكِرِينَ

Thou
seest, therefore, O Thou Beloved of the world, Him
Who is dear to Thee in the clutches of such as have denied Thee,

 

وَرَجآءَ قَلْبِكَ تَحْتَ سُيُوفِ الظَّالِمِينَ،

and
beholdest Thy heart’s desire under the swords of the
ungodly.

 

وَالآنَ يُخاطِبُنِي مِنْ أَعْلى المَقامِ

Methinks
He, from His most exalted station, saith unto me:

 

يا أَيُّها المَسْجُونُ نَفْسِي لِسَجْنِكَ الفِدَاءُ،

Would that my soul, O Prisoner, could be a ransom for Thy captivity,

 

يا أَيُّها المَظْلُومُ ذاتِي لِبَلائِكَ الفِداءُ،

and my being, O
wronged One, be sacrificed for the adversities Thou didst suffer!

 

أَنْتَ الَّذِيْ لِسَجْنِكَ ظَهَرَتْ أَعْلامُ قُدْرَتِكَ

Thou art He through Whose
captivity the standards of Thine
almighty power were hoisted,

 

وَأَشْرَقَتْ مِنْ أُفُقِ البَلآءِ شَمْسُ ظُهُورِكَ عَلَى شَأْنٍ خَضَعَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ لِعَظَمَتِكَ،

and the day-star of Thy revelation shone forth above the horizon of tribulation, in
such wise that all created things bowed down before the greatness of Thy majesty.

 

كُلَّما مُنِعْتَ عَنِ الذِّكْرِ وَالبَيانِ

“The
more they strove to hinder Thee
from remembering Thy
God and from extolling His virtues,

 

ازْدادَ ذِكْرُكَ وَارْتَفَعَ نِدائُكَ

the more passionately didst Thou glorify Him and the more loudly didst Thou call upon Him.

 

وَكُلَّما حالَتْ بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَ العِبادِ حُجُباتُ

And every time the veils of the perverse came in between Thee and Thy servants,

 

أَهْلِ العِنادِ أَشْرَقْتَ بِنُورِ وَجْهِكَ مِنْ أُفُقِ سَمآءِ فَضْلِكَ،

Thou didst shed the splendors
of the light of Thy
countenance out of the heaven of Thy grace.

 

أَنْتَ القَيُّومُ بِلِسانِ اللّهِ العَزِيزِ المَحْبُوبِ

Thou art, in very truth, the Self-Subsisting as
testified by the tongue of God, the All-Glorious, the one alone Beloved;

 

وَأَنْتَ المَقْصُودُ بِما جَرَى مِنْ القَلَمِ الَّذِيْ بَشَّرَ العِبادَ بِاسْمِكَ المَكْنُونِ

and Thou
art the Desire of the world as attested by what hath flowed down from the Pen
of Him Who hath announced unto Thy servants Thy hidden Name,

 

وَزَيَّنَ الإِبْداعَ بِطِرازِ حُبِّكَ العَزِيزِ المَنِيعِ،

and adorned the entire creation with the ornament of Thy love, the Most
Precious, the Most Exalted.

 

قَدْ قَرَّتْ عَيْنُ العالَمِ مِنْ طَلْعَتِكَ النَّوْرآءِ

“The
eyes of the world were gladdened at the sight of Thy luminous countenance,

 

وَلكِنَّ النَّاسَ اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَى إِطْفآءِ نُورِكَ

and yet the peoples have united to put out Thy light,

 

يا مَنْ بِيَدِكَ زِمامُ العالَمِينَ،

O Thou
in Whose hands are the reins of the worlds!

 

قَدْ نَطَقَتِ الذَّرَّاتُ بِثَنائِكَ

All the atoms of the earth have celebrated Thy praise,

 

وَاشْتَعَلَتِ الكائِناتُ مِنْ رَشَحاتِ بَحْرِ حُبِّكَ

and all created things have been set ablaze with the drops
sprinkled by the ocean of Thy
love,

 

وَلكِنَّ النَّاسَ أَرادُوا إِخْمادَ نَارِكَ،

and yet the people still seek to quench Thy fire.

 

لا وَنَفْسِكَ

Nay—and to this Thine own Self beareth me witness—

 

هُمُ العُجَزآءُ وَأَنْتَ القَدِيرُ

they are all weakness, and Thou, verily, art the All-Powerful;

 

وَهُمُ الفُقَرآءُ وَأَنْتَ الغَنِيُّ

and they are but paupers and Thou, in truth, art the All-Possessing;

 

 

وَهُمُ الضُّعَفآءُ وَأَنْتَ القَوِيُّ،

and they are impotent and Thou art, truly, the Almighty.

 

لا يَمْنَعُكَ عَمَّا أَرَدْتَهُ أَمْرٌ

Naught can ever frustrate Thy purpose,

 

وَلا يَضُرُّكَ نِفاقُ العالَمِينَ،

neither can the dissensions of the world harm Thee.

 

مِنْ نَفَحاتِ بَيانِكَ تَزَيَّنَ رِضْوانُ العرْفانِ

Through the breaths of Thine utterance the heaven of understanding hath
been adorned,

 

وَمِنْ رَشَحاتِ قَلَمِكَ اهْتَزَّ كُلُّ عَظْمٍ رَمِيمٍ،

and by the effusions of Thy pen every moldering bone hath been quickened.

 

لا تَحْزَنْ عَمَّا وَرَدَ عَلَيْكَ

Grieve not at what hath befallen Thee,

 

وَلا تأْخُذْهُمْ بِما ارْتَكبُوا فِيْ أَيَّامِكَ

neither do Thou
lay hold on them for the things they have committed in Thy days.

 

أَنِ
اصْبِرْ

Do Thou
be forbearing toward them.

 

إِنَّكَ
أَنْتَ
الغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.

Thou art the Ever-Forgiving,
the Most Compassionate.”