overtake me in Thy path. My grief is rather because Thou delayest to
fulfill what Thou hast determined in the Tablets of Thy Revelation, and
ordained in the books of Thy decree and judgment.

My blood, at all times, addresseth me saying: “O Thou Who art the Image of
the Most Merciful! How long will it be ere Thou riddest me of the
captivity of this world, and deliverest me from the bondage of this life?
Didst Thou not promise me that Thou shalt dye the earth with me, and
sprinkle me on the faces of the inmates of Thy Paradise?” To this I make
reply: “Be thou patient and quiet thyself. The things thou desirest can
last but an hour. As to me, however, I quaff continually in the path of
God the cup of His decree, and wish not that the ruling of His will should
cease to operate, or that the woes I suffer for the sake of my Lord, the
Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, should be ended. Seek thou my wish and
forsake thine own. Thy bondage is not for my protection, but to enable me
to sustain successive tribulations, and to prepare me for the trials that
must needs repeatedly assail me. Perish that lover who discerneth between
the pleasant and the poisonous in his love for his beloved! Be thou
satisfied with what God hath destined for thee. He, verily, ruleth over
thee as He willeth and pleaseth. No God is there but Him, the
Inaccessible, the Most High.”





IX: “MAGNIFIED BE THY NAME, O LORD MY GOD! I KNOW...”


Magnified be Thy name, O Lord my God! I know not what the water is with