Pure and sanctified art Thou, O my God! How can the pen move
and the ink flow after the breezes of loving-kindness have ceased, and the
signs of bounty have vanished, when the sun of abasement hath risen, and the
swords of calamity are drawn, when the heavens of sorrow have been upraised,
and the darts of affliction and the lances of vengeance have rained from the
clouds of power — in such wise that the signs of joy have departed from all
hearts, and the tokens of gladness have been erased from every horizon, the
gates of hope have been shut, the mercy of the supernal breeze hath ceased to
waft over the rose-garden of faithfulness, and the whirlwind of extinction hath
struck the tree of existence. The pen is groaning, and the ink bewaileth its plight,
and the tablet is awestruck at this cry. The mind is in turmoil from the taste
of this pain and sorrow, and the divine Nightingale calleth: “Alas! Alas! for
all that hath been made to appear”. And this, O my God, is from naught but Thy
hidden bounties.
- Baha’u’llah
(‘Additional Prayers Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Online Baha’i Reference
Library, Baha’i World Center)
