X. The “splendors of the sun” of Baha’u’llah’s “beauty and the beams of the brightness of” His “face”

Withhold not from me, O my Lord, the things Thou didst ordain for such of Thy handmaidens as circle around Thee, and on whom are poured continually the splendors of the sun of Thy beauty and the beams of the brightness of Thy face. Thou art He Who from everlasting hath succored whosoever hath sought Thee, and bountifully favored him who hath asked Thee.

- Baha'u'llah

X. To become purified of all that is not of the Manifestation of God so that one would become “worthy to praise” and “fit to love” Him

I beseech Thee, by the wrong Thou hast suffered and the ills inflicted upon Thee by the hosts of wrongful doers, to send down upon me from the clouds of Thy mercy that which will purify me of all that is not of Thee, that I may be worthy to praise Thee and fit to love Thee. 

- Baha’u’llah

X. The relationship between a human being and the Spirit of the Manifestation of God

O Thou Whose face is the object of the adoration of all that yearn after Thee, Whose presence is the hope of such as are wholly devoted to Thy will, Whose nearness is the desire of all that have drawn nigh unto Thy court, Whose countenance is the companion of those who have recognized Thy truth, Whose name is the mover of the souls that long to behold Thy face, Whose voice is the true life of Thy lovers, the words of Whose mouth are as the waters of life unto all who are in heaven and on earth!

- Baha'u'llah

IX. Baha’u’llah’s loving concerns for those believers whose hearts are “sorely shaken” by the difficulties He was experiencing

I implore Thee, by Thy Most Great Name, and Thy most ancient sovereignty, to look upon Thy loved ones whose hearts have been sorely shaken by reason of the troubles that have touched Him Who is the Manifestation of Thine own Self. Powerful art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou art, verily, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

- Baha'u'llah

IX. The effect of attacks on the Manifestation of God

Behold, then, O my God, how Thy Light hath been compassed with the onrushing winds of Thy decree, how the tempests that blow and beat upon it from every side have added to its brightness and increased its splendor. For all this let Thee be praised.

- Baha'u'llah

IX. The composition of the Manifestation of God

Magnified be Thy name, O Lord my God! I know not what the water is with which Thou hast created me, or what the fire Thou hast kindled within me, or the clay wherewith Thou hast kneaded me. The restlessness of every sea hath been stilled, but not the restlessness of this Ocean which moveth at the bidding of the winds of Thy will. The flame of every fire hath been extinguished except the Flame which the hands of Thine omnipotence have kindled, and whose radiance Thou hast, by the power of Thy name, shed abroad before all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth. As the tribulations deepen, it waxeth hotter and hotter.
- Baha'u'llah

VIII. Dialogue between Baha’u’llah and His Spirit

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.”

- Baha'u'llah

VIII. Baha’u’llah embodies “the Image of the Most Merciful”

My blood, at all times, addresseth me saying: “O Thou Who art the Image of the Most Merciful!

- Baha'u'llah

VIII. Baha’u’llah grieves over the fact that God is delaying to fulfil what He has determined in His Tablets

I know not, O my God, for what purpose Thou hast abandoned me to Thine adversaries. Thy glory beareth me witness! I sorrow not for the vexations I endure for love of Thee, nor feel perturbed by the calamities that 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.

- Baha'u'llah

VIII. “No pen can recount… nor can any tongue describe or number” Baha’u’llah’s afflictions

Glorified be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou beholdest my dwelling-place, and the prison into which I am cast, and the woes I suffer. By Thy might! No pen can recount them, nor can any tongue describe or number them.

- Baha'u'llah

VII. Need God’s assistance to obey Him and keep His teachings

Assist me and assist them, O my Lord, to obey Thee and to keep Thy precepts. Thou, verily, hast power to do what Thou choosest. 

- Baha'u'llah

VII. To observe the Fast “wholly” for Baha’u’llah’s sake and detached “from all things“ but Him

These are, O my Lord, the days in which Thou hast bidden Thy servants to observe the fast. Blessed is he that observeth the fast wholly for Thy sake and with absolute detachment from all things except Thee.

- Baha'u'llah

VII. God has ordained a “Hidden Gift” for “the choicest”

I am the one, O my Lord, who hath held fast the cord of Thy loving-kindness, and clung to the hem of Thy mercy and favors. Do Thou ordain for me and for my loved ones the good of this world and of the world to come. Supply them, then, with the Hidden Gift Thou didst ordain for the choicest among Thy creatures.

- Baha'u'llah

VII. Need God’s assistance to “wash… the stain of…doubts”

…send down upon me and upon them who are in my company that which will… wash us from the stain of such doubts as have hindered the suspicious from entering into the tabernacle of Thy unity. 

- Baha’u’llah

VII. To “soar into the heavens” of God’s “transcendent glory”

…send down upon me and upon them who are in my company that which will enable us to soar into the heavens of Thy transcendent glory, and will wash us from the stain of such doubts as have hindered the suspicious from entering into the tabernacle of Thy unity.

-Baha'u'llah  

VII. Features of Baha’u’llah’s Revelation

Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! I beseech Thee by this Revelation whereby darkness hath been turned into light, through which the Frequented Fane hath been built, and the Written Tablet revealed, and the Outspread Roll uncovered….

- Baha'u'llah

VI. The “mysteries“ of God’s love are “graven” upon Baha’u’llah’s heart

I am the one, O my God, who hath blotted out from his heart the remembrance of all except Thee, and hath graven upon it the mysteries of Thy love.

- Baha'u'llah

VI. An attribute of those believers who “have been inebriated with the wine” of God’s knowledge

They who have been inebriated with the wine of Thy knowledge, these, verily, hasten to meet every manner of adversity in their longing to pass into Thy presence.
- Baha'u'llah

VI. Need God’s protection “from the faintest trace of evil and corrupt desires”

I implore Thee, O Beloved of my heart and the Object of my soul's adoration, to shield them that love me from the faintest trace of evil and corrupt desires. Supply them, then, with the good of this world and of the next. 

- Baha'u'llah 

VI. How God distinguishes “the assured” from “the doubters”

Thine own might beareth me witness! But for tribulations, how could the assured be distinguished from the doubters among Thy servants? 

- Baha’u’llah

VI. Our inability to behold God with our own eyes

Is there any man of insight, O my God, that can behold Thee with Thine own eye, and where is the thirsty one who can direct his face towards the living waters of Thy love?

- Baha'u'llah

VI. “Successive afflictions” and “incessant trials” prevented Baha’u’llah from “laying bare that which is hidden” from our eyes

Praise he to Thee, O Lord my God! I swear by Thy might! Successive afflictions have withheld the pen of the Most High from laying bare that which is hidden from the eyes of Thy creatures, and incessant trials have hindered the tongue of the Divine Ordainer from proclaiming the wonders of Thy glorification and praise. With a stammering tongue, therefore, I call upon Thee, O my God, and with this my afflicted pen I occupy myself in remembrance of Thy name.- -

- Baha’u’llah

V. The “veil of vain imaginings” prevents believers who are “wholly devoted” to Baha’u’llah from seeing Him “seated on the throne” of His “majesty” – we need Baha’u’llah’s assistance to tear this veil asunder

Tear asunder with the hand of Thy transcendent power, O my Lord, the veil of vain imaginings, that they who are wholly devoted to Thee may see Thee seated on the throne of Thy majesty, and the eyes of  such as adore Thy unity may rejoice at the splendors of the glory of Thy face. The doors of hope have been shut against the hearts that long for Thee, O my Lord! Their keys are in Thy hands; open them by the power of Thy might and Thy sovereignty. Potent art Thou to do as Thou pleasest. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Beneficent. 

- Baha’u’llah

V. Baha’u’llah embodies God’s attributes of “Maker of the heavens and Lord of all names”

The hearts of Thy chosen ones, O my Lord, have melted because of their separation from Thee, and the souls of Thy loved ones are burnt up by the fire of their yearning after Thee in Thy days. I implore Thee, O Thou Maker of the heavens and Lord of all names, by Thy most effulgent Self and Thy most exalted and all-glorious Remembrance, to send down upon Thy loved ones that which will draw them nearer unto Thee, and enable them to hearken unto Thine utterances. 

- Baha’u’llah

V. Baha’u’llah is the “lamp” that gives out the light of God’s “own Self” to all that are in heaven and all that are on earth

And when I turn to my left, I hear the clamor of the wicked doers who have disbelieved in Thee and in Thy signs, and persistently striven to put out the light of Thy lamp which sheddeth the radiance of Thine own Self over all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth. 

- Baha’u’llah

IV. God’s “chosen ones” and the “souls” of those who “love” God are “vivified” by God’s “living waters”

I implore Thee, [God] …to enable me to drink deep of the living waters through which Thou hast vivified the hearts of Thy chosen ones and quickened the souls of them that love Thee, that I may, at all times and under all conditions, turn my face wholly towards Thee. 

- Baha’u’llah

IV. The “word” that brought “creation into being and fashion the universe” shines above the horizon of God’s “will”

I implore Thee, [God] by this very word [the word that “brought “creation into being and gashion the universe”] that hath shone forth above the horizon of Thy will… to enable me to drink deep of the living waters through which Thou hast vivified the hearts of Thy chosen ones and quickened the souls of them that love Thee, that I may, at all times and under all conditions, turn my face wholly towards Thee. 

- Baha’u’llah

IV. God brought “creation into being and fashion the universe” – through a word of His mouth

Thou [God] didst wish to make Thyself known unto men; therefore, Thou didst, through a word of Thy mouth, bring creation into being and fashion the universe. There is none other God except Thee, the Fashioner, the Creator, the Almighty, the Most Powerful. 

- Baha’u’llah

IV. God – “knoweth all things and is known of none”

Magnified be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou art He Whom all things worship and Who worshipeth no one, Who is the Lord of all things and is the vassal of none, Who knoweth all things and is known of none. 

- Baha’u’llah

III. The “splendors of the light of” God’s “face” have “illuminated the whole world”

Deprive me not, O my Lord, of the splendors of the light of Thy face, whose brightness hath illuminated the whole world. 

- Baha’u’llah

III. Though it is in one’s “power” to love and remember God at all times – need God’s assistance “to enable”

I entreat Thee to enable me to cleave steadfastly to Thy Love and Thy remembrance. This is, verily, within my power, and Thou art the One that knoweth all that is in me. Thou, in truth, art knowing, apprised of all. 

- Baha’u’llah

III. Condition of the people of our generation

…these days when all have turned away from Thy beauty, have disputed with Thee, and turned away disdainfully from Him Who is the Revealer of Thy Cause. 

- Baha’u’llah

III. Baha’u’llah’s is God’s “Most Great Name”; “no tongue can describe” the extent of His sufferings

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I beseech Thee by Him Who is Thy Most Great Name, Who hath been sorely afflicted by such of Thy creatures as have repudiated Thy truth, and Who hath been hemmed in by sorrows which no tongue can describe… 

- Baha’u’llah

II. The resulting effects of being able to drink waters from God’s “river” in Paradise

…that mine eyes may be opened, and my face be illumined, and my heart be assured, and my soul be enlightened, and my steps be made firm.

- Baha'u'llah

II. There is a “river” full of life in God’s Paradise

Give me to drink of the river that is life indeed, whose waters have streamed forth from the Paradise (Ridvan) in which the throne of Thy Name, the All-Merciful, was established…

- Baha'u'llah

II. We need God’s assistance to gain His “knowledge” and “guidance”

Suffer me not, O my Lord, to be deprived of the knowledge of Thee in Thy days, and divest me not of the robe of Thy guidance.

- Baha'u'llah

We need God’s assistance “to rend asunder the veils” that would shut us out from God and His Manifestation

…to rend asunder the veils that shut me out from Thee, that I may hasten unto the Fountain-Head of Thy mighty inspiration, and to the Day-Spring of Thy Revelation and bountiful favors, and may be immersed beneath the ocean of Thy nearness and pleasure.

- Baha'u'llah

I. Two attributes of God’s “loved ones”

…on whom shall come no fear and who shall not be put to grief. 

- Baha'u'llah

I. Baha’u’llah asks God to protect His “loved ones”

I beseech Thee, O my God, by them and by the sighs which their hearts utter in their separation from Thee, to keep them safe from the mischief of Thine adversaries, and to nourish their souls with what Thou hast ordained for Thy loved ones… on whom shall come no fear and who shall not be put to grief.  

- Baha’u’llah

I. Attributes of those who strive for nearness to the Manifestation of God

The winds of tests are powerless to hold back them that enjoy near access to Thee from setting their faces towards the horizon of Thy glory, and the tempests of trials must fail to draw away and hinder such as are wholly devoted to Thy will from approaching Thy court.

Methinks, the lamp of Thy love is burning in their hearts, and the light of Thy tenderness is lit within their breasts. Adversities are incapable of estranging them from Thy Cause, and the vicissitudes of fortune can never cause them to stray from Thy pleasure. 

- Baha’u’llah

I. What people “of insight” and those with “discerning eye” can perceive

Every man of insight confesseth Thy sovereignty and Thy dominion, and every discerning eye perceiveth the greatness of Thy [God's] majesty and the compelling power of Thy might.

- Baha’u’llah