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"A Prayer by Tahirih Qurratu'l-`Ayn: Text and, Translation, "
A Prayer by Tahirih Qurratu’l-`Ayn
O Thou to Whose pure and unique quintessence praise is owed: Only from the Word that issued from Thy holy and exalted Being does honor come. O eternal adored One, O goal of the mystics: What world have you created, which is purified above the description of anyone else, and what handiwork have you invented, which is sanctified above the praise of the people of the divine creation! This world could not exist by means of the splendor of anyone save Thee, and this lofty and exalted station belongs to no one but Thee. I bear witness by the visible eye fashioned from the light of utterance that thou art the maker of this world, and that aside from Thee all have been burned up by a drop from the spray of the radiance of that command; and that Thou art the fashioner of this universe and aside from Thee all have been annihilated by a reflection of the flickering of the gleam of that decree.
God is Great! Where is there a seeing eye, a hearing ear, a perceptive heart, a supportive breast? For what station is higher and greater than this, that the Creator of being hath created it anew? And what world is more exalted or holier than the one that the fashioner of beneficence hath made manifest afresh? And what a pure, mind-clearing call has issued from the most noble talisman, the honored temple, the embellished emblem, the most straight scale, in the sanctuary of hearts--upon the horizon of Sinai and the dawning-place of manifestation! All the divine ones shed their haughtiness, and by means of the cry, "This is he!" they enthralled all the spirits who subsisted in the realm of power. And what a fresh, soul-nourishing breeze hath been brought into existence by the potency of the Omnipotent, the Inaccessible, such that all those who dwell on the plane of the invisible essence have departed the realm of outward illumination for that complete serenity.
God is Most Powerful! By one glance from among those wondrous glances—by that blessed and exalted glance that was higher than even the "B" of "Be!" that derived from the light of glory--being would be bestowed on me, even though it was undeserved (indeed, it was pure effulgence and kindness). And I am melted by Thy divine assistance, Lord of munificence, for that radiant and glorious aid is identical to the exalted and illumined light. I am melted, my God, by that mercy whereby Thou didst create me at a time when nothing existed save it. I was formed whirling, after a pattern that no one besides Thee had fashioned, so that Thou mightest set me in motion. Thus might I be brought out of the world of the veils of glory by the attraction exercised by Thy preexistent essence, and thus might I transcend the station of allusions by means of love for Thy shining countenance.
My God, I bear witness to that which Thou has wrought. I accept that which Thou hast given, shall bring forth what Thou didst desire, and shall choose that station which Thou didst bestow upon me. Thus might I gaze upon a beauty that is none other but Thee: No God is there but Him. And I am effaced. I seek a splendor that could not exist by means of any save Thee. No God is there but Thee! And I become sober.
My God, Thine imperative is the answer to my call; Thy "perhaps" is the salve for my misery, and Thine advent is the decree of my religion and the success of my Cause. Verily, Thou art He who created me for the sake of all that, and by virtue of what exists there Thou didst fashion me. Verily, Thou art the best of witnesses, the most merciful of the merciful, and the most generous of the generous. Thou dost answer the call of the distressed. And praise be to Thy Self, lord of the worlds.
Source: Qurratu’l-`Ayn: Bi-yad-i sadumin sal-i shahadat (Tehran, 1949), pp. 36-37.
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