In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. In terms of allusion and in keeping with the tasting of the lords of recognition, the bi of bism [“In the name”] alludes to the “splendor” [bahāÌ] of Unity, the s to the “brilliance” [sanāÌ] of the Self-Suffi- cient, and the m to the “kingship” [mulk] of the Divinity. His splendor is self-standing, His brilliance self-sustaining, and His kingship everlasting. His splendor is eternal, His brilliance generous, His kingship tremendous. His splendor is with majesty, His brilliance with beauty, His kingship without decline. His splendor steals the heart, His brilliance increases love, His kingship has no annihilation. O You whose majesty runs before all that is beauteous! O You whose perfection is far from deficiency's blight! Venus rejoices on hearing Your music, the sun is jealous on seeing Your beauty. B is His kindness [birr] to His servants, s His secret [sirr] with His friends, m His favor [minna] toward His yearners. If not for His kindness, how could the servant make ready for His secret? If not for His favor, how could the servant reach union with Him; how could the servant find a place at the threshold of His majesty? If not for the beginningless affection, how could the servant be endlessly familiar? How could water and clay have the gall to love You had You not chosen them with Your beginningless gentleness? Love is Your Essence, O God, this is the friends' belief- remembering Your description, O Lord, dispels the sorrow of the sorrowful! [DS 211] This world is goodly only through His name, the afterworld goodly only through His pardon, and the Garden goodly only through His vision. If not for the message and name of God in this world, how could it be the servant's home? If not for His pardon and generosity in the afterworld, the servant's work would be difficult. If not for the heart-brightening vision of Him in paradise, what would make a poor man happy? One of the pirs of the Tariqah said, “O God, we see through Your marks, we live in Your recogni- tion, we flourish though Your name, we are happy in Your remembrance, we are joyful through finding You. It is we who are drunk with love from Your cup, we who are prey to passion in Your snare.
