The Mahdi Times November 2011 | Page 51

caused me to begin (to call). Thine are the praise and the gratitude!  O He who overlooked my slip, relieved my distress, heard my prayer, covered my defects, forgave my sins, caused me to reach my desire, and helped me against my enemy!  If I were to count Thy blessings, favors and generous acts of kindness I would not be able to reckon them. O my Protector! Thou art He who was gracious, Thou art He who blessed, Thou art He who worked good, Thou art He who was kind, Thou art He who was bounteous, Thou art He who perfected, Thou art He who provided, Thou art He who gave success, Thou art He who bestowed, Thou art He who enriched, Thou art He who contented, Thou art He who sheltered, Thou art He who sufficed, Thou art He who guided, Thou art He who preserved (from sin), Thou art He who covered (my sins), Thou art He who forgave, Thou art He who overlooked, Thou art He who established (in the earth), Thou art He who exalted, Thou art He who aided, Thou art He who supported, Thou art He who confirmed, Thou art He who helped, Thou art He who healed, Thou art He who gave well-being, Thou art He who honored - blessed art Thou and high exalted! So Thine is the praise everlastingly, and Thine is gratitude enduringly and forever! Then I, my God, confess my sins, so forgive me for them.  I am he who did evil, I am he who made mistakes, I am he who purposed (to sin), I am he who was ignorant, I am he who was heedless, I am he who was negligent, I am he who relied (upon other than Thee), I am he who premeditated, I am he who promised, I am he who went back on his word, I am he who confessed (my sins) and I am he who acknowledged Thy blessings upon me and with me and then returned to my sins.  So forgive me for them, O He who is not harmed by the sins of His servants nor needs He their obedience. He gives success through His aid and His mercy to whomsoever of them works righteousness.  So praise belongs to Thee, My God and My Lord! My God, Thou commanded me and I disobeyed and Thou forbade me and I committed what Thou hadst forbidden.  I became such that I neither possessed any of guiltlessness that I might ask forgiveness nor any power that I might be helped. Then by what means shall I turn toward Thee, O my Protector!? What, by my ears? Or my eyes? Or my tongue? Or my hand? Or my leg? Are not all of them Thy blessings given to me?  And with all of them I disobey Thee, O my Protector! Thine is the argument and the means against me. O He who veiled me (my sins) from fathers and mothers lest they drive me away, from relatives and brothers lest they rebuke me, and from kings lest they punish me! If they had seen, O my Protector, what Thou hast seen from me, they would not have given me respite, they would have abandoned me and cut me off.  So here I am, O my God, before Thee O Lord, humbled, abased, constrained, despised, neither possessing guiltlessness that I might ask forgiveness nor possessing power that I might be helped. There is no argument with which I might argue, nor can I say I committed not (sins) and worked not evil. And denial, were I to deny-my Protector-could hardly profit me. How could it ever do that? For all of my members are witness against me for what I have done.  And I acted with certainty and without any doubt that Thou wilt ask me about great affairs, and that Thou art the equitable Judge who does no wrong.  Thy justice is deadly for me and I flee from Thy every just act.  If thou chastisest me, O my God, it is for my sins after Thy argument against me; and if Thou pardonest me, it is by Thy clemency, generosity and kindness. "There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee l Truly I am one of the wrongdoers" (XXI, 87). There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee! Truly I am one of those who pray forgiveness. There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee I Truly I am one of those who profess Thy Unity.  There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee! Truly I am one of the fearful. There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee I Truly I am one of those who are afraid. There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee! Truly I am one of the hopeful. There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee! Truly I am one of those who yearn. There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee! Truly I am one of those who say "There is no god but Thou". There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee! Truly I am one of the petitioners. There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee! Truly I am one of the glorifiers. There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee! Truly I am one of those who magnify.  There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee, my Lord, and the Lord of my fathers, the ancients! My God, this is my praise of Thee exalting Thy majesty, my sincerity in remembering Thee by professing Thy Unity, and my acknowledgment of Thy bounties by enumeration, even though I acknowledge that I cannot reckon them for their multitude, their abundance, their manifestness and their existence from ancient times until a present in which Thou hast never ceased to care for me through them from when Thou created me and brought me into existence in the beginning of (my) life, by enriching from poverty, relieving affliction, bringing ease, removing hardship, dispelling