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Hvaljen bio Bog, Sveposjedujući, Kralj neusporedive slave, hvalom koja je neizmjerno iznad razumijevanja svih stvorenja, i slavljena je iznad dosega umova ljudi. Nitko drugi osim Njega nikada nije mogao pjevati dostojno Njegovu hvalu, niti će ikoji čovjek ikada uspjeti u punoj mjeri opisati Njegovu slavu. Tko je onaj koji može ustvrditi da je dosegao visove Njegove uzvišene Biti, i koji um može izmjeriti dubine Njegova nedokučiva otajstva? Iz svake pojedine objave koja zrači iz Izvora Njegove slave pojavili su se sveti i trajni dokazi nezamisliva sjaja, a iz svakog objavitelja Njegove nepobjedive moći izlili su se oceani vječne svjetlosti. Koliko su neizmjerno uzvišena čudesna svjedočanstva o Njegovoj svemogućoj vrhovnosti, tračak koje, kad bi ih samo dotaknuo, u potpunosti bi sažgao sve koji su na nebu i na zemlji! Kako neopisivo visoko su znaci Njegove nenadmašne moći, koje jedan znak, ma koliko beznačajan, mora nadići shvaćanje bilo čega što je, od početka koji nema početka, bilo uvedeno u postojanje, ili će biti u budućnosti stvoreno, sve do kraja koji nema kraja. Sva Utjelovljenja Njegovih Imena lutaju divljinom potrage, žedni i željni otkriti Njegovu Bit, a svi objavitelji Njegovih pridjevaka preklinju Ga, da, sa Sinaja Svetosti, otkrije Svoje Otajstvo. |
Praise be to God, the All-Possessing, the King of incomparable glory, a praise which is immeasurably above the understanding of all created things, and is exalted beyond the grasp of the minds of men. None else besides Him hath ever been able to sing adequately His praise, nor will any man succeed at any time in describing the full measure of His glory. Who is it that can claim to have attained the heights of His exalted Essence, and what mind can measure the depths of His unfathomable mystery? From each and every revelation emanating from the Source of His glory, holy and never-ending evidences of unimaginable splendor have appeared, and out of every manifestation of His invincible power oceans of eternal light have poured. How immensely exalted are the wondrous testimonies of His almighty sovereignty, a glimmer of which, if it but touched them, would utterly consume all that are in the heavens and in the earth! How indescribably lofty are the tokens of His consummate power, a single sign of which, however inconsiderable, must transcend the comprehension of whatsoever hath, from the beginning that hath no beginning, been brought into being, or will be created in the future till the end that hath no end. All the Embodiments of His Names wander in the wilderness of search, athirst and eager to discover His Essence, and all the Manifestations of His Attributes implore Him, from the Sinai of Holiness, to unravel His mystery. |
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Kaplja iz uzburkanog oceana Njegove beskrajne milosti ukrasila je sve stvoreno uresom postojanja, a lahor koji je dahnuo iz Njegovoga neusporediva Raja zaodjenuo je sva bića u odoru Njegove svetosti i slave. Dažd iz nedokučive dubine Njegove vrhovne i sveprodorne Volje iz potpunog je ništavila pozvao u postojanje stvaranje koje je beskonačno po svom opsegu i besmrtno u svom trajanju. Čudesa Njegove dobrote nikada ne prestaju, a bujica Njegove suosjećajne milosti nikada ne može biti ustavljena. Proces Njegova stvaranja nije imao početka, i ne može imati kraja.
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A drop of the billowing ocean of His endless mercy hath adorned all creation with the ornament of existence, and a breath wafted from His peerless Paradise hath invested all beings with the robe of His sanctity and glory. A sprinkling from the unfathomed deep of His sovereign and all-pervasive Will hath, out of utter nothingness, called into being a creation which is infinite in its range and deathless in its duration. The wonders of His bounty can never cease, and the stream of His merciful grace can never be arrested. The process of His creation hath had no beginning, and can have no end. |
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U svakom dobu i ciklusu On je, kroz blistavu svjetlost koju su izlijevali Objavitelji Njegove čudesne Biti, obnovio sve stvari, tako da što god na nebu i na zemlji odražava znakove Njegove slave, ne bude lišeno izljeva Njegove milosti, niti da očajava za kišom Njegovih darova. Kako su sveobuhvatna čudesa Njegove milosti! Pogledaj kako su proželi svekoliko stvaranje. Tolika je njihova dobrota da se ne može naći niti jedan atom u cijelom univerzumu koji ne iskazuje dokaze Njegove moći, koji ne slavi Njegovo sveto Ime, ili ne zrači sjajnim svjetlom Njegova jedinstva. Toliko je savršeno i golemo Njegovo stvaranje da niti jedan um ili srce, ma koliko pronicljivi ili čisti, nikada ne mogu dohvatiti prirodu najbeznačajnijega od Njegovih stvorenja; a koliko tek manje dokučiti otajstvo Njega Koji je Danica Istine, Koji je nevidljiva i nespoznatljiva Bit. Zamisli najpobožnijih mistika, dosezi najuspješnijih među ljudima, najviša hvala koju ljudski jezik ili pero mogu iskazati, svi su proizvod čovjekova ograničena uma i uvjetovani su njegovim ograničenjima. Deset tisuća Proroka, svaki poput Mojsija, gromom su ošinuti na Sinaju svoje potrage zabranom Njegovoga glasa, “Ti nikada nećeš gledati Mene!”; a deset tisuća Glasnika, svaki velik kao Isus, na svojim nebeskim prijestoljima prestravljeni stoje zabranom, “Moju Bit ti nikada nećeš shvatiti!” Od pamtivijeka On je bio uvijen u neiskazivu Svetost Svojega uzvišenog Bića, i vječno će biti umotan u neprobojno otajstvo Svoje nespoznatljive Biti. Svaki pokušaj dosezanja razumijevanja Njegove nedostupne Stvarnosti završio se u potpunoj zbunjenosti, a svaki napor približavanja Njegovom uzvišenom Biću kao ishod je imao beznađe i neuspjeh. |
In every age and cycle He hath, through the splendorous light shed by the Manifestations of His wondrous Essence, recreated all things, so that whatsoever reflecteth in the heavens and on the earth the signs of His glory may not be deprived of the outpourings of His mercy, nor despair of the showers of His favors. How all-encompassing are the wonders of His boundless grace! Behold how they have pervaded the whole of creation. Such is their virtue that not a single atom in the entire universe can be found which doth not declare the evidences of His might, which doth not glorify His holy Name, or is not expressive of the effulgent light of His unity. So perfect and comprehensive is His creation that no mind nor heart, however keen or pure, can ever grasp the nature of the most insignificant of His creatures; much less fathom the mystery of Him Who is the Daystar of Truth, Who is the invisible and unknowable Essence. The conceptions of the devoutest of mystics, the attainments of the most accomplished amongst men, the highest praise which human tongue or pen can render are all the product of man’s finite mind and are conditioned by its limitations. Ten thousand Prophets, each a Moses, are thunderstruck upon the Sinai of their search at His forbidding voice, “Thou shalt never behold Me!”; whilst a myriad Messengers, each as great as Jesus, stand dismayed upon their heavenly thrones by the interdiction, “Mine Essence thou shalt never apprehend!” From time immemorial He hath been veiled in the ineffable sanctity of His exalted Self, and will everlastingly continue to be wrapt in the impenetrable mystery of His unknowable Essence. Every attempt to attain to an understanding of His inaccessible Reality hath ended in complete bewilderment, and every effort to approach His exalted Self and envisage His Essence hath resulted in hopelessness and failure. |
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Koliko zbunjujući za mene, tako beznačajnoga, jest pokušaj da dokučim svete dubine Tvoga znanja! Koliko jalovi su moji napori da zamislim silinu moći sadržanu u djelu Tvojih ruku – u objavi Tvoje stvaralačke snage! Kako može moje oko, koje nema sposobnost vidjeti sebe samo, ustvrditi da je razabralo Tvoju Bit, i kako može moje srce, već nemoćno, shvatiti značenje svojih vlastitih mogućnosti, nagovijestiti da je shvatilo Tvoju prirodu? Kako mogu izjaviti da sam spoznao Tebe, kad je čitavo stvaranje zbunjeno Tvojim otajstvom, a kako mogu izjaviti da Te nisam upoznao, kad, gle! – cijeli univerzum proglašava Tvoju Nazočnost i svjedoči Tvojoj istini? Dveri Tvoje milosti bile su otvorene tijekom vječnosti, i sredstva pristupa u Tvoju Nazočnost bila su omogućavana svim bićima, a objave Tvoje neprispodobive Ljepote bile su u svim vremenima otisnute na stvarnostima svih bića, vidljivih i nevidljivih. Ipak, usprkos toj najvećoj milosti, tom savršenom i beskonačnom daru, moram posvjedočiti da je Tvoj dvor svetosti i slave neizmjerno uzvišen iznad znanja svega osim Tebe, a otajstvo Tvoje Nazočnosti neshvatljivo je svakom umu osim Tvojega. Nitko osim Tebe Samoga ne može proniknuti tajnu Tvoje prirode, i ništa drugo osim Tvoje nadspoznajne Biti ne može dohvatiti stvarnost Tvojega nespoznatljivog bića. Koliko je velik broj onih nebeskih i sveslavnih bića koja su lutala sve dane svojih života u divljini svoje razdvojenosti od Tebe, i na koncu Te nisu uspjeli naći! Koliko je mnoštvo posvećenih i besmrtnih duša koje su se izgubile i zbunile pretražujući pustinju potrage u želji da gledaju Tvoje lice! Mnoštvo je onih koji Te žarko ljube, a propali su i stradali zbog sveproždirućega ognja udaljenosti od Tebe, a bezbroj je vjernih duša koje su rado položile svoje živote u nadi da će gledati svjetlo Tvoga lica. Uzdasi i jauci onih čeznutljivih srdaca koje venu za Tobom nikada neće doprijeti do Tvojega svetog dvora, niti će jadikovke putnika koji žeđaju za pojavljivanjem pred Tvojim licem doseći Tvoje sjedište slave. |
How bewildering to me, insignificant as I am, is the attempt to fathom the sacred depths of Thy knowledge! How futile my efforts to visualize the magnitude of the power inherent in Thine handiwork—the revelation of Thy creative power! How can mine eye, which hath no faculty to perceive itself, claim to have discerned Thine Essence, and how can mine heart, already powerless to apprehend the significance of its own potentialities, pretend to have comprehended Thy nature? How can I claim to have known Thee, when the entire creation is bewildered by Thy mystery, and how can I confess not to have known Thee, when, lo, the whole universe proclaimeth Thy Presence and testifieth to Thy truth? The portals of Thy grace have throughout eternity been open, and the means of access unto Thy Presence made available, unto all created things, and the revelations of Thy matchless Beauty have at all times been imprinted upon the realities of all beings, visible and invisible. Yet, notwithstanding this most gracious favor, this perfect and consummate bestowal, I am moved to testify that Thy court of holiness and glory is immeasurably exalted above the knowledge of all else besides Thee, and the mystery of Thy Presence is inscrutable to every mind except Thine own. No one except Thyself can unravel the secret of Thy nature, and naught else but Thy transcendental Essence can grasp the reality of Thy unsearchable being. How vast the number of those heavenly and all-glorious beings who, in the wilderness of their separation from Thee, have wandered all the days of their lives, and failed in the end to find Thee! How great the multitude of the sanctified and immortal souls who were lost and bewildered while seeking in the desert of search to behold Thy face! Myriad are Thine ardent lovers whom the consuming flame of remoteness from Thee hath caused to sink and perish, and numberless are the faithful souls who have willingly laid down their lives in the hope of gazing on the light of Thy countenance. The sighs and moans of these longing hearts that pant after Thee can never reach Thy holy court, neither can the lamentations of the wayfarers that thirst to appear before Thy face attain Thy seat of glory. |
