The Whispered Prayer of the Hopeful
O He who gives to a servant who asks from Him,
takes him to his wish when he expectantly hopes for what is with Him,
brings him near and close when he approaches Him,
covers over his sin and cloaks it when he shows it openly,
and satisfies and suffices him when he has confidence in Him!
My God, who is the one who has come before You seeking hospitality, and whom You have not received hospitably?
Who is the one who has dismounted at Your door hoping for magnanimity, and to whom You have not shown it?
Is it good that I come back from Your door, turned away in disappointment,
while I know of no patron qualified by beneficence but You?
How should I have hope in other than You, when the good - all of it - is in Your hand?
How should I expect from others, when for You are the creation and the command?
Should I cut off my hope for You, when You have shown me of Your bounty that for which I have not asked?
Would You make me have need for my like whilst I hold fast to Your cord?!
O He through whose mercy the strivers reach felicity
and through whose vengeance the seekers of forgiveness are not made wretched!
How should I forget You, while You never cease remembering me?
How should I be diverted from You while You are my constant watcher?
My God, I have fastened my hand to the shirt of Your generosity,
I have stretched forth my expectation toward reaching Your gifts,
so render me pure through the purest profession of Your Unity,
and appoint me one of Your choice servants!
O He who is the asylum of every fleer,
the hope of every seeker!
O Best Object of hope!
O Most Generous Object of supplication!
O He who does not reject His asker
or disappoint the expectant!
O He whose door is open to His supplicators
and whose veil is lifted for those who hope in Him!
I ask You by Your generosity to show kindness toward me through Your gifts, with that which will gladden my eye,
through hope in You, with that which will give serenity to my soul,
and through certainty with that which will make easy for me the afflictions of this world
and lift from my insight the veils of blindness!
By Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful!