مناجاة ولي الحق
In Your name, O God! Glory be to You. Your throne is ancient and eternal, and Your might is severe. Light of lights in every dwelling and place, Creator and Originator of things, Cause of causes and the One who sets them in motion. Most Holy, Most Holy! O You to whom souls have acknowledged their allegiance, and whom they have testified was worshipped before the most ancient ages and existed in bygone times. Lord of the higher lights and the eternal elements, Possessor of unique and self-sufficient glory, One in essence, everlasting in constancy, distinct from attributes.
You brought forth creatures in the beginning. You brought them into being by Your will, and what You established in truth did not revert to nothingness. He is outwardly manifest to establish the proof against the people, and inwardly concealed, beyond the perception of the senses. He established His power in the world He originated; each beholder perceives Him according to his own purity, like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. Glorified is He! He willed and created them by His kindness, and appeared to them so that faith in Him would be realized in truth and sincerity. Then He drew near to them and established the proof against them. They cannot grasp His manner of being or attain His essence by the strength of their intellects.
It is indeed fitting that someone who has not established the truth of existence or knowledge of the ranks should persist in denial and rejection. Yet He—exalted be His remembrance—is just and has acted benevolently toward creation in what He has done.
He arose among them, manifest and present, and required them to preserve their covenants and pledges. He taught them the reality of worship, from the worshipper to the Worshipped, through the Imam and obedience to the ranks.
Exalted is Your eternal light, before eternity, remover of causes and destroyer of former dynasties! You have never ceased to be inwardly concealed in Your manifestation and outwardly manifest in what was concealed. Your humanity arises in every age and time. You are not confined within humanity such that knowledge of the divine kingdom would be absent from You. Rather, You reveal Yourself and draw near without descending. Your appearance involves no departure or movement, and Your concealment no motion or agitation. Your manifestation through a thing is Your turning toward it, and Your absence from it is Your fulfillment of what is due to it.
Exalted is the Originator of intellect and kinds, who forms matter and individual beings through His command, creates and originates them, moves them toward their purposes, and directs their course. He arises in humanity, sometimes in weakness and then in power, revealing His command to everything caused by Him. He has given each cause its known station and appointed rule; it glorifies Him in its orbit and turns around the center of its understanding, obeying Him in its actions and praising Him through its intellect.
Glory, glory to Him! He is exalted beyond opposites and counterparts. No representation encompasses Him, no name can properly be applied to Him, no knowledge contains Him, and no imagination conceives Him. A creature reaches only another like itself; its seeking carries it toward its own kind and form. Does the observer see in light except by means of something resembling the density he sees there? Can the dense apprehend the subtle except through a substance possessing subtlety?
Rejoice, community of Unitarians, in the support our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—has given you through the Guardian of your age, by the aid of His subtle wisdom. Praise Him for the shade of His mercy He has spread over you, for He has guided you to His allegiance and to knowledge of Him. Act in obedience to Him and hold fast to love for Him. Know that you are His servants and in His grasp. He is the Lord of the Throne, your Lord; He knows your secrets and whispered conversations, watches your deeds, and sees you. Revere Him secretly and openly; He knows you and is fully informed concerning you.
Successful among you is the one who has a Guardian, remains faithful to His pledge and covenant, and accepts His judgment: such people enter the Garden and suffer no injustice. Whoever seeks refuge in His sanctuary and keeps His secret concealed has attained His generosity and goodness. He possesses honor and victory, holds power, ends poverty and hardship, rules over the cycle time after time, disperses the darkness of the interval, safeguards His friends against grief, and is the meaning of pilgrimage and lesser pilgrimage.
He precedes creation and is its Ancient One, the possessor and upholder of truth, the goal of intention and purpose, the healer of illness and disease, whose judgment none may challenge. The mighty Imam, possessor of the certain designation, right command, lofty palace, ready light, strength and support, supplication and glorification, who appears in every new age. Possessor of holiness and purity, and the meaning of symbol and sign: our Lord the Imam, the Qāʾim, al-Ḥākim.
O God, our Lord, through Your Guardian and Your ranks, gather together Your Unitarian friends and be for us and them a trustworthy protector. Save them from the precipice of destruction and place them among the angels, safe from the heat of Your fire. Mighty is Your protection and exalted Your praise. There is no god, our Lord, other than the light concealed by Your veil. Deliver me, my Lord, from this low and perishing world, and help me discharge the rights of Your Unitarian friends, my brethren. Grant that I live among them with reason as my character, with certainty in allegiance to Your Guardian, and attached to Your lights, my Lord.
O You before whom my forehead bows, to whom my cheek is humbled, toward whom my purpose comes, and to whom I proclaim my sincere praise! Here I am, my Lord, turning toward You and trusting in You for salvation. Do not distance me from the nearby station, nor prolong my journey from the noble world. Rebuke me, my Lord, for heedlessness of the truth I seek and for being encompassed by passing delusion. I have fled to You from my sins, hoping that You will relieve my sorrows and cover my faults. To You is my visitation, toward You my signs point, Your love is my purification, and You are my treasure in this world and in the next.
Bestow upon me a glance from You that gives me life; Your tenderness toward me enriches me, and Your satisfaction saves me. If You withhold, who will give to me? If You drive me away, who will draw me near? You possess the present life, and to You belongs judgment in the life to come. The heaven of Your praise gives shade; the clouds of Your bounty pour down. You enrich against every want and heal every illness.
I am Your servant seeking refuge in Your sanctuary, visiting Your generosity, thanking You for Your favors, and asking release from Your punishments. I seek Your shelter in this world from bewilderment and poverty and in the next from the torment of the grave. Creatures have erred about the radiance of Your light because of You. They became estranged by what appeared to them as a resemblance to their own kind, and doubted and remained bewildered, as though intoxicated by what they perceived, incapable, doubtful, and denying. Yet those certain of Your covenant and those believing in Your pledge and bond have found familiarity with You. You alone exist in the outward, none besides You; and You alone are worshipped in the inward, with none beneath You. You are near, answering the caller when he calls upon You, and distant to one who has not heard Your summons. Your light sparkles in the hearts of Your friends, and Your speech flows on the tongues of Your Proofs.
To You belong the sea of seas, the light of the Criterion and the Psalms, and the Throne Verse throughout all ages. To You and through You we have turned; to You we repent; to You is the final return, and You know all hidden things. Protect us from the temptation of impostors, the delusion of those who lead astray, and the trickery of every rebellious devil.
In the name of the One, the Ancient, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Illuminate through Your light the hearts of Your knowing friends. Give insight to Your chosen seekers who humble themselves before a vision of certainty. Remove the rust from their hearts and establish faith therein through knowledge of tawḥīd.
O You who possess might and dominion! Grant us victory over the enemies of religion, the renegades, deniers, and covenant-breakers who broke Your pledge, denied Your covenant and bond, departed from Your religion, and spread corruption in Your land. Destroy them with Your destruction, as You destroyed the people of ʿĀd and Thamūd. Bring down their houses upon them, for You know all hidden things. You give dominion to whomever You will and take dominion from whomever You will. You give, recompense, pardon, and forgive whomever You will. You are just in Your judgment and bring Your command to pass. We are content and have surrendered our affairs to You. You are Praiseworthy, Glorious, Generous, and Noble. Overlook what has passed, pardon us, and forgive our sins. Replace our evil deeds through Your truthful promise and ancient beneficence. We are Your submissive, humble servants, awaiting the beauty of Your kindness, affirming Your promise and favor.
O Guardian of the righteous, ultimate goal of seekers, companion of those who know, and hope of the Unitarians! Through You we have been guided, through Your light we have seen, and upon You we have relied. You are worthy of reverence and the Lord of forgiveness. To You belongs praise for the favors You have bestowed, our Lord.
Praise belongs to our Lord. He suffices me and is the best Helper and Supporter.