Long Obligatory Prayer: passage five

Right now I'm trying to stay concentrated on moving through the Long Obligatory Prayer. I think if I stick to it I can get through the whole prayer before I leave for Beloit. Once I get up there I'll definitely have less time to spend on this project.

This is the fifth passage from the prayer. It is said standing like the previous passage but in this one with arms raised in supplication.

O Thou in separation from Whom hearts and souls have melted, and by the fire of Whose love the whole world hath been set aflame! I implore Thee by Thy Name through which Thou hast subdued the whole creation, not to withhold from me that which is with Thee, O Thou Who rulest over all men! Thou seest, O my Lord, this stranger hastening to his most exalted home beneath the canopy of Thy majesty and within the precincts of Thy mercy; and this transgressor seeking the ocean of Thy forgiveness; and this lowly one the court of Thy glory; and this poor creature the orient of Thy wealth. Thine is the authority to command whatsoever Thou willest. I bear witness that Thou art to be praised in Thy doings, and to be obeyed in Thy behests, and to remain unconstrained in Thy bidding.


Though this is one of the longest passages without a change in posture, it contains only one petition:....I implore Thee.....not to withhold from me that which is with Thee, O Thou who rulest over all men!

The prayer does not specifically state what is meant by that which is with Thee, but the opening invocation gives a possible hint. First off, the invocation is of one in separation from Whom hearts and souls have melted. The implication being that it is something of God that holds hearts and souls together, such that when separated they lose their structural integrity. Furthermore the invocation is of one by the fire of Whose love the whole world hath been set aflame. Here the love between God and humanity is represented as spreading its energy throughout creation. It isn't secret. For the whole world hath been set aflame. Rather it is something that is felt in public life. As seen earlier, fire can here have a destructive connotation. But it destroys only for the sake of life. It is energetic, dynamic, spontaneous. It is life, lit, kindled and fanned into flame by the love of God.

In the wake of these twin images of extreme heat the performer implores that God not withhold from me that which is with Thee, O Thou Who rulest over all men! The flow and energy that carries over from the invocation suggest that that which is with Thee is something akin to the fire of God's love.

For the sake of getting through the whole prayer, I want to make a bit of a leap in my argumentation that I don't think I can yet fully justify.

As far as I can tell that which is with Thee refers to the 99 names of God, that attributes of His that illustrate his relationship with creation. Here is the Wikipedia link to read more, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Names_of_God_in_the_Qur'an (This is the point where I REALLY show that this is a rough draft.) Thou in one sense these Names apply to God, they also apply to humanity inasmuch as we are empowered to manifest the same attributes. In fact this is one of the defining characteristics of Baha'i spirituality. Below is a quote from the Suriy-i-Haykal. It is an address from God to Baha'u'llah.

Bring then into being, by Our leave, resplendent mirrors and exalted letters that shall testify to Thy sovereignty and dominion, bear witness to Thy might and glory, and be the manifestations of Thy Names amidst mankind.

Throughout this really quite spectacular book, Baha'u'llah repeatedly prophesies the multiplication of His followers, consistently referring to them as ones who will manifest the Names of God. In this way the manifestation of divine attributes is a very high priority for Baha'i spirituality. It is on this basis that I believe that that which is with Thee refers to the divine attributes, embodied in the traditional list of 99.

Special mention though should be made for the 100th name, revealed by Baha'u'llah to be the greatest: Baha, meaning glory, light, splendour, brilliance. This is the name that is referred to when the petition is made by Thy Name through which Thou hast subdued the whole creation. What this is saying is that the Manifestation of God, in this case Baha'u'llah is the means by which God hast subdued the whole creation. But on the other hand He is also the manifestation of the love of God which is responsible for setting the world aflame. To subdue and to set aflame would be seen in common parlance as two opposite things. One involves the clamping down of energy. The other involves its release.

As a way of concluding I want to reflect on this tension. I believe it helps illustrate what it means to manifest the Names of God. For such a process itself involves a similar tension: that as a servant one is obedient to the master by receiving the power to take the position of master. After all, most of the Names of God speak of His Lordship, attributes that might seem out of place for His servants. In this way, the servants participate in the mastery of God while all the while still remaining servants.

For Baha'u'llah the greatest freedom is in submission to God. Not so much that we are liberated from the debt of sin, and are thus free to go about our lives without fear of hellfire. In that case freedom would be characterized by some absence. But rather, what I see in Baha'u'llah is that freedom is characterized by some presence, namely power: the power to move about freely. In this case, it would be the spiritual power of a world set aflame.