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.