REFERENCES TO THE QUR’ÁN


In footnotes referring to the Qur’án the súrihs have been numbered
according to the original, whereas the verse numbers are those in
Rodwell’s translation which differ sometimes from those of the Arabic.






LAWḤ-I-KARMIL (TABLET OF CARMEL)


ALL glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have
been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and
centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of
the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the
voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on
High, were heard calling aloud: ‘Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the light
of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner
of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.’

Seized with transports of joy, and raising high her voice, she thus
exclaimed: ‘May my life be a sacrifice to Thee, inasmuch as Thou hast