The Whispered Prayer of the Thankful


In the Name of God, the All-merciful,
the All-compassionate

1

My God,
          the uninterrupted flow of Thy graciousness
                              hast distracted me from thanking Thee!
                    The flood of Thy bounty has rendered me incapable
                              of counting Thy praises!
                    The succession of Thy kind acts has diverted me
                              from mentioning Thee in laudation!
                    The continuous rush of Thy benefits has thwarted me
                              from spreading the news of Thy gentle favours!
          This is the station of him who
                    confesses to the lavishness of favours,
                    meets them with shortcomings,
                    and witnesses to his own disregard and negligence.
          Thou art the Clement, the Compassionate,
                    the Good, the Generous,
                    who does not disappoint those who aim for Him,
                    nor cast out from His courtyard those who expect from Him!
          In Thy yard are put down the saddlebags of the hopeful
                    and in Thy plain stand the hopes of the help-seekers!
          So meet not our hopes by disappointing and disheartening
                    and clothe us not in the shirt of despair and despondency!

2

My God,
          my thanksgiving is small
                              before Thy great boons,
                    and my praise and news-spreading shrink
                              beside Thy generosity toward me!
          Thy favours have wrapped me
                              in the robes of the lights of faith,
                    and the gentlenesses of Thy goodness have let down over me
                              delicate curtains of might!
          Thy kindnesses
                    have collared me with collars not to be moved
                    and adorned me with neck-rings not to be broken!
          Thy boons are abundant -
                    my tongue is too weak to count them!
          Thy favours are many -
                    my understanding falls short of grasping them,
                    not to speak of exhausting them!
          So how can I achieve thanksgiving?
          For my thanking Thee requires thanksgiving.
          Whenever I say, 'To Thee belongs praise!',
                    it becomes thereby incumbent upon me to say,
                    'To Thee belongs praise'!

3

My God,
          as Thou hast fed us through Thy gentleness
                    and nurtured us through Thy benefaction,
          so also complete for us lavish favours,
          repel from us detested acts of vengeance,
          and of the shares of the two abodes,
                    give us their most elevated and their greatest,
                    both the immediate and the deferred!
          To Thee belongs praise
                              for Thy good trial and the lavishness of Thy favours,
                    a praise
                              conforming to Thy good pleasure
                              and attracting Thy great goodness and magnanimity.
          O All-mighty,
                    O All-generous!
          By Thy mercy,
                    O Most Merciful of the merciful!