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Praise be to God, the Eternal that perisheth not,
the Everlasting that declineth not, the Self-Subsisting
that altereth not. He it is Who is transcendent in
His sovereignty, Who is manifest through His signs,
and is hidden through His mysteries. He it is at
Whose bidding the standard of the Most Exalted
Word hath been lifted up in the world of creation,
and the banner of "He doeth whatsoever He willeth"
raised amidst all peoples. He it is Who hath revealed
His Cause for the guidance of His creatures, and sent
down His verses to demonstrate His Proof and His
Testimony, and embellished the preface of the Book
of Man with the ornament of utterance through His
saying: "The God of Mercy hath taught the
The light that is shed from the heaven of bounty, and the benediction that shineth from the dawning-place of the will of God, the Lord of the Kingdom