O thou who circlest in adoration round His hallowed Shrine! Render thou thanks unto God for having received so heavenly a bestowal and partaken of so limitless a bounty! Thou hast attained the Spot round which circleth the Concourse on high, the Cynosure of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of glory. The lights of the All-Merciful dawn from its horizon, and the stars of divine mysteries shine brightly in its heaven. Its soil is redolent with perfume and ambergris, and its very dust is even as the most fragrant musk to the spiritual. In all the sacred Books and Scriptures it is known as the Holy Land, and its precincts are referred to as the Blessed Spot.1 It hath been called the Vale of Towa and the snow-white Spot. Its heights are Mount Sinai and its hills the place of the revelation of the Lord of the heavens on high.
Unto Him Who conversed with God2 it is the haven of peace and security, and unto the Friend of God3 a shelter and a refuge. For Lot it is “a mighty pillar”,4 and for Jacob a glorious homeland. For David it is the altar of adoration, and for Solomon the throne alluded to thus: “My Lord, grant a kingdom unto me such as shall not befit anyone after me.”5 Unto Zechariah it is the sanctuary of supplication and servitude, and unto John the Baptist the vale of the Kingdom and the wilderness of glad-tidings. For the Spirit of God6 it is the scene of effulgent splendours and for the Beloved of God7 the Farthest Mosque referred to in the verse “Glory be to Him who by night carried His servant from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque.”8 It is the abode of the Prophets and the dawning-place of the lights of the mighty signs of the Lord. It is the dayspring of holiness and the niche wherein appear the splendours of the all-glorious Lord. It is the appointed place for attainment to the Divine Presence and the site of the night journey of the Prophet Muhammad. Every divine light or revelation hath originated from this blessed land, or its most excellent Luminary hath emigrated thereto, or it hath found its consummation therein.
These perspicuous proofs and conclusive evidences are as manifest as the sun and leave no room for any soul to hesitate or doubt, for they have been explicitly revealed in the Holy Books and heavenly Scriptures, and spread abroad amongst the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Yet until the one true God chooseth to manifest a matter, it remaineth hidden behind the veils of concealment, even were it to be as renowned as the sun and the moon. When once He lifteth the veil, however, it becometh clear and apparent. May His Spirit and His Glory rest upon thee.