Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 165
The Concluding Prayer This address of mine to the world has come to a close. But man can at best, prepare a frame. It is the domain of God to infuse the soul into it. After concluding this address of mine to the world, therefore, I turn now to my Heavenly Lord, the Possessor of all beauties and of all powers, with this humble prayer: “O my Lord! I have compiled these forty A ha d i th of the Holy Prophet (May my soul be dedicated to his service) culling them together from different books, with a sincere motive and a truthful heart. But, without Thy Help and Mercy, my humble effort cannot be worthy of that bliss which descends by Thy command from the heights of Heaven, infusing life in dead bodies, and making of the particles of sand, brilliant stars. Therefore, O my Lord! By Thy Grace and Glory, make this brief work the recipient of Thy eternal and everlasting blessings and may this sacred word of Thy Holy Prophet enlighten the hearts and minds of its readers and be the means of blessing their limbs; may individuals and families alike find through it the way to emancipation and may nations and peoples be helped thereby to prosperity and ascendancy. For though in their appearance, they be plain words, but reflection reveals the numberless measures of reform and progress they embody. And O my Creator and Master, O my God, pray grant me, as well, shelter in the shadow of Thy Grace and Mercy and, by the love of Thy Holy Prophet that Thou hast planted in my poor heart, keep me steadfast in this world, in the teachings that he brought, and, favour me with the coolness of his feet in the Hereafter. Amen! O Most Compassionate of all the Merciful. ”