The Exalted Prayer of the Báb for Imām Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī

Abstract: This brief yet profoundly majestic Prayer, revealed by the Báb, is addressed to Imām Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī. In its sublime lines, the Prayer extols the absolute sovereignty, grandeur, and sanctity of God, portraying Him as the Ever-Existent, the One beyond all comprehension, the Beloved, and the One sought, whose Essence surpasses all created things. It unfolds a vision of divine omnipotence: God is the Creator of all that exists, the Lord of all lords, and the ultimate Source of every Name and Attribute. His transcendence is manifest in a grandeur likened to camphor (kāfūriyyah) and in sanctity revealed through primal simplicity, exalted above all realms, from the dominion of earth and heaven to the Kingdom of beginnings and endings. At its heart lies a supplication for Imām Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, beseeching his soul’s exaltation, union with the forefathers of the Imāms, and suffusion with the light of divine bounty, signs, and effulgence. What follows is a provisional English rendering of the original Arabic, based on the manuscript preserved in the Iran National Bahá’í Archives (INBA), vol. 58, pp. 15–17; the date, place, and recipient of revelation remain unknown