The First Addendum to the Twenty-Fourth Letter

The First Addendum

to the Twenty-Fourth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.(17:44)

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

Say: No importance would your Sustainer attach to you were it not for your supplication.(25:77)

Listen now to five points concerning this verse.

First Point

First Point

Supplication is a mighty mystery of worship; indeed, it is as though the spirit of worship. As we have mentioned in many places, supplication is of three sorts.

The First Sort of Supplication: This is the tongue of latent ability. Through it all seeds and grains supplicate the All-Wise Creator, saying: “Make us grow! Make our tiny truths sprout and transform us into the mighty reality of a tree, so that we may display the elaborate embroideries of Your names!”

Another sort of supplication through the tongue of latent ability is this: the gathering together of causes is a supplication for the creation of the effect. That is to say, the causes take up a position whereby they resemble a tongue of disposition through which they beseech the effect from the All-Powerful One of Glory. For example, water, heat, earth, and light take up positions around a seed, and their doing this constitutes a tongue of supplication which says: “O Our Creator, make this seed into a tree!” For the tree, a wonderful miracle of power, cannot be attributed to those unconscious, lifeless, simple substances; that would be impossible. This means the coming together of causes is a sort of supplication.

The Second Sort of Supplication: This is through the tongue of innate need. It is the supplication made by all living creatures to the All-Compassionate Creator to give them the things they need and desire, which are beyond their power and will, from unexpected places, at the appropriate