superstitions, and the tenebrous ignorance of unbelief that confront them, and take up their place in sound hearts and straight intellects, through utmost submission and assent.

The constant proclamation of this grandeur and sublimity in the call to prayer, in the prayers themselves and in most of the rites of Islam,

Allahu akbar, God is Most Great!

God is Most Great! God is Most Great!

the declaration of the Sacred Tradition that “Grandeur is My shield and Sublimity My cloak;”5 and the statement of the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) — his most inspiring communing with God, in the eighty-sixth part of Jawshan al-Kabir:6

O You other than Whose Kingdom no kingdom exists;

O You Whose Praise cannot be counted by His slaves;

O You Whose Glory cannot be described by His creatures;

O You Whose Perfection lies beyond the range of all vision;

O You Whose Attributes exceed the bounds of all understanding;

O You Whose Grandeur is beyond the reach of all thought;

O You Whose Qualities man cannot fittingly describe;

O You Whose Decree His slaves cannot avert;

O You Whose Signs are manifest in everything

—Be You glorified; there is no god other than You—

Protection, protection, deliver us from the Fire!

— all these show that grandeur and sublimity constitute a necessary veil.