Serving the Guest: A Sufi Cookbook
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Prayers to End the Meal
Detail from Lovers Picnicking. Persian, 16th century. Click for complete painting.

Praise be to Allah, who has made the provisions of our livelihood more plentiful than our needs.

Allah, Allah, Except Allah
This has gone; may a richer one come.
May the Divine Reality give blessings.
Let there be light for those who have eaten.
May those who have truly attained be the helpers of the poor dervish who cooked and kept the meal, and may they be our helper.
May our rations from the door of happiness of our lords, the Twelve Imams, the Fourteen Pure Innocents, be rich.
Let us say Hu for the reign, the rotation of the Light of the Prophet,
the Grace of Ali,
our Patron Saint Haji Bektash Veli, all the Patron Saints,
and the generous ones, those who have truly attained, Hu.....

Allah, Allah, by the horn of the archangel Israfil, by the symbolism of Kamber,
By the light of the Prophet, by the altar and the pulpit,
By our sovereign Pir, Hajji Bektash Veli, by our General,
By the breath of the Three, the Five, the Seven, and the Forty True Saints, we thank Thee.
Hu.....

Praise be to God! Thanks be to God!
May God bestow His blessings.
May the spread of generosity of the saints,
their bread and their bounty, always increase.
May the noble spirits of past benefactors rejoice;
may those still with us be preserved;
may their miraculous breath increase.
By the breath of Hazrat-i-Mevlana;
by the mystery of Atesbaz-i-Veli,
let us all chant Hu!

We are the Sufis on the Path
We are those who dine at the table of the King.
Make eternal, O Lord, this bowl and this spread.