He is God! O Lord! Grant me such grace and bounty, such protection and support, such kindness and security that the last of my days may excel their beginning, and the end of my life commence the bestowal of manifold favors. May some gift or blessing of Thine reach me at every moment, and one of Thy pardons and mercies be granted me with every breath, that beneath the vast shade cast by the hoisted standard, I may return to that Kingdom which is worthy of praise. Thou art the Beneficent, the Kind, and Thou art the Lord of grace and bounty. (Provisional Translation of a prayer for a favorable end to one’s life (ḥusn-i-khátimih), extracted from a Tablet of ʻAbdu’l-Bahá written for Áqá Mírzá Áqáy-i-Afnán[1])
A dear friend of mine is dying (but aren’t we all at the end of the day!), and I wanted to pray for the ease of her passing so when I found this provisional translation of a new prayer the other day, I was absolutely thrilled at God’s perfect timing. It’s such a sweet prayer and it resonated with me on so many levels.
Don’t we all want God’s grace and bounty, His protection and support, His kindness and security every day of our lives and especially when we’re in the last of our days?
Don’t we all want the end of our lives to commence the bestowal of God’s manifold favors?
Don’t we all want some gift or blessing of God’s to reach us at every moment?
Don’t we all want one of His pardons and mercies be granted to us with every breath?
Don’t we all long to return to that Kingdom which is worthy of praise?
Don’t we all like to be reminded that God is Beneficent, Kind, and the Lord of grace and bounty and not the punishing God of our childhoods?
Knowing there is a specific prayer to say for my dying friends and family and one that I can also say for my own passing, I am grateful!
What jumped out for you as you read today’s meditation? I’d love it if you would share so we can all expand our knowledge of the Writings!
If you liked this meditation, you might also like my book Learning How to Be Happy
Saying this for my Mum who will be 100 in 16 days. She is in care and not very aware. I hope this brings us both solace as I can see how this experience is cultivating some virtues in me, I cannot see how it helps her.
O Margaret, any act of service that we do for our parent’s has a tremendous impact on their souls. You might find these resources inspiring.
Ditto
This is another prayer for the dying from the Bab.
Thou art mighty; verily I am impotent while in truth Thou art powerful; verily I am abased while in truth Thou art the most exalted; verily I am distressed while in truth Thou art the Lord of might.
DO Thou ordain for me, O Lord, every good thing Thou hast created or wilt create, and shield me from whatever evil Thou abhorrest from among the things Thou hast caused or wilt cause to exist. In truth Thy knowledge embraceth all things. Praised be Thou, verily no God is there but Thee, and nothing whatsoever in the heavens or on the earth and all that is between them can ever thwart Thy Purpose. Indeed potent art Thou over all things.
Far be it from the sublimity of Thy Being, O my God, that anyone seek Thy loving-kindness or favour. Far be it from Thy transcendent glory that anyone entreat Thee for the evidences of Thy bestowals and tender mercy. Too high art Thou for any soul to beseech the revelation of Thy gracious providence and loving care, and too sanctified is Thy glory for anyone to beg of Thee the outpourings of Thy blessings and of Thy heavenly bounty and grace. Throughout Thy kingdom of heaven and earth, which is endowed with manifold bounties, Thou art immeasurably glorified above aught whereunto any identity could be ascribed.
All that I beg of Thee, O my God, is to enable me, ere my soul departeth from my body, to attain Thy good-pleasure, even were it granted to me for a moment tinier than the infinitesimal fraction of a mustard seed. For if it departeth while Thou art pleased with me, then I shall be free from every concern or anxiety; but if it abandoneth me while Thou art displeased with me, then, even had I wrought every good deed, none would be of any avail, and had I earned every honour and glory, none would serve to exalt me.
I earnestly beseech Thee then, O my God, to graciously bestow Thy good-pleasure upon me when Thou dost cause me to ascend unto Thee and make me appear before Thy holy presence, inasmuch as Thou hast, from everlasting, been the God of immense bounty unto the people of Thy realm, and the Lord of most excellent gifts
to all that dwell in the exalted heaven of Thine omnipotence.
(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 187)
Thanks for sharing this Jan! I love the prayers of the Bab and have always loved the paragraph “All that I beg of Thee, O my God, is to enable me, ere my soul departeth from my body, to attain Thy good-pleasure, even were it granted to me for a moment tinier than the infinitesimal fraction of a mustard seed.”
Thank you, Susan! I have lost a lot of friends and family members this year. I am so grateful to have this prayer!
Thank you dear Susan for this touching prayer. Among other things I was struck that only by the grace of God and His bounty could our end days be better and more acceptable than all that happened previously. So very encouraging because I and perhaps most of us, feel our powers and strength waning with age and what we can do seems so little. Loren
It’s so true, Loren. I take comfort in the fact that God created us this way, so He knows our weakness and feebleness; and secondly, we know that youth can move the world. They always have and they always will, so I don’t have to expect to do in my 60’s what I did in my 20’s and that’s a real relief!
I’m so glad it cheers your heart, Susan
Dear Susan: Your love, devotion and ongoing contribution are always special and appreciated. This prayer is very new and powerful to me and it will be used in my daily relationship with Baha-u-llah.
Thank you for finding and sharing with us!
My pleasure, Peri! I love it too. Since there’s no time in the next world, I can also use it to pray for both people who’ve passed and even for my own passing, whenever it might be. It’s very flexible like that!
Thank you for the beautiful prayer Susan. Have you thought about using Patreon to receive regular small pledges from your followers? It is popular with artists. Baha’i artist Jacqueline Claire uses it to help support her creative endeavors. It makes giving so easy.
Thanks for introducing me to Patreon, Pamela. I didn’t know about it and will put it in my “God jar” to see what God’s will for me in this endeavor would be.