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.
There is a special Prayer by Baha’u’llah for the person at the death bed. It is in Arabic; I have never seen its English translation. If anybody is familiar with Arabic, one can find it in the following sources:
Tasbih va Tahlil, page 237
Bisharat’un-Nur, page 1
You may ask Baha’i World Center to inquire if there is an authentic or provisional translation for it.
He is God, exalted is He, the Lord of loving-kindness and bounty!
Glory be unto Thee, Thou, O my God, the Lord Omnipotent. I testify to Thine omnipotence and Thy might, Thy sovereignty and Thy loving-kindness, Thy grace and Thy power, the oneness of Thy Being and the unity of Thine Essence, Thy sanctity and exaltation above the world of being and all that is therein.
O my God! Thou seest me detached from all save Thee, holding fast unto Thee and turning unto the ocean of Thy bounty, to the heaven of Thy favor, to the Daystar of Thy grace.
Lord! I bear witness that in Thy servant Thou hast reposed Thy Trust, and that is the Spirit wherewith Thou hast given life to the world.
I ask of Thee by the splendor of the Orb of Thy Revelation, mercifully to accept from him that which he hath achieved in Thy days. Grant then that he may be invested with the glory of Thy good-pleasure and adorned with Thine acceptance.
O my Lord! I myself and all created things bear witness unto Thy might, and I pray Thee not to turn away from Thyself this spirit that hath ascended unto Thee, unto Thy heavenly place, Thine exalted Paradise and Thy retreats of nearness, O Thou Who art the Lord of all men!
Grant, then, O my God, that Thy servant may consort with Thy chosen ones, Thy saints and Thy Messengers in heavenly places that the pen cannot tell nor the tongue recount.
O my Lord, the poor one hath verily hastened unto the Kingdom of Thy wealth, the stranger unto his home within Thy precincts, he that is sore athirst to the heavenly river of Thy bounty. Deprive him not, O Lord, from his share of the banquet of Thy grace and from the favor of Thy bounty. Thou art in truth the Almighty, the Gracious, the All-Bountiful.
O my God, Thy Trust hath been returned unto Thee. It behooveth Thy grace and Thy bounty that have compassed Thy dominions on earth and in heaven, to vouchsafe unto Thy newly welcomed one Thy gifts and Thy bestowals, and the fruits of the tree of Thy grace! Powerful art Thou to do as Thou willest, there is none other God but Thee, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful, the Compassionate, the Bestower, the Pardoner, the Precious, the All-Knowing.
I testify, O my Lord, that Thou hast enjoined upon men to honor their guest, and he that hath ascended unto Thee hath verily reached Thee and attained Thy Presence. Deal with him then according to Thy grace and bounty! By Thy glory, I know of a certainty that Thou wilt not withhold Thyself from that which Thou hast commanded Thy servants, nor wilt Thou deprive him that hath clung to the cord of Thy bounty and hath ascended to the Dayspring of Thy wealth.
There is none other God but Thee, the One, the Single, the Powerful, the Omniscient, the Bountiful.
Bahá’u’lláh
Thanks for finding it for us, Faruq!