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93
et de guider. Tout en reconnaissant les élé-
ments du culte islamique que cette prière
évoque de par sa formulation, l’auteur ex-
plore le caractère original et la profonde
cohérence de cette prière, qui s’expriment
par ses schémas de rimes, ses fréquentes
allitérations et ses structures organisées
autour du nombre dix-neuf. Dans l’en-
semble, cet article met en lumière la façon
dont la prière invite le croyant à méditer
sur les noms de Dieu – noms qui con-
fèrent à l’homme la capacité de reconnaître
Dieu, ultimement inconnaissable dans son
essence, et qui constitue aussi pour les
bahá’ís une représentation du sens profond
de la réalité spirituelle et matérielle dans
une métaphysique d’unité et d’intégralité.
Resumen
Designada como dotada de “una especial
potencia y sifgnifi cado”, la Oración Lar-
ga de Curación o “Lawh-i-Anta’l-Káfí”
invoca en segunda persona a 119 nom-
bres de Dios suplicando fuerzas espiri-
tuales para curación, protección y guía.
Mientras reconoce aquellos elementos
de la adoración islámica con los cuales la
oración se relaciona, el autor explora la
originalidad y la profunda coherencia de
la oración expresadas por sus esquemas de
rima, aliteraciones frecuentes, y las estruc-
turas organizadas alrededor del número
diecinueve. En general, este artículo tiene
el objectivo de esclarecer la manera que
la oración funciona como una invitación
a meditar acerca de los nombres de Di-
os-nombres que dan forma no solamente
a la capacidad humana para reconocer a
un Dios incognocible en última instancia,
sino tambien representan para los Bahais el
signifi cado subyacente de la realidad espir-
itual y física en una metafísica de unidad
y plenitud.
Bahá’u’lláh’s
“Long Healing Prayer”
(“Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí”)
in Light of a
Metaphysics of Unity
DANIEL AZIM PSCHAIDA
Abstract
Designated as having “a special poten-
cy and signifi cance,” the Long Healing
Prayer or “Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí” calls on
119 names of God in second-person invo-
cations, supplicating spiritual forces for
healing, protection, and guidance. While
acknowledging those elements of Islamic
worship with which this prayer engages,
the author explores the originality and deep
coherence of the prayer as expressed by its
rhyme schemes, frequent alliterations, and
structures organized around the number
nineteen. Overall, this article aims to shed
light on how the prayer functions as an
invitation to meditate on God’s names—
names which not only give shape to the
human capacity to recognize an ultimate-
ly unknowable God, but also represent for
Bahá’ís the underlying signifi cance of spir-
itual and physical reality in a metaphysics
of unity and wholeness.
Résumé
Dotée d’une « puissance et d’une signifi -
cation particulières », la longue prière de
guérison ou « Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí » récite
119 noms de Dieu sous la forme d’invo-
cations à la deuxième personne, suppliant
les forces spirituelles de guérir, de protéger
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
94
ways of Thy forgiveness and grace.” 2
I propose that the Long Healing
Prayer’s invocation of names of God is
intended to guide the reciter to the fun-
damentally meditative act of engaging
both mind and heart to recognize (‘ir-
fán) the Divine ever more deeply and
completely; and therein lies its poten-
cy. In the Islamic tradition—in whose
milieu this prayer was revealed—spe-
cifi c names of God are understood to
have particular healing eff ects, and the
Bahá’í Writings, for their part, assure
the believer that real eff ects are creat-
ed when one recites the sacred verses
in the way of “them that have drawn
nigh unto [God]” (Gleanings 295). An
exploration of the content and struc-
ture of this prayer, however, suggests
that this promise does not imply a
mechanical activation of supernatural
forces as if through a spell or charm.
I suggest in this paper that the names
of God found in this prayer, and their
particular arrangement in verses, en-
courage the believer to meditate on
the intimate relationship between the
One and the many. The many—repre-
sented by the divine names themselves
and alluding to the infi nite diversity of
created phenomena—are in their com-
pleteness, continually put in conversa-
tion, or dialectic, with the One which
is their Source, Fashioner, Artist, and
Caregiver. In contemplating the sig-
nifi cance of these Divine Names and
2 All passages from the Long Heal-
ing Prayer quoted in this article are ex-
cerpted from Bahá’í Prayers, A Selection
of Prayers Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, The
Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
For Bahá’ís seeking healing for
themselves or others, Bahá’u’lláh’s
800-word Tablet (in Arabic) known
as Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí or the Long
Healing Prayer is often considered a
most potent resource. The leitmotif
of this prayer is the invocation of 119
of God’s beautiful names in second
person addresses, beginning with the
verse “Bika yá (I call on Thee O) ‘Alí
(Exalted One), bika yá Vafí (O Faith-
ful One), bika yá Bahí (O Glorious
One).”1 Each new verse presents a set
of three new names. After invoking
a rich spectrum of names of God in
rhyming (in Arabic-only) and rhyth-
mic (in Arabic and in English) ca-
dence, the prayer asks God to “to pro-
tect the bearer of this blessed Tablet,
and whoso reciteth it, and whoso com-
eth upon it, and whoso passeth around
the house wherein it is” and concludes
with a supplication to God: “heal
Thou, then, by it every sick, diseased
and poor one, from every tribulation
and distress, from every loathsome
affl iction and sorrow, and guide Thou
by it whosoever desireth to enter upon
the paths of Thy guidance, and the
1 Vafí would be pronounced as
Wafí by a native Arabic speaker. A Bahá’í
system of transliteration strives to follow
the example of Shoghi Eff endi who trans-
literated the Arabic w phoneme as the v
phoneme, following a common Persian
dialectal pronunciation of Arabic words.
The reader can note that wherever there is
v transliteration throughout this paper, the
native Arabic speaker would pronounce
this with a w in this prayer revealed almost
completely in Arabic by Bahá’u’lláh.
95
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
article, I will fi rst provide some back-
ground about the prayer, before ex-
ploring its signifi cance and structure,
its Islamic precedents and its literary
elements, all of which work together to
transform the reader’s consciousness
by orienting it to a metaphysics of uni-
ty and wholeness.
T T
This prayer has been known as the
“Long Healing Prayer” among En-
glish-speaking Bahá’ís, and other Eu-
ropean languages typically translate
its English title for their prayer books
(Oración Larga de Curación in Spanish
or Das Lange Heilungsgebet in Ger-
man, for instance). Among Arabic and
Persian speakers the closest equivalent
name has been Lawḥ-i-Shafá’ al-Ṭawíl
(“The Long Healing Tablet”), while it
is perhaps most commonly referred to
as Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí (literally “Tab-
let of Thou the Suffi cing”) and Lawḥ-
i-Shifá (Tablet of Healing). Thus, in
some Bahá’í circles this work may be
referred to as a “prayer” and in others
a “tablet.”
T P’ S
Various published compilations of
Bahá’í prayers contain this statement
written on behalf of Shoghi Eff endi:
These daily obligatory prayers,
together with a few other specifi c
ones, such as the Healing Prayer,
the Tablet of Aḥmad, have been
invested by Bahá’u’lláh with a
their relation to the One, the heart of
the worshipper is invited to grow in in-
timacy with the Names; this intimacy,
in turn, transforms the self, others, and
the world. Each separate thing, each
part, becomes whole through the rec-
ognition of its profound relationship
to the Whole itself. In this paper, I call
this vision of reality a “metaphysics of
unity.”
Designated by Shoghi Eff endi—
the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith—as
having “a special potency and signif-
icance” (qtd. in Bahá’í Prayers 208),
this prayer may be regarded as a “heal-
ing prayer,” and not only in the sense
of an aid to recovery from physical
and psychological illness. Rather, just
as “health” and “whole” have a shared
etymology, this prayer may be under-
stood as a meditative willing to facilitate
wholeness in every sense of the word.3
This prayer incorporates some central
Islamic theological concepts and vo-
cabulary, yet it is a unique and original
composition, a signifi cant contribution
to the corpus of scripture in world re-
ligions that invites the worshippers to
transform their orientation to health,
illness, and wholeness through a vision
of reality in which every part of exis-
tence is intimately connected to each
other and to the One Reality. In this
3 See Merriam Webster Collegiate
Dictionary entries “Health” [ME helthe,
fr. OE hǣlth, fr. hāl] (535) and “Whole”
[…fr. OE hāl…] (1351). The concepts are
similarly linked in Arabic: shifá means
“to heal,” but also to “satisfy” or “make
complete,” “restore,” and, by implication,
“make whole.”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
96
pithy healing prayer has long been a fa-
vorite of Bahá’ís the world over. Shoghi
Eff endi included this prayer in Prayers
and Meditations of Bahá’u’lláh (282).
Shoghi Eff endi did not translate the
Long Healing Prayer during his life-
time, just as he did not translate many
other important works of Bahá’u’lláh
such as the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
Guidance from the Bahá’í World
Centre suggests that it is likely the
Long Healing Prayer that Shoghi Ef-
fendi referred to as being “invested by
Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency and
signifi cance.” In response to a query
in this regard, the Department of the
Secretariat of the Universal House of
Justice is reported to have replied: “it
is probably the one known as the Long
Healing Prayer, but nothing specifi c
about this has been located at this time”
(“Healing Prayer”). In this letter, the
Secretariat also quotes the assurance
within the text of the Long Healing
Prayer of its potency to heal and pro-
tect. Thus, while we cannot defi nitive-
ly say which healing prayer holds “a
special potency and signifi cance,” the
Long Healing Prayer does have a very
strong claim to such a designation.
Bahá’ís may be inspired further in
written down and worn as an amulet at
all times: Yá mani as’muha diwá’un wa
dhikruha shifá’un (“O He whose name is
a remedy, whose remembrance is a heal-
ing”).This line occurs in Hussein A. Ra-
him’s translation (ibn Tálib 29), and can be
found recited online at duas.org/mobile/
dua-kumayl.html. This same line is rec-
ommended in “Miscellaneous Du-a’as for
every illness, ache, fever” (Dua‘a 282).
special potency and signifi cance,
and should therefore be accepted
as such and be recited by the be-
lievers with unquestioning faith
and confi dence, that through them
they may enter into a much closer
communion with God, and iden-
tify themselves more fully with
His laws and precepts. (Bahá’í
Prayers 208)
Shoghi Eff endi indicates, by name
or category, fi ve prayers as having
“special potency and signifi cance.”
Four of these prayers have been un-
ambiguously identifi ed, but which of
Bahá’u’lláh’s many revealed prayers
is “the Healing Prayer” is not quite as
certain.
Bahá’u’lláh revealed many prayers
that have healing as their theme, in-
cluding a short one that begins with
“Yá ilahí ismuka shifá’í wa dhikru-
ka diwá’í” (“Thy name is my heal-
ing, O my God, and remembrance of
Thee is my remedy”), which is part of
Bahá’u’lláh’s Lawḥ-i-Ṭibb (commonly
known as the Tablet to the Physician)
on living healthfully.4 This beautiful,
4 Just as the opening line of the
prayer “Create in me a pure heart, O my
God, and renew a tranquil conscience
within me . . .” bears a resemblance to
Psalm 51:10 (“Create in me a clean heart,
O God; and renew a right spirit within me”
in the King James version of the Bible),
the beginning of this short healing prayer
bears a similarity to a line in a traditional
prayer (du‘a’), attributed to Imam ‘Alí ibn
Ṭálib and recommended by thirteenth-cen-
tury Shia scholar Sayyid ibn Ṭáwús to be
97
R T,
P O
Bahá’í historians have not yet identi-
fi ed the year this prayer was revealed
by Bahá’u’lláh. In its April 2020 re-
sponse to an inquiry from an individ-
ual believer, the Research Department
of the Universal House of Justice
writes: “The identity of the recipient
and the date of its revelation remain
unknown, and we have no informa-
tion about its use during the time of
Bahá’u’lláh” (qtd. in Pschaida note
2). Some speculate that the prayer was
revealed during the “‘Akka period”
(1868-1892).6 Based on the account
quoted above it seems to have been in
use by the Bahá’ís in ‘Akka within the
fi rst ten years of that period, the time-
frame during which most of the exiles
were still living in the barracks of the
prison-city.
Two versions of the Arabic Long
Healing Prayer have been published
by Bahá’í publishers. The diff erences
between them are quite negligible for
such a long Tablet (96 percent is the
Ṣádiq-i-Yazdí, who fell gravely ill from
ileus while in Baghdad. Bahá’u’lláh told
‘Abdu’l-Bahá to repeat “Thou the Healer!”
[Yá Sháfí] while touching the distended
area. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reports doing so and
observing that the apple-sized swelling
and coiling of the aff ected part instantly
vanished (Memorials 43–44). However,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá seems to state that only the
words “Yá Sháfí” were intoned, rather than
the entire Long Healing Prayer.
6 “Lawhu Anta’l-Kafi .” Internet
Archive.
their usage of this prayer by anecdotes
from the early annals of the Bahá’í
Faith. Mírzá Ja‘far-i-Yazdí, a former
Shia religious scholar, upon embrac-
ing the Bahá’í Faith strove to serve
Bahá’u’lláh and his fellow believers
for the rest of his life. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
tells this story of Mírzá Ja‘far about
their time together in the prison of
‘Akká:
[W]hen we were in the barracks
he fell dangerously ill and was
confi ned to his bed. He suff ered
many complications, until fi nal-
ly the doctor gave him up and
would visit him no more. Then the
sick man breathed his last. Mírzá
Áqá Ján ran to Bahá’u’lláh, with
word of the death. Not only had
the patient ceased to breathe, but
his body was already going limp.
His family were gathered about
him, mourning him, shedding
bitter tears. The Blessed Beauty
said, “Go; chant the prayer of Yá
Sháfí—O Thou, the Healer—and
Mírzá Ja‘far will come alive. Very
rapidly, he will be as well as ever.”
I reached his bedside. His body
was cold and all the signs of death
were present. Slowly, he began to
stir; soon he could move his limbs,
and before an hour had passed he
lifted his head, sat up, and pro-
ceeded to laugh and tell jokes. He
lived for a long time after that,
occupied as ever with serving the
friends. (Memorials 157–58)5
5 Another story is that of Shaykh
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
98
Apparently, the oldest translation of
this Tablet into English was produced
in September 1945 in New York City.
In one available copy, the introduction
on the typed page states that the transla-
tion was carried out by “Ali Kuli Khan
and his daughter, Marzieh Gail”—both
accomplished translators of the Bahá’í
Writings. The introduction goes on to
state:
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH “invokes God
through” 119 diff erent Names and
41 refrains Healing, Guidance,
Protection and Happiness to those
who recite it; who cometh upon it,
who walketh around the house in
which it is.
This very important prayer—
carries great power—is very
cleansing and eff ective. (“Long
Healing Prayer”)
Although the claim of “119 Names”
in the introduction actually corre-
sponds to the Huva version, this ren-
dering lines up more closely with the
Bismi version. However, lines 15-17
are inexplicably not part of this transla-
tion (or perhaps have been accidentally
omitted by the typist). I have not been
able to determine if these translators
were aware of the Huva version when
they translated the Bismi recension.
At the time, Shoghi Eff endi explained
through his secretary that because this
prayer is “one which, when rendered
into English, loses much of its rich
Phelps’ assistance in identifying publica-
tions for each version.
same in both versions) but the few
dissimilarities can still be jarring for
someone who is intimately familiar
with only one version.7 In response
to this author’s enquiry, the Research
Department at the Bahá’í World Cen-
tre writes that “[t]he most authentic
version of the Long Healing Prayer
in Arabic that has been identifi ed is in
the handwriting of Zaynu’l-Muqarra-
bín, and it is this version that served
as the basis of the current authorized
English translation” (qtd. in Pschaida
note 2). Balyuzi (274–76) and Taher-
zadeh (Revelation vol. 1 25–26) note
that Zaynu’l-Muqarrabín was a former
doctor of Islamic law at the high rank
of mujtahid who was known for his
excellent calligraphy and for reliably
transcribing Bahá’u’lláh’s writings.
This is the recension that I call the
“Huva version” as it begins Huva (He
is), while what I call the “Bismi ver-
sion” distinctively begins Bism-i-llah
(In the name of God). The latter is the
Arabic version most commonly found
online and in Bahá’í prayer phone
apps, as well as in published prayer
books such as Tasbíḥ va Tahlíl and
Ad’iyyih Ḥaḍrat-i-Maḥbúb. The Huva
version was most recently published in
1988 by the Persian Institute for Bahá’í
Studies in Canada, in a book titled Na-
faḥát-i-Faḍl (“Fragrances of Divine
Favors”).8
7 For further details on the small
diff erences between these two versions,
as well as an attempted complete translit-
eration of the prayer’s spoken Arabic, see
Pschaida.
8 I wish to acknowledge Dr. Steven
99
Healing Prayer begins with a praise
or affi rmation of God’s reality or at-
tributes: “He is the Healer, the Suffi -
cer, the Helper, the All-Forgiving, the
All-Merciful.” Tablets, prayers and
epistles authored by Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá typically begin with the
Qur’anic “Bismilláh” (as can be ob-
served in the Kitáb-i-Íqán and Kitáb-i-
Aqdas) or with Huva (as in The Hidden
Words) or Huvalláh (“He is God,” pro-
nounced Hovalláh in Persian). Howev-
er, while other Tablets and prayers nor-
mally invoke only two or three names
of God, the Healing Prayer begins with
fi ve. This could be seen as foreshad-
owing the theme of this work, which
would seem to be the names of God
themselves.
After the opening, the next forty
verses invoke God in the second person
bika yá (“I call on Thee O . . .”) by His
“most beauteous names,” each verse
introducing three new names.9 Each
verse fi nishes with the repeated refrain
“Thou the Suffi cing (Anta’l-Káfí),
Thou the Healing (va Anta’sh-Sháfí),
Thou the Abiding (va Anta’l-Báqí), O
Thou Abiding One (yá Báqí)!”
This prayer appears to be orga-
nized in structures of nineteen. Thir-
ty-eight of these forty verses have
nineteen words each. Each name of
God is typically composed of two
syllables or—if one pronounces the
9 Sometimes a new name has a
shared three-letter root with another (previ-
ous) name. However, only the name Ṣáni‘
occurs twice in identical form (verses 14
and 17, translated fi rst as “Fashioner,” then
as “Creator”).
imagery, he does not feel it is suitable at
present for inclusion in a prayer book,”
(qtd. in Braun 10–11). Accordingly, as
I mentioned earlier, he never translated
this prayer, nor did Bahá’í publishing
trusts include the translation by Khan
and Gail. However, copies of this pro-
visional translation were informally
circulated among Bahá’ís before 1980.
In a letter dated 13 August 1980 to
“all National Spiritual Assemblies,”
the Universal House of Justice—Head
of the global Bahá’í community, over-
seeing quality and accuracy of all
offi cial translations of Bahá’í scrip-
ture—announced that it had “recently
commissioned the translation into En-
glish of two of the important works of
Bahá’u’lláh, namely the Long Healing
Prayer and His Tablet . . . known to
many in the West as the ‘Fire Tablet.’”
A copy of this translation was included
in this letter, announcing its completion
and approval (Messages 455). Soon the
prayer books of the Publishing Trust
of the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahá’ís of the United States began
including this translation, which is
now also found on database websites
of the Bahá’í Writings and in prayer
book apps; it has also become the ba-
sis of further translations into other
European languages. This translation
corresponds to the Arabic of the Huva
version. The analysis in this article is
based on this version.
S
As is typical of prayers and epistles
revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Long
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
100
number nineteen itself is signifi cant in
the Islamic tradition since the word for
“one” (wáḥid) is equal to the number
nineteen in the letter-to-number sym-
bolic system called abjad (w- has a
value of 6, ‘-á-’ of 1, -ḥ- of 8, and -d
of 4) (Schimmel, Mystery 224; Saiedi
106–7, 282). The use of nineteen does
seem deliberate by the Author who—
along with His predecessor the Báb—
invests the numbers nine and nineteen
with mystical signifi cance as numbers
that symbolize oneness, harmony, and
unity in diversity.14 Nine, as the high-
est single digit number, includes each
lower number and so symbolizes com-
pleteness, harmony, and unity among
the many, a concept frequently applied
to religion and to humanity in Bahá’í
teachings. Meanwhile, one is a number
that symbolizes God as He is the one
and only God.15 The number nineteen
takes on the symbolism of both nine
and one, including unity in diversity.
14 While the Bahá’í Writings also
frequently fi nd symmetry and symbolism
in many numbers (1, 5, 9, and 19 being
the most celebrated), the Bahá’í Faith does
not endorse any system of magic, numero-
logical or otherwise, and the number nine
seems to have an essentially symbolic sig-
nifi cance relating to completeness, harmo-
ny, and unity, according to Shoghi Eff endi
(qtd. in Hornby 415).
15 For Bahá’ís, it may also be said to
be a symbol of the oneness and wholeness
of human relationships, the single precious,
interconnected ecology of our planet, the
single animating inspiration of the world’s
sundry religions, and the unifi cation of the
human family through the common recog-
nition of Bahá’u’lláh.
grammatical-markers—three.10 Each
verse, but for a few exceptions, also
consists grammatically of thirty-eight
syllables—twice nineteen.11 Likewise,
the Long Healing Prayer calls on the
names of God 119 times in its forty
verses of supplicatory invocations.12
Ninety-one—nineteen reversed—
words with Arabic roots are used in this
Tablet.13 While these characteristics of
the Tablet are not apparent in transla-
tion, those who notice or are taught
these numerological patterns cannot
help but increase their admiration for
this Tablet and its elegant structure. The
10 The two exceptions are verse 3 in
which the third name Fard (Single One)
technically has only one syllable—or two
when the grammatical marker at the end
is pronounced—and verse 27 with its fi rst
divine name Ján (“Thou my Soul”).
11 It should be noted that in various
recitations of this prayer available online,
whether featuring a native Arabic or Per-
sian-dialectical pronunciation, only one
reciter pronounces the grammatical marker
at the end of each of the three names of
God. Without these markers, most verses
contain only thirty-fi ve syllables when re-
cited aloud. See Pschaida for links to many
online recordings of this prayer.
12 This is counting the names that
immediately follow “I call on Thee,” not the
repeated refrains “Thou the Suffi cing . . .”
13 For this count, we assume that the
word(s) Ján (“Soul”) and Jánán (Beloved),
found in verse 27 have shared roots. Jánán
may be considered the Persian plural of the
Persian and Arabic word Ján (with the Per-
sian suffi x -án), since both words share a
range of meanings such as “dearest, sweet-
heart, life, spirit” (Steingass 352)
101
“I call on Thee, O . . .” at the beginning
of each verse, and the refrain “Thou
the Suffi cing, Thou the Healing, Thou
the Abiding, O Thou Abiding One” to
close each verse.
Altogether, seventeen of the for-
ty verses have a rhyming pattern that
appears in at least one other verse
elsewhere in the Tablet. For example,
verses two, four, six, and twenty-seven
all have the rhyming ending -án. Like-
wise, verses twenty and twenty-one
each, back-to-back, feature the ending
-úm:
20: Bika yá Qayúm, bika yá Day-
múm, bika yá ‘Alúm
21. Bika yá ‘Aẓúm, bika yá Qa-
dúm, bika yá Karúm
However, I was not able to identify a
pattern governing when a given rhym-
ing syllable reappears in a later verse
in the Tablet.
Besides the internal rhyme in each
set of three of divine names, and the
occasional reoccurrence of rhyming
patterns in diff erent verses, the unity
between the verses is reinforced by the
repeating refrain “Thou the Suffi cing,
Thou the Healing, Thou the Abiding,
O Thou Abiding One!” that ends each
verse: “Anta’l-Káfí va Anta’sh-Sháfí va
Anta’l-Báqí ya Báqí.” The consistent
cadence or meter maintained through-
out the invocation of divine names also
strengthens the coherence and unity of
the entire Tablet.
The Long Healing Prayer concludes
with a paragraph of 160 words that be-
gins by praising God with subḥánaka
This unity in diversity may be applied
to God and His perfections, to the beau-
tiful diversity of the single human spe-
cies, and also to the myriad phenom-
ena of God’s creation in which each
phenomenon manifests attributes of its
one Fashioner. In this way, the number
nineteen itself symbolizes what I refer
to as a “metaphysics of unity.”
The three divine names introduced
at the start of each verse typically
rhyme with each other. For example,
verse thirty-two reads “Bika yá Ḥabíb,
bika yá Ṭabíb, bika yá Jadhíb”; all
three words end in -íb, while the fi rst
two names rhyme even more complete-
ly with each other through the shared
ending -bíb. Furthermore, the divine
names in each line almost always have
the same two-syllable (or three with
grammatical markers) cadence. The
consistent number of syllables, and the
repetition and rhyming, of the divine
names enhance the overall poetic, son-
ic, and meditative qualities of the Heal-
ing Prayer, giving it a musical eff ect.
The Bahá’í World Centre notes:
In the original Arabic of the Long
Healing Prayer, the Prayer for the
Dead, and the Prayer for the Fast
beginning, “I beseech Thee, O My
God,” the refrains are composed of
rhyming words which give them a
lyrical, musical quality which pro-
motes their evocative power. (qtd.
in Hatcher 146)
Much of this same lyrical, musical
quality has been maintained in transla-
tion through the repeated supplication
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
102
the translator.16 This passage presents
the Ultimate Being as approachable
by His generic name Alláh (the God)
or by the particular name and attribute
Raḥmán (Gracious, Benefi cent, Merci-
ful) or by another one of His beautiful
names of perfection. The passage quot-
ed above does not specify what these
other names of perfection might be, but
Surah 59:22–24 does list over twenty
of them, such as ‘Álim (Knower), Ma-
lik (Sovereign), Quddús (Holy One),
Salám (Source of Peace), and Kháliq
(Creator). Ernst notes that the Qur’án
itself contains over ninety-nine names
of God (81).
Over the centuries, scholars of Islam
have compiled lists of these names,
based on these and other verses in
the Qur’án, statements in the ḥadíth,
and logical inferences about qualities
attributable to a Being of perfection.
Although God is believed to have innu-
merable names, and hundreds of such
names have been compiled, focusing
on God through lists of ninety-nine
names became a prominent practice
among Muslims due to infl uential
ḥadíth:
Alláh has ninety-nine names, i.e.
one-hundred minus one, and who-
ever knows them will go to Para-
dise. (al-Bukhari 50:894)
16 For example, compare this
verse’s translations by Yusuf Ali, Muhsin
Khan, Ghali, Muhammad Asad, Wahidud-
din Khan, Laleh Bakhtiar, John Rodwell,
and many others available at www.islam-
awakened.com/quran/17/110/default.htm.
yá Alláhuma (Sanctifi ed art Thou),
and then presents a series of beautiful
images describing God’s generosity
and grace, before fi nally supplicating
Him by His “most beauteous names . .
. most noble and sublime attributes” to
protect, heal, and guide whoever comes
under the prayer’s infl uence. The
prayer ends with a meditative affi rma-
tion of eight more names, closing as it
opens—in acknowledgement of God’s
names: “Thou art verily the Powerful,
the All-Suffi cing, the Healing, the Pro-
tector, the Giving, the Compassionate,
the All-Generous, the All-Merciful.”
T N G:
A I T
The Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Zoro-
astrian, Sikh, and Bahá’í scriptures
each conceive of, relate to, and wor-
ship God via His various names, per-
fections, and attributes. In the Islamic
tradition this practice of connecting
with God through His names gains of-
fi cial scriptural validation: “Say: Call
upon Alláh, or call upon Raḥmán: by
whatever name ye call upon Him, (it
is well): for to Him belong the Most
Beautiful Names. Neither speak thy
Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low
tone, but seek a middle course be-
tween” (Qur’án 17:110). The phrase
translated as “Most Beautiful Names”
(al-Asmá’ al-Ḥusná) also appears in
Qur’án 7:180, 20:8, and 59:24. Due to
the rich nuance of the word ḥusná, this
phrase is variously rendered as Beau-
tiful, Best, Fairest, Most Excellent, or
Most Perfect Names, depending on
103
perfections. According to al-Ghazálí,
the wisdom of asserting ninety-nine
names can be understood by imagining
a king who has ninety-nine servants
or soldiers whom no enemy can over-
come. Even if that king actually has a
thousand soldiers, the group of only
ninety-nine is suffi ciently powerful,
just as a group of ninety-nine names of
God is suffi ciently abundant, awesome,
and rich. It is a representation and se-
lection of divine names that “bring
together varieties of meanings which
tell of [the divine] majesty which an-
other set of meanings would not be
able to bring together” (171–72). Sim-
ilar to the symbolic signifi cance of the
number nine in the Bahá’í Faith, nine-
ty-nine is a number of completeness or
suffi ciency in Islam.
That the Long Healing Prayer of
Bahá’u’lláh is in dialogue with the Is-
lamic tradition of calling upon God’s
names is made explicit by the use of
the Qur’anic phrase al-Asmá’ al-Ḥus-
ná (most beauteous names) itself in the
fi nal paragraphs of this Tablet. While
names of God are called upon 296
times in the entirety of the prayer, al-
together 126 distinct names of God are
called upon.17 In Table 1, we can see
the thirty-one names of God from the
Long Healing Prayer that correspond
to, or at least have the same three-let-
ter roots and shared meaning, some of
those ninety-nine names found in tradi-
tional Islamic lists.
17 This is when adding the opening
verse and the closing paragraph to the 119
names in the body of the prayer.
There are ninety-nine names of
Alláh; he who commits them to
memory would get into Paradise.
Verily, Alláh is Odd (He is one, and
it is an odd number) and He loves
an odd number. (Muslim 48:5)
These same two ḥadíth found in the
above Sunni compilations have also
been transmitted into the Shia tradition
through the very infl uential Islamic
scholar and Imam Ja‘far al-Ṣádiq, as
the tenth century Shia scholar, Shaykh
al-Ṣaduq tells us (209).
One of the most common lists
of God’s ninety-nine names came
through a ḥadíth, from the collection
of al-Tirmidhí in a chapter on suppli-
cation, said to have been narrated by
Abu Hurairah (Book 48, ḥadith 138).
A somewhat distinct listing was col-
lected by ibn Májah—one of six ma-
jor Sunni ḥadíth collectors—also in a
chapter on supplication (Chapter 37,
ḥadith 3861). While believing that the
statement in the ḥadíth that God has
ninety-nine names was authentic, Abu
Ḥámid al-Ghazálí acknowledged skep-
ticism about the reliability of the part
of this ḥadíth that actually specifi es
or lists these names, both because of
great diff erences in the matn (content)
of diff erent versions of the same ḥadíth
and because it rests on the authority
of just one companion and has only a
single isnád or chain (175). While up
to fi fteen names diff er between the
various available lists, Islamic theolo-
gians have consistently clarifi ed that
this is not problematic, as God actually
has more than ninety-nine names or
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
104
T 1: 99 N G I
L H P
Al-Ghazali /
Tirmidhi /
ibn Majah
lists
Long
Healing
Prayer
Al-Ghazali /
Tirmidhi /
ibn Majah
lists
Long
Healing
Prayer
‘Adl
(The Just)
‘Adl
(Just One)
Laṭíf
(Benevolent)
Laṭúf (Most
Benevolent One)
Aḥad
(The One)
Aḥad
(Peerless One)
Máni‘
(The Withholder)
Máni‘
(Withholding One)
‘Alím
(The Omniscient)
‘Alím
(Omniscient)
Mu’min
(The Faithful)
’Imán
(my Faith)
‘Alí
(The Most High)
‘Alí
(Exalted One)
Náfi‘
(He who benefits)
Náfi‘
(Benefi cent One)
‘Aẓím
(Tremendous)
‘Aẓím
(Most Great One)
Núr
(Light)
Núr
(Light)
‘Azíz
(The Eminent)
‘Azíz
(Mightiest One,
Powerful)
Qádir
(All-Powerful)
Qádir
(Almighty)
Alláh
(The God)
’lláhumma, yá Iláhí
(O my God)
Qayyúm
(Self-Existing)
Qayyúm
(All-Compelling)
Báqí
(The Everlasting)
Báqí
(Abiding One)
Quddús
(The Holy)
Quddús
(Most Holy)
Da’im
(Eternal)
Daymún
(Ever-Abiding)
Ra’úf
(All-Pitying)
Raú’úf
(Compassionate)
Fattáḥ
(The Opener)
Fattáḥ
(Unfastener)
Ráfi ‘
(Exalter)
Ráfi ‘
(Exalting One)
Ghafúr
(All-Forgiving)
Ghafúr
(All-Forgiving)
Raḥím
(Merciful)
Raḥím
(All-Merciful)
Ḥáfi ẓ
(All-Preserver)
Ḥáfi ẓ
(Protector)
Raḥmán
(Gracious)
Raḥman
(Clement One)
Ḥakím
(Wise)
Ḥakím
(Most Wise)
Ṣamad
(The Eternal)
Ṣamad
(Eternal One)
Jalíl
(The Majestic)
Jalíl
(Most Sublime One)
Vahháb
(The Bestower)
Vahháb
(Bestowing One)
Jámi‘
(The Uniter)
Jámi‘
(Gathering One)
Ẓáhir
(The Manifest)
Ẓáhir
(Manifest One)
Karím
(Generous)
Karím
(the All-Generous)
105
In Table 2 are fi fty-one of eighty-nine names of God found in the
Long Healing Prayer that are not typically found in the lists from Islamic
ḥadíth.18
18 For the sake of brevity, in cases where there are multiple Names with the same
Arabic three-letter roots, sometimes only one of these Divine Names is listed in this chart.
For example, while the Long Healing Prayer contains both Subḥán (Most Praised One) and
Subúḥ (Most-Lauded), the table only lists Subúḥ.
‘Áshiq (The Best Lover) Ján (my Soul) Naṣṣáḥ (Counselor)
‘Aṭúf (Kind to All) Káfí (Suffi cing) Nuzúh (Sanctifi ed One)
Bádhil (Generous One) Káshif (Unfolder) Qáli‘ (Uprooter)
Bahí (Glorious One) Láfi ẓ (Lord of Utterance) Qáni‘ (Satisfi er)
Bahháj (Bringer of Delight) Láḥiẓ (All-Seeing) Rúḥ (Spirit)
Báligh (Perfecting One) Ma‘ádh (Shelter to all) Sábigh (Bountiful One)
Balláj (Brightener) Maḥẓúẓ (Lord of Joy) Ṣáni‘ (Fashioner)
Dayyán (Judge) Majdhúb (Enraptured One) Sáqí (Quencher of Thirsts)
Dháwit
(Source of all Being)
Maládh (Haven for all) Sháfí (Healing)
Faḍḍál (Bountiful One) Malḥúẓ (Desired One) Subúḥ (Most Lauded)
Fáliq (Lord of the Dawn) Ma‘múr
(Frequented by All)
Sulṭán (Sovereign)
Fard (Single One) Musta‘án (Helping One) Ṭabíb (Physician)
Fárigh (Unfettered One) Nábit (Life-Giving One) Ṭáli‘ (Rising One)
Ghá’ib (Concealed One) Naff áth (Quickening One) Thábit (Constant One)
Ghálí (Most Precious One) Najjáḥ (Deliverer) Vafí (Faithful One)
Ghálib (Triumphant One) Náshif (Ravager) Vahháj (Enkindler)
Ghayáth (Succorer of all) Naṣír (Sustaining One) Váthiq (the Most Trusted)
T 2: S L H P
I 99 N G
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
106
may recite the names or praises of God
silently or out loud, including in song,
but it is considered most essential to
recollect God in the heart (whether
the tongue is used or silent) until one’s
innermost consciousness is engaged
(Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions 167,
171).
The most prominent practice of
repetition of divine names in dhikr
among Muslims is usually facilitated
by a string of thirty-three or nine-
ty-nine prayer beads—called tasbíḥ
or subḥa. This practice is not only
found among those formally associat-
ed with Sufi orders; many other Mus-
lims carry and regularly use prayer
beads.20 Depending on the individual
believer—and based on their upbring-
ing, their Islamic mentors, or their
personal preference—this practice
may consist of mentioning one divine
name per bead until all ninety-nine
names have been invoked, or of re-
peating a set of divine names multiple
times. Within a Sufi order, the shaykh
20 For some Sufi s prayer beads are
more of a distraction than a helpful tool for
dhikr, and to some degree so are the divine
names themselves, since remembrance of
God’s names should be constant, not as an
end in itself, but as a doorway to Divine
experience, knowledge, and communion.
On the other hand, for some Muslims a
set of prayer beads—having been con-
stantly handled in the context of praising
God’s names (and perhaps passed down
over multiple generations and/or from an
individual regarded as saintly)—imbibes
sacred power or baraka and becomes in
itself a kind of talisman.
From this table and the discussion thus
far, we can infer that Bahá’u’lláh was
neither seeking to affi rm a particular
list in the Islamic traditions of God’s
ninety-nine names nor to present an
altogether new one in His composi-
tion of the Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí. Rather,
as seems to be typical of Revelation,
the Author makes use of vocabulary,
literary forms, and concepts that are
familiar to His recipients, repurposing
and combining these building blocks
of the cultural-religious-linguistic mi-
lieu in new ways to convey those truths
He wishes—or is called upon—to
communicate.19
D P B
Dhikr—recollecting, remembering,
bringing to mind, mentioning, or prais-
ing God—is a central Islamic concept
and ritual practice through which the
Muslim strives to focus on the Ultimate
and become more and more aware of
His omnipresent, absolute Reality at
every moment. Dhikr is frequently
practiced by repeating the Names of
God, and related phrases of praise, as
a kind of mantra; this is done both in-
dividually and in the communal rituals
of Sufi groups. Depending on the Sufi
order and the school of practice, one
19 We should note that in a Bahá’í
point of view, the building blocks are not
simply old pieces rearranged; Bahá’u’lláh
states that they are themselves “made
new,” and that “[i]nto every word that God
doth speak a new spirit is breathed, and the
breezes of life are wafted therefrom upon
all things” (Additional Tablets).
107
Highest), to improving eye ailments
by reciting Al-Baṣír (The All-Seeing)
(Zaidi). In fact, about a dozen of
the names discussed on this site are
claimed to have curative eff ects—from
healing broken relationships (Wadúd
[Loving] or Waḥíd [Singular]), to scor-
pion bites (al-Wási‘ [Ample-giving])
or snake bites (al-Aḥad), to cure-alls
(Salám [Peace] and Sháfí [Healing]).
Sunni Islam shares this traditional
belief in the curative and protetcitve
eff ects of invoking the names of God
in ritual ways (Trimingham 28).22 Ibn
‘Aṭa’ Alláh, an infl uential Sufi teacher
of the thirteenth century, taught that
the names of God, when called upon,
are potent cures for illness, but they
are only eff ective as a remedy when
they have a logical connection with
the desired eff ect; the cure occurs
through a kind of transformation of
the consciousness of the person per-
forming dhikr (Sufi sm 93–94). This
background helps us understand the
cultural milieu in which Bahá’u’lláh’s
Long Healing Prayer was initially
received, and we may imagine that
someone with such an Islamic back-
ground reading this prayer may see
in a specifi c name the power to cure
a specifi c kind of ailment or solve a
particular diffi culty.
22 Beyond calling upon God’s names
in dhikr for healing or protection, another
common practice for Muslims has been to
imbibe potions made from the ink, saff ron,
or another substance which has been used
to write God’s names (Ernst 90–91).
(spiritual teacher) carefully chooses
for the novice or veteran student the
exact formula needed to spiritually
advance, according to that student’s
psychological condition, as a physi-
cian would mix medicinal ingredients
(Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions
103–4). For example, the student try-
ing to master hope may receive a dif-
ferent dhikr-formula than one working
on renunciation or on complete trust in
God (169–70). Another student might
simply be prescribed the repetition of
the name “Alláh” day and night so that
God would always be in their heart and
mind, whether awake or sleeping.21
Today, Muslims seeking to advance
their sense of mystical connection
will frequently look to the world-wide
web for dhikr formulas, consisting
of various phrases of praise, such as
Subḥana Alláh (Glory is to Alláh), Al-
Hamdu Lilláh (Praise is due to Alláh),
and Alláhu Akbar (Alláh is the Great).
Many diff erent names of God are fea-
tured in these formulas. One website
of the Shia Islamic tradition lists 128
names of God, discussing for each
one the benefi ts that can derive from
repeating that divine name—from be-
ing in the company of angels through
reciting al-Aḥad (The One), to raising
one’s status by reciting al-‘Alí (The
21 My former Arabic teacher from
Egypt, who would constantly carry his
prayer beads, told me that he focuses on
thanking God through two divine names:
“I usually say Yá Allah (O God) Yá Karím
(O Generous One) because I feel that God
is so generous with me even if I don’t do
what I must do towards Him.”
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
108
survey of strategies in this regard in ex-
isting Bahá’í literature. Shoghi Eff endi
explains in a letter written on his behalf
in 1925:
mere mechanical repetition of the
syllables is not referred to. The
utterance of the word must be ac-
companied by the turning of the
heart to God. When we turn to God
with our whole heart and invoke
His Name, a spiritual connection
is established through which we
become a channel of divine in-
fl uence. (qtd. in Research Depart-
ment of the Universal House of
Justice, Memorandum dated 15
September 2003)
In this letter, the Research Department
also quotes a statement written on be-
half of the Universal House of Justice
on 4 January 1991 to an individual
Bahá’í, elucidating the purpose and
eff ects of this devotional practice: “As
a devoted believer in Bahá’u’lláh, you
have the privilege of using the Great-
est Name and the revealed prayers to
draw on the power of the Holy Spirit,
which is your shield and your protec-
tion through any diffi culties and which
will bring reassurance and serenity to
your heart.”
Although many divine names of
God can be found throughout revealed
Bahá’í prayers, it is the recital of the
Long Healing Prayer that, after the
daily repetition of Alláh-u-Abhá, is the
most prominent devotional act in which
a Bahá’í meditates upon and prais-
es God’s names. According to their
D P B
B’ F
The Bahá’í Faith does not have a pre-
scribed ritual of repeating either nine-
ty-nine names of God or a handful
of names of God ninety-nine times.
However, Bahá’u’lláh decreed in the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas that each day “every
believer in God, the Lord of Judge-
ment” should perform ablutions,
“seat himself and, turning unto God,
repeat” the Most Great Name “Alláh-
u-Abhá” ninety-fi ve times. “Such was
the decree of the Maker of the Heavens
when, with majesty and power, He es-
tablished Himself upon the thrones of
His Names” (¶18). Believers “repeat”
(literally, yudhakir—from the same
triliteral Arabic root as dhikr) Alláh-
u-Abhá, meaning “God the All-Glori-
ous,” individually and alone. There are
relatively few prescriptions for how
exactly to perform this daily ritual.
The method for counting to ninety-fi ve
is left to the choice of the individual
Bahá’í; some choose to employ prayer
beads, while others count to nineteen
using the phalanges and tips of the fi n-
gers of one hand, repeating this process
for fi ve cycles to reach ninety-fi ve.23
Each individual may fi nd various ways
of focusing their mental energy, imag-
es, and thoughts; there is no extensive
23 Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá owned prayer beads. See, for example
Taherzadeh (Revelation vol. 4; Covenant
200) and Gail (200). Shoghi Eff endi clar-
ifi ed that the use of prayer beads is neither
required nor prohibited for Bahá’ís (qtd. in
Hornby 462).
109
Du‘á’ al-Bahá’ to the Bahá’í Faith may
be found in the Báb’s choice of the
fi rst nineteen divine names found in
this prayer for the names of the nine-
teen months of the Badí‘ calendar.24
Bahá’u’lláh clarifi ed some details of
the Báb’s revealed calendar and made
it the offi cial Bahá’í calendar.
Although, as mentioned above,
the Du‘á’ al-Bahá’ is not explicitly a
healing prayer, healing prayers have
a prominent place within the Islamic
tradition, for both Sunnis and Shias.
A popular Sunni healing prayer from
the ḥadith reads: “O Alláh, the Lord
of the people! Remove (Athhib) the
trouble (al-bá’sa) and heal (ashfi ), for
You are the Healer (al-Sháfí). No heal-
ing (shifá’) is of any avail but Your
healing (shifá’úka); healing (shifá’an)
that will leave behind no ailment
(saqaman).”25 (al-Bukhari, 76:57)
While it does not invoke many names
of God, this prayer is similar to Du’á’
al-Bahá’ in that it intensely focuses on
various forms of a single triliteral root
(sh-f-ú). Bahá’u’lláh’s Long Healing
24 This calendar consists of nine-
teen months of nineteen days plus four to
fi ve “intercalary” days. Nineteen also is a
number of some signifi cance in the Qur’án.
For example, there is a group of nineteen
angels mentioned in 74:30. The Qur’án is
organized into 114 chapters—a multiple of
nineteen—and the bismillah may be count-
ed as having nineteen letters (if one does
not count the dagger-alif between the ‘m’
and ‘n’ in al-raḥmán).
25 Note: There are some variations
of the morphologies of individual words of
this prayer.
personal preference, some Bahá’ís say
the prayer rarely or only on very spe-
cial occasions, while others might say
the prayer daily—for instance, a physi-
cian reciting the prayer each morning
before work.
I P
L H P
Although not specifi ed as a healing
prayer per se, a beautiful predecessor
in the Islamic tradition to Bahá’u’lláh’s
Long Healing Prayer is likely the
prayer of Bahá’, credited to the fi fth
Shia Imam Muḥammad al-Báqir. This
prayer, variously referred to as Du‘á’
al-Bahá’ (Prayer of Glory) or Du‘á’
al-Saḥar (Dawn Prayer), is about twen-
ty-three verses long, and is repeated by
Shia Muslims at night or in pre-dawn
during the Ramadan month of fasting.
Each verse focuses upon a divine name,
or two, by which to beseech God: from
Bahá’ (Splendor/Glory) in verse one,
to Jamál (Beauty) in verse two, Jalál
(Glory/Splendor) in verse three, and
Jabarút (Omnipotence) in the last
verse. The fi rst verse, in a stirring
translation by Stephen Lambden, sup-
plicates: “O my God! I beseech Thee
by Thy Splendor (Bahá’) at its most
Splendid (Abhá’) for all Thy Splendor
(Bahá’) is truly resplendent (Bahíy). I,
verily, O my God! beseech Thee by the
fullness of Thy Splendor (Bahá’)” (al-
Báqir). In its mode of short, pithy, sup-
plications of the Divine Names, it may
be regarded as a preeminent forebear
of Bahá’u’lláh’s Long Healing Prayer.
Indeed, a vital importance of the
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
110
that gives life and health, the Maker
of both abundance and the limits that
are required for balance, the Remover
of disease, suff ering, and illness. The
interplay of two divine names starting
with Q—Qadímun and Qá’imun—re-
inforces a conceptualization of God as
the eternal Foundation of life and the
universe. At the same time, through fo-
cused concentration on forms of words
for Mercy (from the root r-ḥ-m), del-
icately introduced with the single-let-
ter preposition b- (“by,” “through,” or
“with”), the prayer reminds us that the
benefi cial workings of all these other
divine names are by the fundamental
attribute of Mercy or Grace.
As is discussed below, the danc-
ing interplay between divine names
is found throughout Bahá’u’lláh’s
Long Healing Prayer. In each verse,
the prayer presents a new set of three
divine names, inviting the worshipper
to meditate not only on the meaning
of each name in the set but also on
the relationship of each name with
the others. Additionally, the repeated
“Thou the Abiding, O Thou Abiding
One” (Anta’l-Báqí yá Báqí) at the end
of each verse calls the seeker of heal-
ing to meditate upon the realities of
this attribute in particular, just as the
various words for “Mercy” do in the
above-mentioned Islamic prayer.
T G N C
Various Muslims have claimed to
know the greatest of the names of
God—either one of the ninety-nine or
the hundredth—and that knowing this
Prayer utilizes a similar literary device
through the repeating line at the end of
each verse: “Thou the Suffi cing, Thou
the Healing (Sháfí), Thou the Abid-
ing (Báqí), O Thou Abiding One (yá
Báqí).” Both prayers use repetition to
continually reaffi rm in the reader a vi-
sion of God as Healer.
The central theme in many of the
Islamic healing prayers is God’s per-
fections. The following fascinating
Shia prayer—traditionally attributed to
the Imam ‘Alí—focuses the worship-
per on the name of God Azal (Eternal)
and variations on its three-letter root
(z-ú-l). It closes with derivations on
a three-letter root r-ḥ-m in speaking
of God’s mercy. It also includes affi r-
mations of two other names of God,
and—if recited three times a day—is
promised to cure any sickness. It reads:
Alláh is eternal (Qadímun), ev-
erliving (Azalíyun); He removes
(yuzillu) suff ering (al-‘alala);
He is self-subsisting (Qá‘imun),
ever-existing (Azalíyun) by His
eternity (Azalíyati), neither perish-
es nor ceases to exist (lam yazal
wa la yazálu). By Your mercy
(bi-Raḥmatika), O the most be-
nefi cent (yá Arḥama-l-ráḥimín).
(“Miscellaneous Du-a’as” 286)
The fl ow of this prayer can be likened
to a creative choreography, in which the
repetition of -zal- and -zil- (of the z-ú-l
root letters) in a play on words juxta-
poses their interacting meanings—ev-
er-continuing and ceasing, infi nity and
fi nitude. God is presented as the Life
111
The Báb discussed an Islamic ḥadíth
in which Alláh, Tabáraka (Blessed),
and Ta‘álá or ‘Alí (Exalted)—and their
numerical, symbolic corollaries Huva
and Káfí (Suffi cing)—are disclosed as
the Most Great Names of God (Saie-
di 105–7).27 A fourth name has been
kept hidden, yet the Báb (the Gate)
hints that it is His own name or that
of Bahá’ (Glory). Interestingly, many
of the above-mentioned names posited
as the greatest name are found in the
Healing Prayer in positions of partic-
ular prominence. Thus, Bahá’u’lláh
begins the Healing Prayer with Huva
in the introductory invocation, the very
fi rst verse contains both ‘Alí and Bahí,
Raḥman is in the sixth verse and Raḥím
is in the opening and closing, and Káfí
is in the opening, closing, and the re-
peating refrain.
From 1848, at the Conference of Ba-
dasht, Bahá’u’lláh, whose given name
was Mírzá Husayn ‘Alí Núrí, then a
leading Bábí, began to be known as
Bahá or Bahá’u’lláh. At this Confer-
ence, each day a new Tablet was re-
vealed and chanted for the attendees,
and a new name was bestowed upon
each of the eighty-one assembled be-
lievers.28 In the ensuing decades, Mírzá
Louis Gardet, “al-Asmáʾ al-Ḥusná,” Ency-
clopedia of Islam, 2nd edition.
27 Saiedi explains in more depth that
Huva and Káfí are symbolic corollaries of
‘Alí through their numerological value in
the abjad system of translation in which the
letter-values in ‘Alí [110] have an intimate
relation with Huva [11] and Káfí [111].
28 The historical sources
(Dawn-Breakers 293; God Passes By 31)
name gave them charisms, or spiritu-
al, supernatural powers (Schimmel,
Mystical Dimensions 177; Decipher-
ing 119). In Abrahamic traditions,
knowing God’s truest, hidden names
has been associated with the ability to
work miracles, as evidenced by Jewish
and Islamic tales of prophets who were
able to achieve the impossible because
of the secret names of God, such as
those written on Moses’ staff or on Jo-
seph’s cloak (Fodor 107–8, 110). With-
in Islamic history, various names have
been proposed as the greatest, perhaps
most popularly Allah itself. Al-Ghazálí
said “Alláh” itself is “the greatest of
the names (Á‘ẓim’l-Asmá’) . . . because
it refers to the essence which unites all
the attributes of divinity, so that none
of them is left out, whereas each of the
remaining names only refers to a single
attribute” (Al-Ghazálí 51). Raḥmán or
Raḥím, which are God’s most empha-
sized names in the Qur’án, and Váḥid
(One, Singular) and Huva (He/He is)
have also been commonly nominated.
Al-Ghazálí cited a ḥadíth in which the
supreme name of God is promised to
be contained in Qur’án verse 2:163,
“Your God is One (Váḥid); there is
no God save He (Huva), the Gracious
(Raḥmán), the Merciful (Raḥím),” and
in Qur’an 3:1–2, “‘Alif Lám Mím.
Alláh! There is no God save He (Huva),
the Living (Ḥayu), the Eternal Sus-
tainer (Qayyúm)” (al-Ghazálí 173).26
26 Note: The translated text inac-
curately cites chapter and verse, which I
have corrected above. For a discussion of
“Alláh” as either just one of the names of
God, or the all-encompassing name, see
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
112
purposes is a question that will be
discussed further below. For now, we
might propose that the many names of
God in the Long Healing Prayer be con-
sidered as parts of the spectrum of the
light of the name Bahá’, which includes
them all. Thus, for a Bahá’í, through
the contemplation of these names, the
Long Healing Prayer acts as a portal to
the heaven of the Divine Reality.
P C
D N
Bahá’u’lláh’s Long Healing Prayer
integrates elements of supplication,
praise, and affi rmation, and also invites
meditation. First, the one who recites
the Tablet expresses their ardent desire
for healing and protection. Second, the
Tablet has the reader express praise,
adoration, or magnifi cation of the glo-
rious Divine Reality in familiar sec-
ond-person language (-ka [Thee], Anta
[Thou]), facilitating a mystical I-Thou
encounter between one’s self and one’s
Lord.30 Third, through the bika (I call
on Thee) preceding each divine name,
the Tablet encourages the reader to
deepen their sense of the Divine Reali-
ty by contemplating the signifi cance of
each individual divine name in itself.
Lastly, the poetic interplay between the
names in each verse prompts the reader
to meditate upon the interrelationships
30 This concept is borrowed from
Jewish philosopher Martin Buber who, in
his celebrated work I and Thou, meditates
upon the sacrality of a personal and gen-
uine relationship, whether between two
humans or between a human and God.
Husayn ‘Alí Núrí more and more often
used a combination of Bahá with Alláh
for His own name, a name He would
later affi rm as “The Most Great Name”
in His writings. As Alláh is the Being
believed to have all names and perfec-
tions, we might venture that Bahá’—
meaning glory, splendor, radiance,
and light—can be likened to light that
contains the full spectrum of colors and
energy waves. Bahá’u’lláh may thus be
viewed as the name that includes all di-
vine names.29
The Greatest Name is believed by
many within the Islamic tradition to
have miraculous power, including
that of restoring health, and two of
Bahá’u’lláh’s well-known prayers in-
clude the statement that God’s “name is
my healing” (Prayers and Meditations
174, 262). Whether the integration of
the name Bahá’ itself into the Long
Healing Prayer is intended for med-
itative, talismanic, or transformative
leave the question of whether it was the
Báb or Bahá’u’lláh who was conferring
the new names somewhat open. Whoever
was the immediate source, the Báb in lat-
er letters would confi rm these new names
(Dawn-Breakers 293).
29 This statement and analogy is
my personal understanding; I know of no
authoritative explanation on what makes
Bahá God’s greatest name, apart from
Bahá’u’lláh decreeing it to be so. Howev-
er, there have been various investigations
by Bahá’í authors into the Greatest Name.
See, for example, Abu’l Qasim Faizi’s
““Explanation of the Symbol of the Great-
est Name” and Stephen Lambden’s ““The
Word Bahá: Quintessence of the Greatest
Name.”
113
present before, now, after) or spatial
(pervading here, there, everywhere)
implications of the One called Ṣamad;
one might further consider that Ṣamad
created—and therefore transcends—
both time and space. Again, next, one
may be moved to pause and meditate
upon the inexhaustibly valuable jewel
of God’s name Fard (Single One).
While one can pause to consider
the precious meanings of each divine
perfection, the resonant rhyming of the
three divine names within each verse
may prompt the reader to also meditate
upon the metaphysical relationship be-
tween the names—as in poetry, where
concepts, aesthetics, and imagery are
conveyed in ways that transcend the
capacity of each single word. In the
fi rst verse we read: Bika yá ‘Alí, bika
yá Vafí, bika yá Bahí, Anta’l-Káfí va
Anta’sh-Sháfí va Anta’l-Báqí ya Báqí.
In this verse the Arabic words used for
Exalted One, Faithful One, and Glori-
ous One rhyme with each other through
the shared ending of -í, and also rhyme
with the names of God in the repeating
refrain, “Thou the Suffi cing, Thou the
Healing, Thou the Abiding, O Thou
Abiding One.”31 In this case, the liter-
ary, rhyming elements encourage the
31 The only other verse in which
all six of the invoked names rhyme with
each other is verse 28, which calls upon the
three divine names Sáqí, ‘Álí, and Ghálí:
Quencher of Thirsts, Transcendent Lord,
Most Precious One. Otherwise, there are
two distinct sets of rhymes in each verse;
the fi rst three names rhyme with each other
and then the repeated refrain rhymes with-
in itself.
between each set of divine names. In a
metaphysics of unity, each divine name
is in itself inexhaustible in signifi cance
as an expression of the One; at the same
time, each divine name is allowed to
speak to each of the others in an intimate
relationship and all three names are
meditated upon as to their interweaving
application to the human-ethical-social
contexts and the natural world.
A few examples of what meditation
within a metaphysics of unity could
look like may be helpful to the read-
er. In the Long Healing Prayer, each
divine name is not simply treated as
one of many that are all called upon
together in a list; instead, each name is
presented to be called upon individu-
ally. In the Arabic original, bika yá (I
call on Thee O . . .) precedes each of
the initial three names in the verse. In
the English translation, while the “I
call on Thee” only begins the verse
itself, the invocation honoring the dig-
nity of each divine name is preserved
with the “O” preceding each name.
Thus, instead of reading lightly over
each name as merely part of a string
of words, the person praying may be
moved to pause and contemplate the
profundity of this single attribute as a
personal name of God, a kind of in-
dividual precious pearl or gem on the
string. For example, in the third verse,
“Bika yá Aḥad bika yá Ṣamad bika yá
Fard,” having paused to refl ect on the
pearl of Aḥad (Peerless One), one is
also moved to pause at Ṣamad (Eter-
nal One) as a gem-like, infi nitely rich
in meaning, name of God in itself. One
might refl ect on the temporal (always
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
114
Judge,” we fi nd in Arabic the rhyming
“-án”: Bika yá Sulṭán, bika yá Raf‘án,
bika yá Dayyán. The rhyme elicits the
question: how are Sovereign, Uprais-
er, and Judge interrelated? Personal
meditation could yield any number of
answers to the question, and any num-
ber of implications for our own lives.
For example, one may consider that
perhaps God is sovereign not only be-
cause of infi nite power and possession
but because that power is deployed to
develop and elevate His creatures in
ways that He has judged will be truly
helpful. How might we use our own
powers, possessions, and discernment
to do similarly, on a human level? That
the repeated refrain (Káfí, Sháfí, and
Báqí) also rhymes within itself may
also prompt us to consider the rela-
tionship between these three attributes
and the three new ones introduced:
How can we use our powers to suffi ce,
to heal, and to abide (which we might
interpret as mindfully being with and
accompanying each other)? Thus, in
this interpretive metaphysics of unity
and wholeness, we continue to apply
refl ection on the Divine Personality to
the human ethical and social level.
Because each the three new names
in each verse typically rhyme with
each other, it stands out for the reciter
when one of the names does not. Verse
seven, “I call on Thee O Beloved One,
O Cherished One, O Enraptured One,”
reads in Arabic Bika yá Ma‘shúq, bika
yá Maḥbúb, bika ya Majdhúb.32 The
32 Each of these names can be trans-
lated as a variation on romantic ideals of
worshipper to ask the metaphysical
question: What is the intimate connec-
tion between God being Exalted and
being Faithful, between being Glorious
and being Suffi cing? One might con-
template the nature of exaltation on the
human plane, and consider that being a
majestic king or an eagle soaring high
in the clouds need not mean a cold
detachment from the people and ecol-
ogy of this planet, but can rather imply
being a faithful friend and partner in
mutual wellbeing. Likewise, with ‘Alí
(Exalted)—also a Bahá’í title for ‘Ali
Muḥammad, the Báb—we are remind-
ed of how He demonstrated genuine
hospitality, such as when he received
Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bushrú’í on their fi rst
meeting. With Bahí (Glorious)—also
alluding to Bahá’u’lláh—we are re-
minded of how He was known as “the
Father of the Poor” in the 1840s, and
of how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá later exempli-
fi ed a generous way of life among His
neighbors in ‘Akká and Haifa. In this
way, the rhyme that unites these six
divine names invites the reciter to con-
sider the truths constituted through the
interrelationships between all six, and
thereby paints a rich, organic spectrum
of the Divine Personality—one with
equally organic implications for the
socio-ethical, human realm.
In most succeeding verses, the three
new attributes introduced in that verse
rhyme with each other, encouraging
further refl ection on the metaphysical
interrelationship between each new set
of three divine names. For example,
in the second verse that begins “I call
on Thee O Sovereign, O Upraiser, O
115
are “married” in Qur’anic descriptions
of the garden of heaven. In the writ-
ings of Bahá’u’lláh, these same Ḥúr or
heavenly “maidens” are spiritualized
as progressively revealed theophanies
or personifi cations of God’s attributes,
truths, or the Holy Spirit itself.34 Con-
ceiving of the divine names as sentient
theophanies in and of themselves rein-
forces our intent to meditate upon each
of the divine names, both individually
and in relationship to each other, in the
Healing Prayer, and also reinforces
conceiving the divine names as inti-
mately present within or near our own
soul.35 A metaphysics of unity may also
open us to consider the intimate rela-
tionship of the Bahá’í revelation with
other holy books. For example, this set
of divine names may also remind us
of the act of Divine decree at the be-
ginning of the Book of Genesis: “the
wind” (ruaḥ in Hebrew, related to rúḥ
in Arabic) of the Lord moves across
34 See, for example, “How many
the ḥúrís of inner meaning that are as yet
concealed within the chambers of divine
wisdom!” (Kitáb-i-Íqán 70) and “I have
summoned the Maids (ḥúríyát) of Heav-
en to emerge from behind the veil . . . and
have clothed them with these words of
mine” (Gleanings 327). See also Hatcher,
Hemmat, and Hemmat, “Bahá’u’lláh’s
Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih.”
35 By “within and near” is meant
the Bahá’í understanding of both the ev-
er-abiding divine Omnipresence with
each soul as well as the human capacity to
develop spiritual virtues. In this two-fold
way, divine attributes may be thought of as
“married” to the human soul.
consistent vowels (a, ú) and the alliter-
ative, shared fi rst syllable of each name
(ma-) partially veil the lack of a perfect
rhyme. Nonetheless, the fi rst divine
name still stands out to some degree,
which may prompt the reciter of the
prayer to prioritize meditating upon the
name Ma‘shúq in itself and its relation-
ship to the other two divine names in
which loving includes cherishing and
being enraptured.33
Another interesting case of a near
rhyme is verse 10, which invokes a
kind of interplay between God’s names
Spirit, Light, and Manifest One: Bika
yá Rúḥ, bika yá Núr, bika yá Ẓuhúr. Núr
and Ẓuhúr rhyme with each other, but
not with Rúḥ. As in the above example,
this lack of rhyme is mitigated by the
shared long-vowel -ú-. Distinct from
the above, however, here the rhyming
aspect is also reinforced by the fact
that one may quickly discern that Rúḥ
backwards is Ḥúr, which does rhyme
with the other two. If in the meditative
recitation of the prayer, the reciter does
take the path of thinking of both Rúḥ
and Ḥúr then they may be remind-
ed that in the Qur’án, the Ḥúr are the
entities (usually translated as “black
eyed damsels” or “virgins” or “fair
ones”) to whom the blessed believers
lover and beloved—ma‘shúq having to do
with ardent, impassioned lover/beloved,
maḥbúb having to do with a cherished
sweetheart or darling and majdhúb with
someone who is completely possessed or
enraptured with love or attraction.
33 In verses 8 and 36 the fi rst divine
name, likewise, stands out by not truly
rhyming with the second and third names.
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
116
and generously in the background—a
servant leader. Likewise, as the word
Ghá’ib shares a root with the important
Qur’anic concept of the Ghayb (Un-
seen) that in Islamic metaphysics en-
compasses such realities as the angels,
the afterlife, and God Himself, and
additionally—in Bahá’í scripture—the
“Celestial Concourse,” one gains con-
fi dence that such divine agents will
subtly and graciously reinforce and
inspire one’s eff orts to humbly strive to
serve and sincerely obey God’s teach-
ings (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 12).38
A similar case is verse 35: “Bika yá
Wahháj, bika yá Balláj, bika yá Bah-
háj,” in which the third name diff ers
by only one phoneme from each of the
other two (Wahhaj/Bahhaj and Ballaj/
Bahhaj), reinforcing a conception of
an intimate relationship between God
as Enkindler, God as Brightener, and
God as Bringer of Delight. Likewise,
in verse 14’s “Bika yá Ṣáni‘, bika yá
Qáni‘, bika yá Qáli‘” the fi rst two di-
vine names only diff er by the fi rst letter
of each (Ṣ- vs. Q-), while the second
38 To my knowledge, there is no
complete, offi cial list in authoritative
Bahá’í sources of who or what is includ-
ed in the “Celestial Concourse.” However,
Bahá’ís will often refer to the Concourse
as including heavenly angels, Prophets and
Messengers of God, pure souls and saint-
like beings who have passed on (including
holy individuals and martyrs in the Bahá’í
Faith and other religions), and mystical—
perhaps symbolic—maidens (ḥúr). Bahá’í
Scripture repeatedly promises their aid, as
can be seen in Gleanings from the Writings
of Bahá’u’lláh 280, 334.
the formless stuff of creation, while the
command “Let there be light” (‘ówr in
Hebrew, related to núr in Arabic) re-
vealed the distinctive shape God was
giving creation.36 The contemplation
of this striking word, Rúḥ, that does
not literally rhyme with the others is
further facilitated by the fact that the
following verse continues the -úr pat-
tern of rhyme with Ma‘múr, Mashhúr,
and Mastúr (Thou Frequented by all,
Thou Known to all, Thou Hidden from
all). Rúḥ thus becomes the odd name
out, directing the attention of the close
reader to its relation to these other fi ve
names.
Some verses feature names that are
diff erentiated by only a single pho-
neme, inviting meditation on the in-
terrelationships between these divine
names in particular. In verse 12, for
example, only the middle phoneme -l-
diff erentiates the second divine name
from the fi rst: “Bika yá Ghá’ib, bika
yá Ghálib, bika yá Wáhib (I call on
Thee O Concealed One, O Triumphant
One, O Bestowing One).”37 Thus, the
reader of this invocation may think of
a triumphant one as not necessarily
being conspicuous, fl amboyant, and
imposing but, rather, “concealed” or
quiet and humble, working eff ectively
36 Genesis 1 also reminds us of the
popular Islamic ḥadíth qudsi, “I was a Hid-
den Treasure and loved to be made known,
so I created creation to be known”—a
creation that discloses the attributes of the
Creator.
37 The root verb ghalaba contains
the overlapping meanings of “subduer”
and “conqueror” (Wehr 796).
117
divine names share the same three-let-
ter root, highlighting shades of signif-
icance in an underlying basic ideal.
Thus, the divine names in verse 24,
Ma‘ádh (Shelter to all) and Musta‘ádh
(All-Preserving One), both from the
Arabic root ‘-ú-dh, drive home and
emphasize the sheltering and preserv-
ing nature of a refuge—maintaining
and protecting the individual and fam-
ily from material, psychological, and
spiritual harm. Verse 25, meanwhile,
begins with two words from the root
gh-ú-th, Ghayáth (Thou Succorer of
all) and Mustagháth (Thou invoked by
all). Both are etymologically linked to
the noun Ghiyáth (help, aid, succor)
from the same root, but the nuances
of meaning drawn out from their jux-
taposition enrich the concept of help:
together, they suggest a reality in
which God succors all His creatures
even before being asked, yet it is still
benefi cial for the creature to invoke
Him, confi dent that the answer will be
whatever succor is best. Verse 27 be-
gins with “Bika yá Ján, bika yá Jánán,
bika yá ’Ímán,” which is translated into
English as “O Thou my Soul, O Thou
my Beloved, O Thou my Faith!” The
Healing Prayer’s play on the shared et-
ymology of Ján and Jánán implies God
being at the same time the very center
of one’s being and the best love of
one’s being—deepest subject and dear-
est object in an intimate dance within
an I-Thou relationship. The reciter
may also be prompted to such refl ec-
tions on the relationships between Ján
and Jánán by the fact that Bahá’u’lláh
borrows Jánán from Persian, while
and third names only diff er by the mid-
dle phoneme (i.e. -n- vs. -l-). The trans-
lation given for these three is Fashion-
er, Satisfi er, and Uprooter. The reciter
may be led to refl ect on God as fashion-
ing the creation in a way that satisfi es
both Himself and His created beings,
including by satisfying the physical,
intellectual, and spiritual needs of the
human being. While it is probably not
satisfying for a plant to be uprooted
and destroyed by a storm, scavenger,
or farmer, it can then become food for
new plants or other creatures. Con-
versely, a plant may also be uprooted
to be replanted in a new environment
more suitable to continued growth and
vitality, and sometimes we human be-
ings fi nd new opportunities for person-
al growth when placed in new settings.
Also, religious teachings confi rm some
human desires and ask us to limit oth-
ers; Buddhism, for example, reminds
us in its Four Noble Truths that there
is a close link between ignoble desires
and suff ering.39 The reciter may draw
strength from considering that their
very Fashioner can also be the Uproot-
er of unworthy desires and cravings.
On three occasions, two of the three
39 Similarly, in Paris Talks ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá was recorded to have said that suff er-
ing has various sources. It is often the natu-
ral consequence of our own unwise actions
(50–51) or stems from our excessive attach-
ment to the material world so as to encour-
age us to develop detachment (178); it can,
additionally, result from the often random
calamities of worldly conditions that teach
us to rather dwell and rely upon the “spiritu-
al Kingdom” of “perpetual joy” (110).
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
118
names in intimate dialogue, each name
in itself inexhaustible in signifi cance,
in this way functions like a chandelier
made of priceless, prism-like gems,
each refracting its eff ulgent light to its
fellow jewels, each illuminating new,
multi-colored sparks in the others in a
potentially infi nite inter-illumination.
M E
C P
After beseeching, invoking, and med-
itating upon God by His many indi-
vidual perfections in over forty verses,
in the fi nal paragraphs the worshipper
entreats God in language that is deeply
personal and majestic. Here, the prayer
paints a picture of drawing near to,
meeting, and communing with one’s
Lord, the visual counterpart of the feel-
ings of mystical encounter which the
preceding forty paragraphs may have
already engendered.
Sanctifi ed art Thou, O my God! I
beseech Thee by Thy generosity,
whereby the portals of Thy bounty
and grace were opened wide
[The worshipper has been invited
to walk through an internal door-
way to her Lord and His gracious
favors.]
whereby the Temple of Thy Ho-
liness was established upon the
throne of eternity
[The supplicant has entered the
doorway to fi nd herself in a mag-
nifi cent, holy Temple near God’s
own throne.]
-ján (or -jún) is also commonly used
in Persian as a popular suffi x added af-
fectionally to given names to say “dear
one.”40 Each of these verses reinforces
a metaphysics of unity in which God—
the Suffi cing, the Healing, the Abiding
One—is intimately with His creation.
Verse 4 calls on “Subḥán . . . Qudsán
. . . Must‘án,” encouraging meditation
upon the connections between being
Most Praised, Holy, and Helping. In
refl ecting upon the interrelationship
between these qualities, one may come
to consider that neither praiseworthi-
ness nor holiness is at all about being
vaingloriously superior to others but is
instead about being involved and en-
gaged in helping others. Put diff erent-
ly, helping the wellbeing of oneself and
others is a holy and praiseworthy act.
These are only a few examples to
illustrate how the rhyming elements
encourage the reciter to make meta-
physical links between the various
names of God and meditate on what
they communicate about each other.
The prayer, with its various sets of
40 Jánán, also colloquially mean-
ing “sweetheart,” is frequently found in
Bahá’u’lláh’s Persian writings, such as the
Persian Hidden Words nos. 1, 4, 12, 17,
and 26. In this Tablet, this is the only direct
borrowing from Persian I have identifi ed.
The fi rst divine name in this verse Ján (life,
spirit, soul) does sometimes show up in
this connotation in Arabic. We should note
that it is not uncommon for Bahá’u’lláh
to use some Persian words in His Arabic
writings— jánán itself or siráj (lamp), for
instance. Likewise, the Qur’án has various
old-Persian borrowings.
119
do I beseech Thee, by these most beau-
teous names, by these most noble and
sublime attributes,” in which God’s
names and attributes are reiterated as
the pivot and central thresholds of ac-
cess to mystical encounter and divine
knowledge and raised to an aesthetic
of beauty, magnifi cence, nobility, and
sublimity. Yet this pivot point of the
entire prayer is not the endpoint as the
line continues in a rising crescendo that
elevates the worshipper (in a kind of
ladder of ascent or mi‘ráj) to the Point
that cannot be pointed to, immanent
and transcendent at the same time: “and
by Thy most Exalted Remembrance,
and by Thy pure and spotless Beauty,
and by Thy hidden Light in the most
hidden pavilion, and by Thy Name,
cloaked with the garment of affl iction
every morn and eve.” How high is this
“most Exalted Remembrance”? How
pure and beautiful is His “pure and
spotless Beauty”? At what depths is
this “hidden Light”? This language, in
my reading, challenges us to continual-
ly deepen and broaden our understand-
ing of God’s Being, shattering the shib-
boleths of previous ideas with more
accurate ones, and then again shatter-
ing these new ideas in a never-ending
cycle of growth.
M P
T T L
M U
The promise in the fi nal paragraphs of
the Long Healing Prayer of seemingly
miraculous powers to protect and heal
might be understood in light of other
and by Thy mercy whereby Thou
didst invite all created things unto
the table of Thy bounties and
bestowals
[The worshipper has been gra-
ciously invited to, and sits down
at, the festal table inside the Tem-
ple and before God’s throne.]
and by Thy grace whereby Thou
didst respond, in thine own Self
with Thy word “Yea!” on behalf
of all in heaven and earth
[The supplicant and her Lord are
engaged in intimate fellowship,
and before she can even articu-
late her heart’s deepest aspiration,
without delay she receives an
answer from her divine King of
“Yes!”]
“at the hour when Thy sovereignty
and Thy grandeur stood revealed”
[From this table before the Lord’s
throne, His majesty, kingship, and
awe-inspiring splendor is clearly
made evident.]
“at the dawn-time when the
might of Thy dominion was made
manifest.”
[The light of perception has
dawned in the worshipper’s inner
eye, which perceives all parts of
the world, the sky, the universe, the
Unseen, the divine theophanies,
and all human hearts as the Lord
King’s own personal possession.]
Then in the center and heart of the
paragraph comes the line, “And again
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
120
change in the life of man is the
result of these mutual reactions.
(qtd. in Compilation 84)
Just as each part of our body is deeply
connected with every other part, we are
inextricably connected with our envi-
ronment, and all parts of the universe
are materially and spiritually infl u-
enced by one another. For example, we
know that the material, environmental
conditions of air quality or potable wa-
ter purity can have a great impact on
human health. Likewise, as an example
of the importance of social context to
human physical health, a substantial
body of research has identifi ed positive
outcomes for in-patients when family
and friends are able to visit them in
the hospital (Trogen). Although further
empirical studies are needed, scientif-
ic research over the last thirty years
has confi rmed the strong positive im-
pact of mind-body therapies (includ-
ing relaxation, meditation, imagery,
hypnosis, and biofeedback) on bodily
function and symptoms pertaining to
diverse conditions (Mahmoudi and
Teckie 58; Bialkowska, Juranek, and
Wojtkiewicz). Shoghi Eff endi encour-
aged Bahá’ís seeking healing to both
pray and work with competent physi-
cians (qtd. in Compilation 476).41 In
His “Tablet to the Physician” (Lawḥ-
i-Ṭibb), Bahá’u’lláh not only recom-
mends well-proven or “established
41 “The prayers which were re-
vealed to ask for healing apply both to
physical and spiritual healing. Recite
them, then, to heal both the soul and the
body” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 161).
concepts in Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation
that break down and challenge pres-
ent-day dichotomies and tensions
between the traditional and the mod-
ern. Many intellectuals, especially in
Europe and North America, consider
medicine the exclusive province of
science, while religion—if it has any
function—is exclusively for the so-
cial, “spiritual,” and possibly ethical
and existential domains of life (Ernst
90; Arbab 185–86). The Bahá’í Faith,
rejecting atomization, isolation, and
separation, encourages a worldview
that recognizes the deep interweaving,
interdependence, interpenetration, and
wholeness of the physical, psycholog-
ical, and spiritual within an individu-
al, in our social relationships, and in
our connection with the earth itself.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains, “in the same
way that the parts, members, and organs
of the human body are interconnected,
and that they mutually assist, reinforce,
and infl uence each other, so too are
the parts and members of this endless
universe connected with, and spiritu-
ally and materially infl uenced by, one
another” (Some Answered Questions
285). Likewise, Shoghi Eff endi, in a
letter written on his behalf, states:
We cannot segregate the human
heart from the environment out-
side us and say that once one of
these is reformed everything will
be improved. Man is organic with
the world. His inner life moulds
the environment and is itself also
deeply aff ected by it. The one acts
upon the other and every abiding
121
desireth to enter upon the paths
of Thy guidance, and the ways of
Thy forgiveness and grace.
This passage may bring to mind the
practice in many cultures infl uenced
by Abrahamic traditions of writing
prayers as talismans, physical artifacts
that are believed to draw upon spiritual
forces to heal and protect. However, a
metaphysics of unity in Bahá’u’lláh’s
Revelation modifi es, deepens, and wid-
ens the signifi cance of the talisman. In
Merriam-Webster’s defi nition, a talis-
man is “an object held to act as a charm
to avert evil and bring good fortune.”
Some examples of talismans include:
in Catholic folk traditions, the use of
the crucifi x, holy water, or the physi-
cal book of the Bible itself as agents
of protection or healing; the mezuzah
which adorns many Jewish homes; and
shirts or pendants or necklaces (often
called ta‘wíth) adorned with or con-
taining Qur’anic verses or holy names
worn by some Muslims.42 Such prac-
tices are not without controversy; reli-
gious leaders within these Abrahamic
traditions have sometimes denounced
the use of talismans altogether and, at
other times, have reminded followers
that the object itself does not have pro-
tective or healing power but is merely
a symbol or reminder of God in whom
one trusts as having all power to heal
and protect (Collins 257–58, 275).
Bahá’u’lláh’s Long Healing Prayer
42 Not all talismans have overtly
religious origins; consider the American
folk tradition of carrying a rabbit’s foot for
protection and good luck.
means” to heal, but also prayer, and
states that the very presence of the
physician fi lled with God’s “Love”—
bringing “mercy and hope”—heals the
patient (Ziaei 74). Also, Bahá’u’lláh
recommends care in diet, some ex-
ercise, and emotional wellness as
(preventative) measures to promote
wellbeing (Ziaei 76–78; Taherzadeh,
vol. 3, 358). More generally, know-
ing that one’s social relationships and
physical environment tremendously
impact one’s state of being, the Bahá’í
attempts to have a positive impact on
social and ecological relationships in
their homelife, neighborhood, commu-
nity, workplace, and natural environ-
ment. In this metaphysics of unity, the
greater the wellbeing of each, the more
the others can fl ourish, and each must
fl ourish if any entity is to actualize its
potential to the fullest.
I off er that it is in this light of whole-
ness that we might read those fi nal
paragraphs of the Long Healing Prayer
in which the supplicant beseeches God
by His “generosity, whereby the portals
of” His “bounty and grace were opened
wide” and “by these most beauteous
names to”
protect [taḥfi ẓ] the bearer [ḥámil]
of this blessed Tablet, and who-
so reciteth it, and whoso cometh
upon it, and whoso passeth around
the house wherein it is. Heal Thou,
then, by it every sick, diseased
and poor one, from every tribu-
lation and distress, from every
loathsome affl iction and sorrow,
and guide Thou by it whosoever
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
122
to theories of magical spells in Is-
lamic and other religious milieus has
been the necessity to call upon the
actual names of the fi gures or spiritual
forces one wishes to summon (Fodor
107–8, 110; Collins 253), and calling
God by His actual names is the central
motif of the Long Healing Prayer. In-
deed, as discussed above, this prayer
prominently invokes God by names
that the Islamic tradition alludes to as
God’s “greatest name”—held to have
miraculous powers, including that of
healing—amongst them those names
affi rmed in the Bábí and Bahá’í reve-
lations such as Káfí (Suffi cing), ‘Alí
(Exalted), and Bahí (a form of Bahá).
Additionally, this prayer—like other
talismans—ostensibly promises that its
power can be accessed merely by pos-
sessing it, carrying it, or vocalizing it.
It may be perfectly legitimate, within
a metaphysics of unity, to understand
these fi nal paragraphs of the prayer as
promising to transform health in these
ways; God is the One who “doeth what
He willeth” (Bahá’u’lláh, Prayers and
Meditations 164). The Bahá’í openly
“trusts” that the “All-Merciful Lord”
can “heal a hundred thousand incur-
able ills” with a mere “glance,” if He so
pleases (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 51).
However, from the language above, I
would conclude that this trust in heal-
ing is primarily centered on God rather
than on the mere possession of one of
elements of other works of its social milieu,
it is not a product of the Author’s own cul-
tural learnings but, rather, an act of direct
Revelation from God. Its preeminent merits
lie in its being the Word of God.
is similar in some ways to talismans of
the Abrahamic traditions. Peter Smith
noted the talismanic nature of the
prayer’s fi nale but does not discuss his
reasoning for such a description (333–
34). Fodor discusses a prayer contain-
ing similar language concerning its po-
tential to cure and protect all, composed
by a Muslim for a Christian woman: “O
my God, I ask you by your name which
you have preferred to all names to heal,
cure and cleanse the bearer [ḥámilah]
of this book . . . guard [bi-ḥ’fi ẓ] this
human body from all malice . . . from
every evil and from the mischief and
injury of all things created by God”
(134).43 Like some popular Islamic
talismans that use the same approach
of a consistent meter (for example:
fatáḥ, waháb, jabár) to reinforce their
potency and incantation-like character,
even if they do not necessarily rhyme
(Fodor 136), the Long Healing Prayer
typically has a consistent cadence, as
discussed above. Those steeped in
such a background would notice these
similarities to talismans and magical
spells in this prayer, and this may be
its main signifi cance for those who do
not believe it to also be the revealed
Word of God.44 Furthermore, central
43 Interestingly, this talisman heal-
ing prayer, like the Long Healing Prayer,
begins by invoking the names of Sháfí
[Healer] and Káfí [Suffi cer]. However,
Fodor does not disclose the date or location
of composition of this prayer.
44 On the other hand, while for
Bahá’ís the Long Healing Prayer—like
each of Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings—may share
some cultural, religious, literary, or musical
123
of engaging the Divine Names is to
improve and transform one’s ethical
character. Abú Ḥámid al-Ghazálí states
that the perfection and happiness of
the human consists in acquiring these
divine attributes and “in this way man
becomes ‘lordly’—close to the Lord
most high . . . and . . . a companion
to the heavenly hosts of angels” (30,
32, 51–52). Similarly, Bahá’u’lláh asks
rhetorically, “is not the object of every
Revelation to eff ect a transformation in
the whole character of mankind . . . ?”
(Kitáb-i-Íqan 240). And again:
The purpose of the one true God
in manifesting Himself is to sum-
mon all mankind to truthfulness
and sincerity, to piety and trust-
worthiness, to resignation and
submissiveness to the Will of God,
to forbearance and kindliness, to
uprightness and wisdom. His ob-
ject is to array every man with the
mantle of a saintly character, and
to adorn him with the ornament of
holy and goodly deeds. (Glean-
ings 298)
The worshipper is invited and attract-
ed to become a mirror, ambassador, or
channel—on a human level—of the
very divine names meditated upon. In
this way, not only is the Long Healing
Prayer itself metaphorically an elixir
or a talisman, but so too becomes the
believer who prays with it and whose
consciousness and ethical character
are transformed by it. This goal of dy-
namic, relational transformation is then
summarized in the last line of the prayer
His prayers, even if the revealed prayer
itself is very potent.
In various places in His Writings,
Bahá’u’lláh makes reference to what
have traditionally been regarded as
magical objects in order to metaphori-
cally illustrate the tremendous potency
of God’s revealed Word in developing
and transforming the extraordinary po-
tential of human beings. For example,
an elixir (from the Arabic al-iksír) has
been traditionally considered a medici-
nal mixture for specifi c diseases, while
the elusive “elixir of life” was a cure-all
that might also be able to confer eternal
life upon its drinker; it was sometimes
used interchangeably with the “phi-
losopher’s stone” that could convert
copper into gold (Coudert and White,
“Elixir”). In His Writings, Bahá’u’lláh
metaphorically describes God’s Rev-
elation as the “Elixir” but states that
its greatest “task” is not turning less
valuable elements of matter into “pur-
est gold,” but reviving “the vitality of
men’s belief in God” and “converting
satanic strength into heavenly power”
(Gleanings 199)—that is, replacing
human vices with virtues.45 To consid-
er the Long Healing Prayer as an in-
stance of the “Elixir” of Bahá’u’lláh’s
Revelation, one that “converts satan-
ic strength into heavenly power,” is
consistent with Islamic and Bahá’í
teachings that a fundamental purpose
45 Bahá’u’lláh also uses the term for
His Teachings that provide the “infallible
remedy for all the ills that affl ict the chil-
dren of men” (Gleanings 183), and this is
how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá uses it as well (Selec-
tions 59).
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
124
understand the Long Healing Prayer’s
promise to protect not just the “bearer
of this blessed Tablet, and whoso re-
citeth it,” but “whoso cometh upon it
and whoso passeth around the house
wherein it is.” Will this Tablet even
protect the person who happens to walk
by a house in which this prayer is kept?
While His followers are confi dent in
Bahá’u’lláh’s promise that when some-
one recites God’s verses “as intoned by
them that have drawn nigh unto Him,”
“the scattering angels of the Almighty
shall scatter abroad the fragrance of
the words uttered by his mouth, and
shall cause the heart of every righteous
man to throb” (qtd. in Bahá’í Prayers
3), they also know that they have the
opportunity to take concrete actions: to
develop friendships with their neigh-
bors, be “worthy” of their “trust,” be
“charitable,” and “look upon” them
“with a bright and friendly face,” man-
ifesting “clearly the signs of the one
true God” (Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings 295,
278, 285, 316). As friendships, built on
trust and kindness, are developed with
neighbors—often in the context of
coming together for meaningful con-
versations and prayer—they become
partners as conscientious, intentional
agents working for the wellbeing of the
neighborhood and community, refl ect-
ing together on action, and consulting
on each other’s insights and wisdom
in progressively improving systematic
lines of action.46 Complementary, then,
46 This is an attempt to briefl y de-
scribe the global eff orts of Bahá’ís to learn
about frameworks of action for spiritual
and social transformation on local levels.
which recalls eight of the divine names
emphasized previously in the prayer:
the Powerful (al-‘Azíz), the All-Suffi c-
ing (al-Káfí), the Healing (ash-Sháfí),
the Protector (al-Ḥáfi ẓ), the Giving
(al-Mu‘ṭí), the Compassionate (ar-
Raú’úf), the All-Generous (al-Karím),
the All-Merciful (ar-Raḥím).
It is the Elixir of God’s Revelation
that educates and empowers the “Tal-
isman” of the human being to mani-
fest wondrous, benefi cial infl uences
on society. Bahá’u’lláh says in the
Lawḥ-i-Maqsúd, “Man is the supreme
Talisman . . . Education can, alone,
cause it to reveal its treasures, and
enable mankind to benefi t therefrom”
(Tablets 161). This enormous power of
the Revelation of God to develop the
sublime capacities of the human being
to contribute to the “betterment of the
world” may sometimes be released in-
stantaneously through sheer exposure
to Bahá’u’lláh’s Teachings. More of-
ten, this transformation occurs through
the individual’s systematic eff orts, as-
sisted by God’s grace, to meditate upon
and discover the “pearls of wisdom”
in Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings, to “trans-
late that which hath been written into
action” in their daily lives, and bring
themselves “to account each day,”
refl ecting upon their eff orts, learning
from them and from those of others,
and improving day by day (Gleanings
184, 136, 250, 236) that “each morn
be better than its eve and each morrow
richer than its yesterday” (Tablets 138).
Through these uses of terms such as
“elixir” and “talisman” elsewhere in
Bahá’u’lláh’s writings, we might also
125
Prayer invites a transformation in
our perception, whereby the diverse
phenomena of life will be related to
their truest Source and Reality in the
Divine Names. For example, washing
one’s face in the morning, one may be
reminded of God’s Name “Sanctifi ed
One” (Nuzzúh). In a blade of grass
shooting up from the ground or a bas-
ketball player giving a fallen compet-
itor a hand to get back up, one may
see an “Upraiser” (Raf‘án). Listening
to an engaging lecture or witnessing a
gorgeously choreographed dance, one
may recall God’s Name “O Captivat-
ing One” (Jadhíb). Thinking through
how to write this paragraph, I may be
reminded of God’s Names “the Know-
er,” “the Wise,” “Thou Who penetrat-
est all things,” or “Lord of Utterance.”
While its list of divine perfections
is not exhaustive, the Long Heal-
ing Prayer provides a deep and wide
spectrum of Divine Names through
which the lover of God’s beauty may
perceive traces of the Best Beloved
everywhere.
The wholeness achieved through
supplication, worship, and medita-
tion upon these divine Names of the
Healing Prayer, culminating in the
fi nale’s metaphorically rich journey
of ascent towards the Majestic King,
is one that includes heavenly realities
as expressions of God’s own Coun-
tenance. Another momentous prayer,
the Long Obligatory Prayer, “invested
by Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency
and signifi cance,” begins with the ad-
dress “O Thou Who art the Lord of all
names and the Maker of the heavens.”
to the essentially mystical dynamics
of prayer, in this concrete, pragmatic,
and systematic way the Long Healing
Prayer becomes an elixir and talisman
for the protection, healing, and guid-
ance of not only individuals and fam-
ilies but entire neighborhoods.
I propose, in short, that those deeply
engaged—in thought, attitude, word,
and practical action—with the concepts
and truths of the Long Healing Prayer
can catalyze protective, healing, and
guiding infl uences in their natural and
social environment. In other words, in
this metaphysics of unity, the human
being’s way of life—in collaborative
teamwork with others—becomes inte-
grated into, and integral to, those var-
ious spiritual forces at work to bring
good to the world. This helps us make
sense of the language that follows,
listing typologies of ailments (“from
every tribulation and distress, from ev-
ery loathsome affl iction and sorrow”),
as highlighting the Tablet’s aim to heal
not only illnesses that are biological in
nature but also those that are psycho-
logical, emotional, existential, eco-
nomic, political, social, ecological, or
ethical.
C
The metaphysics of unity and whole-
ness off ered by the Long Healing
As an example of guidance for such frame-
works of action, see pages 7–8 of the letter
of the Universal House of Justice to the
Continental Board of Counsellors, dated
29 December 2015. Also, see Jalalizadeh,
90–91.
Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer”
The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 31.3 2021
126
embrace theological, social, ethical,
and ecological dimensions. As the
prayer enumerates God’s names with a
completeness reminiscent of the Islam-
ic ḥadíth of God’s ninety-nine names,
each one a distinguishing characteristic
of the One, a dynamic, high-defi nition
picture of the spectrum of the Divine
Personality is painted in the heart of
the person praying. This Divinity is at
once transcendent and intimately con-
nected with self, others, unseen spiritu-
al realities, and one’s natural and social
ecology, and it calls one to dignifying
and unifying relationships with each.
In this evolving awareness of a meta-
physics of unity, health is nurtured as
one continually grows—in a journey
that knows no bounds—in perceiving
and experiencing the wholeness of the
self as whole with the whole, single
organism of existence, fashioned and
cared for by its Creator and Lord—the
all-suffi cing Whole itself.
W C
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Memorials of the Faith-
ful, Translated and Annotated
by Marzieh Gail. US Bahá’í
Publishing Trust, 1975.
———. Paris Talks. UK Bahá’í Pub-
lishing Trust, 1972.
———. Selections from the Writings
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. US Bahá’í
Publishing Trust, 1978.
———. Some Answered Questions.
US Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
2014.
(Bahá’í Prayers 8).47 In a kind of play
on words, the Arabic as spoken Yá Illa-
ha’l-Asmá’i wa Fáṭira’s-samá’i creates
a close link between “names” (Asmá’i)
and “heavens” (samá’i) in which the
divine names may be experienced as
portals of the heaven of the Divine Re-
ality. Thus, contemplating “the Lord of
all names” can lead to consciousness,
not only of the intimate relationships
between the perfections of the One
and those conferred upon His many
creations on earth, but also of the inti-
mate relationship between heaven and
earth. With the human being defi ned in
the Bahá’í Writings as the focal point
of the “radiance of all [God’s] names
and attributes” (Gleanings 65), we
learn more about such names through
the Long Healing Prayer. This healing
prayer cultivates our understanding
of those spiritual names, and in cor-
respondence to the measure we fulfi ll
our human purpose to actualize these
names—individually and in partner-
ship with others—the earth itself be-
comes in tangible ways “heaven on
earth.”
In the Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí
Bahá’u’lláh engages in creative ways
with Arabic poetical forms, Islamic
literature, prayer, and dhikr that may
be familiar to someone with a Muslim
background, while—when read with
a metaphysics of unity in mind—the
Tablet refashions our conception of
talismans, elixirs, and mysticism to
47 This Obligatory Prayer is called
“Long” as Bahá’u’lláh also revealed a “Me-
dium” and a “Short” Obligatory Prayer.
127
‘Alí, ‘Abdullah Yúsuf, translated and commentary. The Meaning of the Holy
Qur’án. Amana Publications, 2006.
Arbab, Farzam. “Promoting a Discourse on Science, Religion, and Development.”
The Lab, the Temple, and the Market, edited by Sharon M. P. Harper. In-
ternational Development Research Centre, 2000.
Bahá’í Prayers, A Selection of Prayers Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, The Báb, and
‘Ab du’ l -Ba há . US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1991.
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