No. 5 of 124 · A Name of God · The Long Healing Prayer
The All-Merciful
At the close of one of the prayer's most luminous phrases, the name The All-Merciful arrives like a final, open hand.
He is the Healer, the Sufficer, the Helper, the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful. Bahá'u'lláh, The Long Healing Prayer · read the full prayer
Plain meaning · Merciful
1. Full of mercy; having or exercising mercy; disposed to pity and spare offenders; unwilling to punish. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious. Ex. xxxiv. 6. Be merciful, great duke, to men of mold. Shak. 2. Unwilling to give pain; compassionate. A merciful man will be merciful to his beast. Old Proverb. Syn.
Definition from Webster's Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain). When these Writings were translated into English, the translator relied on Webster's New International Dictionary, 1934 edition, of the same Webster's tradition. source
What “The All-Merciful” means
The meaning above is the plain dictionary definition of the word. What follows reflects on it as a name of God, offered for your own contemplation, and not as an authoritative interpretation of the Bahá'í Writings, which rests with ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi alone.
The All-Merciful is one of the most beloved titles of God across many spiritual traditions, and in the Bahá'í writings it appears again and again, not as a polite formality, but as a living description of how God actually relates to the people He has made. The word points toward a mercy that is not rationed, not earned, and not withdrawn when we stumble. It is mercy as a permanent quality of the divine nature itself, as intrinsic to God as light is to the sun.
What makes this name feel so spacious is the word 'all.' Mercy is not a scarce resource that runs low when too many people ask for it. The All-Merciful suggests a compassion wide enough to hold every human situation, every form of suffering, every variety of failure, every kind of need, without being diminished in the slightest. There is room here for the person who prays with great faith and for the person who barely knows what to believe. There is room for the body in pain and for the spirit that feels lost.
In the line of the Long Healing Prayer where this name appears, paired with the Healer, the Sufficer, the Helper, and the All-Forgiving, it functions almost as a seal. The sequence moves from what God does toward who God is. And the final answer is: the One whose deepest nature is mercy without limit. For anyone approaching this prayer in a moment of vulnerability, that placement is itself a kind of comfort.
Calling on The All-Merciful for healing
When illness or anguish brings us to our knees, one of the quieter fears that sometimes surfaces is the feeling that we are too broken, too complicated, or perhaps not worthy enough to be fully met by divine compassion. The name The All-Merciful speaks directly into that fear. It does not require us to present ourselves in a particular condition before God will turn toward us. Calling on this name in a time of need is, in a sense, a small act of trust, a willingness to believe that mercy is already present, already extended, even before we find the right words.
This is not a promise of any specific outcome. Healing is always held in God's wisdom, and we are wise to work alongside competent physicians and caregivers as we also pray. But the name The All-Merciful invites us to release at least one burden: the burden of wondering whether we deserve to ask. Whatever form healing takes, physical recovery, a quieted mind, a restored sense of meaning, or simply the grace to bear what cannot yet be changed, this name suggests it flows from a source that has not grown tired of us and never will.
Also sought as: the all-merciful in the long healing prayer · ar-rahim in bahá'í prayer · names of god in bahá'u'lláh's healing prayer · god's mercy in the lawh-i-anta'l-kafi · all-merciful divine name bahá'í · merciful name of god healing · bahá'í prayer for healing names of god · long healing prayer line healer sufficer helper · divine compassion bahá'í prayer · god the merciful bahá'í writings.
Living the Word
Applying The All-Merciful in your life
A name of God is a virtue to grow into. Where is The All-Merciful being asked of you right now, and how will you practice it? Keep a short note each time you return, and watch your own path with this name take shape over time. It stays on this device.
In the Bahá'í Writings
“Verily He is the Pardoner, the Forgiving, the Merciful.”
Read in full at bahai.org →“We beseech the True One to adorn His handmaidens with the ornament of chastity, of trustworthiness, of righteousness and of purity. Verily, He is the All-Bestowing, the All-Generous. We make mention of the handmaidens of God at this time and announce unto them the glad-tidings of the tokens of the mercy and compassion of God and His consideration for them, glorified be He, and We supplicate Him for all His assistance to perform such deeds as are the cause of the exaltation of His Word. He verily speaketh the truth and enjoineth upon His servants and His handmaidens that which will profit them in every world of His worlds. He, verily, is the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful. (From a Tablet - translated from the Persian and Arabic) [94] Extracts from the Writings and Utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá”
Read in full at bahai.org →“I fain would hope that He Who is the All-Sufficing, the Inaccessible, may heed the solicitation of this lowly servant, may attire the people of the world with the raiment of goodly deeds and purge them from evil inclinations. He is the Mighty, the Powerful, the All-Wise, the All-Perceiving. He heareth and seeth; He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
Read in full at bahai.org →Questions about The All-Merciful
- Why does the Long Healing Prayer invoke so many different names of God?
- Each name of God illuminates a different facet of the divine reality, much as a single light seen through a prism reveals many colors. By calling on multiple names in sequence, the prayer approaches God from many angles at once, as Healer, as Sufficer, as Helper, as Forgiver, and as the All-Merciful. This cumulative invocation reflects a Bahá'í understanding that no single word can fully capture God's nature, and that turning toward God with many names is itself a form of reverence.
- Is The All-Merciful the same as the Forgiver mentioned just before it in the prayer?
- They are closely related but distinct. Forgiveness tends to speak to a specific act, the releasing of a wrong or a debt. Mercy is broader: it describes an ongoing disposition of compassion that encompasses forgiveness but also includes tenderness, care, and a willingness to respond to need regardless of what caused it. Together in the prayer, the two names reinforce each other, suggesting a God who both releases the past and remains lovingly present in the present.
- Can I recite just this line of the Long Healing Prayer, or should I always say the whole prayer?
- There is no rigid rule on this, and individual practice may vary. The full Long Healing Prayer is a sustained, immersive experience and is often read or chanted in its entirety for that reason. That said, reflecting on individual names and lines can be a meaningful devotional practice in its own right, a way of going deeper into the prayer's meaning over time. When in doubt about how to approach Bahá'í prayer practice, connecting with your local Bahá'í community can offer helpful perspective.
- Should I rely on this prayer instead of seeing a doctor?
- Not at all, the Bahá'í teachings are clear that medicine and prayer are not in competition. Seeking qualified medical care is encouraged, and it can be understood as using the means God has made available to us. Prayer and professional care can be held together, each in its proper place, as we navigate illness and the hope for healing.
Listen to, recite, and reflect on the whole prayer, its more than one hundred names of God.
Hear the Long Healing Prayer