No. 59 of 124 · A Name of God · The Long Healing Prayer
The Bounteous One
To call upon God as The Bounteous One is to turn toward a source of giving that never runs dry and never turns away.
I call on Thee O Most Sublime One, O Beauteous One, O Bounteous One! Thou the Sufficing, Thou the Healing, Thou the Abiding, O Thou Abiding One! Bahá'u'lláh, The Long Healing Prayer · read the full prayer
Plain meaning · Bounteous
Liberal in charity; disposed to give freely; generously liberal; munificent; beneficent; free in bestowing gifts; as, bounteous production. But O, thou bounteous Giver of all good. Cowper.
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 Bounteous One” 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 word 'bounteous' carries a sense of abundance that overflows rather than merely suffices. A bounteous giver does not measure out just enough; generosity is the very nature of the act. When Bahá'u'lláh addresses God by this name, He is pointing to something essential about the divine character: that giving is not an occasional gesture on God's part but the continuous mode of His relationship with all of creation. Every breath, every moment of awareness, every capacity we possess arrives as an expression of that outpouring.
There is also something deeply unconditional in the idea of bounty. A bounteous benefactor does not wait for the recipient to be perfectly deserving before opening their hand. The rain falls on dry ground whether that ground has done anything to merit it or not. Reflecting on God as The Bounteous One can gently loosen the grip of a very human fear, the fear that our unworthiness might cause that generosity to be withheld. This name quietly answers that fear before it is even fully formed.
It is worth sitting with the company this name keeps in the prayer. The Bounteous One appears alongside The Sufficing One, The Healing One, and The Abiding One, all invoked in a single breath. Together they sketch a portrait of a God whose generosity is not abstract, it is sufficient, restorative, and lasting. Bounty here is not merely material abundance; it encompasses whatever a soul genuinely needs, in whatever form that need takes.
Calling on The Bounteous One for healing
When illness or loss has reduced what we feel we can offer or even ask for, the name The Bounteous One can be a quiet place to rest. We do not have to arrive at this name with a polished argument for why we deserve to be well. Bounty, by its own definition, precedes that calculation. Repeating this name in prayer can be a way of consciously releasing the assumption that healing must be earned, and instead opening oneself to receive whatever restoration God, in His wisdom, sees fit to give, whether that restoration arrives through medical care, through inner peace, through renewed strength, or through some unanticipated grace.
It is also worth remembering that calling on The Bounteous One does not replace the practical steps that responsible care for the body requires. Seeking skilled medical attention, following treatment thoughtfully, and leaning on the support of community are themselves ways of receiving the gifts God places within human reach. This name invites trust, not passivity, a trust that the divine generosity is large enough to work through physicians and medicines and the kindness of others, as well as through prayer itself.
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Living the Word
Applying The Bounteous One in your life
A name of God is a virtue to grow into. Where is The Bounteous One 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
“All creatures that exist are dependent upon the Divine Bounty. Divine Mercy gives life itself. As the light of the sun shines on the whole world, so the Mercy of the infinite God is shed on all creatures. As the sun ripens the fruits of the earth, and gives life and warmth to all living beings, so shines the Sun of Truth on all souls, filling them with the fire of Divine love and understanding. The superiority of man over the rest of the created world is seen again in this, that man has a soul in which dwells the divine spirit; the souls of the lower creatures are inferior in their essence. There is no doubt then, that of all created beings man is the nearest to the nature of God, and therefore receives a greater gift of the Divine Bounty.”
Read in full at bahai.org →“Afterward, we must be able to prove the existence of the bounty of God—that the divine bounty encompasses humanity and that it is transcendental. Furthermore, we must demonstrate that the spirit of man is immortal, that it is not subject to disintegration and that it comprises the virtues of humanity.”
Read in full at bahai.org →“2.2I swear by the Most Great Name, may my soul be offered up for His loved ones, that such great bounty hath been made manifest in the assemblage of the world that its beauty and charm have filled the whole earth with splendour. This soul-stirring bounty belongeth to the one who in this day striveth with heart and soul to teach the Cause, who hath no wish by day or night but to diffuse the Divine fragrances, and who cherisheth no hope save to exalt the Word of God. All things confirm and assist such a soul, and the world and all that is therein render service unto him. Consider former times when every soul who arose to teach the Cause of God perfumed the world with the breaths of holiness in the kingdoms of earth and heaven, in such wise that the sweet scent of those breaths can still be inhaled by the pure in heart. Those souls who did not arise to perform this praiseworthy deed passed by without sowing any seed and in the end surrendered their lives while still longing for that bounty.”
Read in full at bahai.org →Questions about The Bounteous One
- Does calling God 'The Bounteous One' mean I can expect to be healed if I pray sincerely enough?
- The name points to the nature of God's generosity, not to a guaranteed outcome for any specific request. Bahá'í understanding holds that prayer and healing are held in trust within God's wisdom, which may work in ways we don't fully anticipate. Sincere, heartfelt prayer is always encouraged, and so is seeking competent medical care, these are not in conflict. What this name offers is less a transaction and more an invitation to trust in a generosity larger than our own understanding.
- Why is 'The Bounteous One' grouped with names like 'The Sufficing' and 'The Healing' in the prayer?
- The clustering of these names in a single invocation suggests they illuminate one another. Bounty without sufficiency might feel overwhelming or arbitrary; sufficiency without bounty might feel merely adequate. Together, they paint a picture of a divine generosity that is both abundant and precisely fitted to genuine need. Reading them together, rather than in isolation, tends to deepen the sense of what each name is pointing toward.
- I don't feel worthy of God's bounty right now. Is this prayer still for me?
- The very nature of bounty is that it is not rationed according to the recipient's perceived worthiness, that is what distinguishes it from a reward. Many people across different traditions have found that a sense of unworthiness is actually one of the most natural starting points for this kind of prayer, not a disqualification from it. Bringing exactly that feeling to the name The Bounteous One is a completely honest place to begin.
Listen to, recite, and reflect on the whole prayer, its more than one hundred names of God.
Hear the Long Healing Prayer