No. 109 of 124 · A Name of God · The Long Healing Prayer
The Bringer of Delight
In the midst of pain and weariness, this name quietly reminds us that delight itself belongs to God.
I call on Thee O Enkindler, O Brightener, O Bringer of Delight! Thou the Sufficing, Thou the Healing, Thou the Abiding, O Thou Abiding One! Bahá'u'lláh, The Long Healing Prayer · read the full prayer
What “The Bringer of Delight” means
What follows reflects on this 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.
To call God the Bringer of Delight is to say something surprising and tender: that joy is not merely a byproduct of good circumstances, but a gift that originates in the divine. Delight, in this sense, is not trivial or fleeting, it is a quality that God actively bestows, a current that runs beneath the surface of existence even when life feels heavy or broken. The name suggests an initiative on God's part, a reaching toward the human heart with something more than duty or correction, something closer to gladness.
There is a depth here worth sitting with. Delight implies intimacy. We are delighted by things and people we love, by beauty we did not expect, by a kindness that arrives at exactly the right moment. When the prayer names God as the one who brings this quality into the world, it places the source of all such moments, every unexpected brightness, every sudden easing of sorrow, in the same divine hand that also sustains and heals. This name does not ask us to pretend that suffering is absent; it asks us to consider that even now, delight is not beyond reach.
Read in its context within the prayer, this name appears alongside the Enkindler and the Brightener, a cluster of images gathered around light and warmth and awakening. Together they paint a picture of a God who does not merely tolerate human happiness but kindles it, who illumines what was dark and brings genuine joy to those who turn toward that light. The Bringer of Delight is not a distant or indifferent power; it is a name that speaks of closeness, of God present within the texture of a life.
Calling on The Bringer of Delight for healing
When illness or grief settles in for a long stay, delight can feel like the most foreign thing imaginable, almost an insult to our suffering. And yet people who have passed through serious illness often speak of small, unexpected moments that broke through: a shaft of afternoon light, a friend's laughter, the sudden beauty of an ordinary thing. Calling on God as the Bringer of Delight in those moments is not denial; it is an act of trust that the capacity for joy has not been permanently extinguished, that it remains in God's keeping even when we cannot feel it ourselves. This name may be especially meaningful for those whose illness has worn away not just the body but the spirit's sense of aliveness.
If you are accompanying someone through illness, or carrying your own, you might bring this name into your prayers as a gentle petition: not only for relief from pain, but for the restoration of something that pain tends to steal, a basic sense that life holds goodness. Medical care, of course, addresses the body through its own careful means, and seeking skilled physicians remains essential. But the healing the Long Healing Prayer points toward is wider than the clinical, touching the places in a person where hope, wonder, and the capacity for joy either wither or quietly endure. To name God as the Bringer of Delight is to trust that those places, too, are held.
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Living the Word
Applying The Bringer of Delight in your life
A name of God is a virtue to grow into. Where is The Bringer of Delight 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
“He is the All-Glorious. 1 O thou spiritual physician! The body of humankind was afflicted with severe ills and chronic diseases, contagious maladies and prolonged fevers. Whereupon the ocean of divine favour surged, and the clouds of truth and bounty rained down upon the world of creation. The Sun of the firmament of Oneness shone forth, and vivifying breezes wafted from the meads of Singleness. The breath of the divine Messiah was diffused, the All-Knowing Physician appeared from behind the veil, and the skilled and true Healer emerged unconcealed. He prepared wholesome medicines from hidden substances, and created healing balms from concealed and treasured elements. He bestowed the panacea of unfailing efficacy, and conferred the sovereign remedy for every ill. He blended together spiritual elixirs, and created refreshing draughts made with heavenly pearls and rubies. And from the essence of Divine Unity and the quintessence of singleness, He taught and made known to us remedies that purify and tranquillize and soothe.”
Read in full at bahai.org →“God Is the Great Compassionate Physician Who Alone Gives True Healing October 19th All true healing comes from God! There are two causes for sickness, one is material, the other spiritual. If the sickness is of the body, a material remedy is needed, if of the soul, a spiritual remedy. If the heavenly benediction be upon us while we are being healed then only can we be made whole, for medicine is but the outward and visible means through which we obtain the heavenly healing. Unless the spirit be healed, the cure of the body is worth nothing. All is in the hands of God, and without Him there can be no health in us! There have been many men who have died at last of the very disease of which they have made a special study. Aristotle, for instance, who made a special study of the digestion, died of a gastric malady. Avicenna was a specialist of the heart, but he died of heart disease. God is the great compassionate Physician who alone has the power to give true healing. All creatures are dependent upon God, however great may seem their knowledge, power and independence.”
Read in full at bahai.org →“6.2O thou seeker after the Kingdom! Every divine Manifestation is the very life of the world, and the skilled physician of each ailing soul. The world of man is sick, and that competent Physician knoweth the cure, arising as He doth with teachings, counsels and admonishments that are the remedy for every pain, the healing balm to every wound. It is certain that the wise physician can diagnose his patient’s needs at any season, and apply the cure. Wherefore, relate thou the Teachings of the Abhá Beauty to the urgent needs of this present day, and thou wilt see that they provide an instant remedy for the ailing body of the world. Indeed, they are the elixir that bringeth eternal health.”
Read in full at bahai.org →Questions about The Bringer of Delight
- Why would a healing prayer invoke delight, isn't that about joy, not physical healing?
- The Long Healing Prayer addresses the whole person, not only the body. Delight, in this context, points to a kind of spiritual vitality, the sense that life is worth living and that goodness is real, which can be as much a casualty of illness as physical function. Calling on God as the Bringer of Delight asks for restoration of that inner aliveness alongside whatever physical healing may come. The two are not as separate as they might first appear.
- Can saying this prayer be used instead of seeing a doctor?
- No, and the Bahá'í teachings are clear that spiritual and material remedies each have their proper place. Prayer is not a substitute for competent medical care. When illness is physical, consulting qualified physicians is the appropriate course of action. The Long Healing Prayer works in a different register, it is an expression of trust in God's ultimate care, and it is entirely compatible with receiving every form of sound medical treatment available.
- Does calling God the Bringer of Delight mean God causes our suffering as well?
- This is one of the deep and difficult questions at the heart of any theistic understanding of suffering, and it deserves more than a tidy answer. What the name emphasizes is not the source of our pain but the source of our healing and joy, it is a name of attribute and action, pointing toward what God brings rather than offering a complete theodicy. Reflecting on this name during suffering is less an answer to that question and more an act of turning toward the one in whom delight originates, even when delight feels far away.
Listen to, recite, and reflect on the whole prayer, its more than one hundred names of God.
Hear the Long Healing Prayer