No. 110 of 124 · A Name of God · The Long Healing Prayer
The Lord of Bounty
In a single breath the prayer pairs bounty with compassion, mercy, and sufficiency, as if to say that healing itself is one face of an endless, freely given abundance.
I call on Thee O Lord of Bounty, O Most Compassionate, O Most Merciful 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
What “The Lord of Bounty” 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.
The word 'bounty' carries a particular weight in the Bahá'í writings. It is not simply generosity in the ordinary sense, the polite giving of something extra. It points instead to a quality that belongs to God by nature: an outpouring that does not wait to be earned, that is not diminished by being shared, and that is not withheld because of unworthiness. To call God 'the Lord of Bounty' is to name the source of every good thing that exists, down to the bare fact of existence itself.
What makes this name distinctive is the word 'Lord.' It suggests not only that bounty flows from God, but that God governs it, holds it, and directs it with intention and wisdom. Bounty in this sense is not random largesse scattered in all directions; it is purposeful, ordered, and responsive. When we address God as its Lord, we are acknowledging that we stand in a relationship with the One who not only possesses abundance but who administers it with care, including care for us.
There is something quietly reassuring about placing this name inside a healing prayer. Illness, loss, and suffering can make the world feel contracted and scarce. The invocation of the Lord of Bounty gently pushes back against that feeling. It reminds the one who is praying that the reality underlying all circumstances is not scarcity but an overflowing generosity, and that the God being addressed has never, at any moment, run short of what is needed.
Calling on The Lord of Bounty for healing
When someone is sick, in body, in mind, or in spirit, one of the quiet griefs that accompanies the illness is a sense of depletion. Energy runs low, hope can thin, and the imagination starts to narrow its picture of what is possible. Calling on the Lord of Bounty in that moment is an act of deliberate reorientation. It is a way of turning toward the recognition that the capacity to heal, to comfort, and to restore does not depend on what we have left in reserve. It belongs to One whose reserves are without limit.
That said, this is held in trust, not issued as a guarantee. None of us can know in advance the precise form that divine bounty will take in any particular life or illness. It might arrive as physical recovery, or as unexpected peace, or as the right person appearing at the right time, or as a deepened spiritual understanding that changes everything even when the body remains unchanged. The wise counsel of physicians and medical professionals remains an important part of caring for ourselves, bounty and practical wisdom are not in competition. What the name offers is not a bypass around human effort, but a ground of trust beneath it: the assurance that we are petitioning Someone whose generosity toward us is real, and whose purposes for us are ultimately good.
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Living the Word
Applying The Lord of Bounty in your life
A name of God is a virtue to grow into. Where is The Lord of Bounty 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
“O my God, the God of bounty and mercy! Thou art that King by Whose commanding word the whole creation hath been called into being; and Thou art that All-Bountiful One the doings of Whose servants have never hindered Him from showing forth His grace, nor have they frustrated the revelations of His bounty. Suffer this servant, I beseech Thee, to attain unto that which is the cause of his salvation in every world of Thy worlds. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”
Read in full at bahai.org →“O Thou Who art the Lord of grace abounding! Let Thy celestial aid surround those who love Thee and bestow upon us the gifts and the bounties Thou dost possess. Be Thou sufficient unto us of all things, forgive our sins and have mercy upon us. Thou art Our Lord and the Lord of all created things. No one else do we invoke but Thee and naught do we beseech but Thy favors. Thou art the Lord of bounty and grace, invincible in Thy power and the most skillful in Thy designs. No God is there but Thee, the All-Possessing, the Most Exalted. Confer Thy blessings, O my Lord, upon the Messengers, the holy ones and the righteous. Verily Thou art God, the Peerless, the All-Compelling.”
Read in full at bahai.org →“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 →Questions about The Lord of Bounty
- Why is 'Lord of Bounty' placed right next to 'Most Compassionate' and 'Most Merciful' in this line of the prayer?
- The clustering of these names seems intentional, even if we cannot speak authoritatively about Bahá'u'lláh's precise design. Bounty, compassion, and mercy are related but distinct qualities, bounty suggests abundance and gift, compassion suggests a felt response to suffering, and mercy suggests a withholding of what might be deserved. Placed together, they paint a fuller picture of the God being addressed: generous, moved by our pain, and inclined toward kindness rather than severity. For someone in need of healing, that combination of names may itself be a source of comfort.
- Does praying the Long Healing Prayer guarantee that someone will recover?
- No, and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. The Bahá'í writings do not treat prayer as a mechanism that produces guaranteed physical outcomes, and no responsible interpretation of this prayer promises a specific cure. Prayer is understood to be a real and meaningful turning toward God, and its effects can be profound, but they operate within the wisdom of a God whose understanding of what we need may be larger than our own. Seeking skilled medical care alongside prayer is both sensible and consistent with Bahá'í teaching.
- What does it mean that God is the 'Lord' of bounty, rather than simply 'the Bountiful'?
- The title 'Lord' adds a dimension of sovereignty and intentionality. It implies that divine generosity is not simply a passive trait, like a spring that happens to flow, but an active governance, something directed, purposeful, and personal. When we address God as the Lord of Bounty, we are recognizing both the inexhaustible source of goodness and the One who chooses how and when and to whom that goodness is given. It makes the relationship feel less impersonal and more intimate.
Listen to, recite, and reflect on the whole prayer, its more than one hundred names of God.
Hear the Long Healing Prayer