No. 18 of 124 · A Name of God · The Long Healing Prayer
The Omniscient
When we call on the Omniscient, we are turning toward the One who already knows, completely, tenderly, and without limit, everything we carry.
I call on Thee O Omniscient, O Most Wise, O Most Great 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 · Omniscient
Having universal knowledge; knowing all things; infinitely knowing or wise; as, the omniscient God.
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 Omniscient” 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 'omniscient' joins two Latin roots meaning 'all' and 'to know,' and in the context of this prayer it points to a knowledge that is unlike anything we experience as human beings. Our own knowing is partial, sequential, and hard-won. We learn things piece by piece, forget them, misread them, and revise them. The Omniscient holds no such gaps. This name gestures toward a knowing that encompasses every hidden corner of existence simultaneously, not as accumulated data, but as a living, inherent reality.
There is something quietly astonishing in the idea that this kind of knowing is not something God acquires or works toward. It is simply what God is. In that sense, calling on the Omniscient is less like consulting an expert and more like being seen, fully and without the distortion that so often accompanies even the most loving human attention. The name carries with it an implication of intimacy: to be known by the Omniscient is to be known in a way no other being can manage.
When this name appears alongside titles like 'Most Wise' and 'Most Great' in the same breath of the prayer, it suggests that divine knowledge is never cold or indifferent. Wisdom implies purposeful use of what is known. The pairing invites us to consider that the One who knows all things also orders that knowledge toward some good, a thought that can feel sustaining when our own understanding of our situation falls painfully short.
Calling on The Omniscient for healing
When a person is sick, in body, in mind, or in the depths of the spirit, one of the most isolating experiences can be the feeling that no one truly understands what is happening inside them. Symptoms resist description. Grief is private. Confusion about a diagnosis, or about the future, can be almost impossible to share fully with another person. Calling on the Omniscient in prayer is a way of bringing that entire unspoken interior, all of it, including the parts we cannot name ourselves, before the One who already holds it completely. There is a particular kind of rest that can come from being known without having to explain.
This is not to suggest that prayer alone is the appropriate response to illness. Seeking the care of qualified physicians and appropriate medical treatment remains an important responsibility, and the two paths, medicine and prayer, are not in competition. Rather, calling on the Omniscient can be an act of trust: an acknowledgment that however much or little the doctors understand, however well or poorly we ourselves grasp what we are going through, there is a knowing at the center of existence that misses nothing. What we do with that trust, how healing unfolds, in what form and on what timeline, remains in God's hands, held in divine wisdom that exceeds our own.
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Living the Word
Applying The Omniscient in your life
A name of God is a virtue to grow into. Where is The Omniscient 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
“5 For example, the mind and the spirit of man are aware of all his states and conditions, of all the parts and members of his body, and of all his physical sensations, as well as of his spiritual powers, perceptions, and conditions. This is an existential knowledge through which man realizes his own condition. He both senses and comprehends it, for the spirit encompasses the body and is aware of its sensations and powers. This knowledge is not the result of effort and acquisition: It is an existential matter; it is pure bounty. 6 Since those sanctified realities, the universal Manifestations of God, encompass all created things both in their essence and in their attributes, since They transcend and discover all existing realities, and since They are cognizant of all things, it follows that Their knowledge is divine and not acquired—that is, it is a heavenly grace and a divine discovery.”
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 →“Furthermore, the reality of Divinity is characterized by certain names and attributes. Among these names are Creator, Resuscitator, Provider, the All-Present, Almighty, Omniscient and Giver. These names and attributes of Divinity are eternal and not accidental. This is a very subtle point which demands close attention. Their existence is proved and necessitated by the appearance of phenomena. For example, Creator presupposes creation, Resuscitator implies resuscitation, Provider necessitates provision; otherwise, these would be empty and impossible names. Merciful evidences an object upon which mercy is bestowed. If mercy were not manifest, this attribute of God would not be realized. The name Lord proves the existence of subjects over whom sovereignty is exercised. The name Omniscient demands the objects of all-knowing. Unless these objects existed, omniscience would be meaningless and without function. The name the Wise necessitates objects for the exercise of wisdom; and unless wisdom comprehended them, this name would be inconceivable. Therefore, the divine names and attributes presuppose the existence of phenomena implied by those names and attributes. And vice versa—the sovereignty of God is proved and established through their verity and being.”
Read in full at bahai.org →Questions about The Omniscient
- Why does the Long Healing Prayer address God by so many different names?
- Each name of God illuminates a distinct facet of divine reality, and calling upon them together builds a richer, more encompassing act of turning toward God. No single name captures the fullness of what God is, so the prayer moves through many names the way light moves through a prism. For someone who is suffering, one name may speak more directly to their condition on a given day than another, and that is part of the prayer's gift.
- Does calling God 'the Omniscient' mean my prayers are unnecessary since God already knows what I need?
- This is a beautifully honest question. The act of prayer is not primarily about informing God of something unknown. It is about the orientation of the soul, consciously turning toward the divine, opening oneself to connection, and expressing dependence and trust. The Omniscient already knows, yes; but the act of calling on that name is something we do for ourselves as much as anything else, cultivating humility, awareness, and a relationship that can sustain us through difficulty.
- Is this prayer meant to replace medical care?
- No. The Bahá'í Writings themselves affirm that material illness calls for material remedy, and seeking competent medical care is an important part of caring for oneself. The Long Healing Prayer and the guidance of qualified healthcare professionals work in complementary ways, not as alternatives to each other. Prayer can support the inner dimensions of a person's experience of illness while medicine addresses the body's needs.
- How do I use this name in personal reflection or meditation?
- There is no single prescribed method. Some people find it meaningful to sit quietly with the name itself, repeating it slowly, letting its implications settle. Others use it as a starting point for journaling, asking themselves what it means to be truly and completely known. Whatever form your reflection takes, the intention is simply to draw closer to the reality the name points toward, trusting that the Omniscient meets us wherever we begin.
Listen to, recite, and reflect on the whole prayer, its more than one hundred names of God.
Hear the Long Healing Prayer