No. 78 of 124 · A Name of God · The Long Healing Prayer
The Succorer of all
In a single name, the prayer reminds us that no one who calls out is ever truly beyond reach.
I call on Thee O Thou Succorer of all, O Thou Invoked by all, O Quickening 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 · Succorer
One who affords succor; a helper.
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 Succorer of all” 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.
To succor someone is to run to them in their moment of need, not merely to wish them well from a distance, but to actively come to their aid. When the Long Healing Prayer addresses God as 'The Succorer of all,' it is naming something both vast and intimate: a divine reality that turns toward every created being without exception, in every kind of need, at every hour. The word carries a sense of urgency and movement, as though help is already on its way.
What makes this name particularly striking is the word 'all.' There is no qualifying clause, no category of person too obscure or too burdened to be included. This is not succor reserved for the deserving, the faithful, or the fortunate. It points to a help that is as wide as existence itself, available to the grieving, the confused, the physically broken, and the spiritually lost alike. In calling on God by this name, the one who prays is implicitly claiming their place within that boundless 'all.'
There is also something worth sitting with in the company this name keeps in the prayer line. 'The Succorer of all' stands alongside 'the Invoked by all' and 'the Quickening One', names that together sketch a portrait of a God who is called upon, who answers, and who brings life. Succor here is not passive sympathy; it is connected to quickening, to something being stirred back into vitality. That pairing invites the reader to consider that divine aid, when it arrives, may come in forms that renew rather than merely rescue.
Calling on The Succorer of all for healing
When illness settles in, whether in the body, the mind, or the deeper chambers of the spirit, one of its cruelest effects is the sense of isolation it brings. Pain has a way of making a person feel utterly alone in their suffering. Calling on God as The Succorer of all is, in that moment, a quiet refusal of that isolation. It is an act of turning toward a presence that the prayer itself describes as one who aids everyone, and therefore, by extension, aids you, specifically, here, now. This is not a guarantee of any particular outcome; healing belongs to God's wisdom, not our timelines. But it is an orientation of the heart that can itself bring a kind of steadiness.
Those who pray the Long Healing Prayer while caring for a sick loved one, or while navigating their own illness alongside competent medical treatment, may find that this name offers something a prescription cannot: the sense that they are not the only force working on behalf of life. Physicians, nurses, and therapists bring irreplaceable skill, and seeking their care is both wise and necessary. But the name The Succorer of all opens a door to trusting that something larger is also present in the room, something that encompasses the patient, the caregiver, and the healer together, and that moves toward all of them.
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Living the Word
Applying The Succorer of all in your life
A name of God is a virtue to grow into. Where is The Succorer of all 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 →“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 →Questions about The Succorer of all
- What does 'succorer' actually mean in the context of this prayer?
- To succor means to give urgent help or relief to someone in distress, it implies an active, deliberate movement toward the one who is suffering. In the context of the Long Healing Prayer, addressing God as The Succorer of all frames divine assistance not as something the believer must earn or perfectly qualify for, but as a fundamental characteristic of God's relationship with all of creation. It is a name that speaks to God's nature, not just to a single past act.
- Can reciting this prayer cure my illness?
- The Bahá'í writings consistently encourage believers to seek the care of qualified physicians alongside prayer, treating both the material and spiritual dimensions of health as real and important. This prayer is a profound act of turning toward God, but it would be neither honest nor responsible to promise any specific medical outcome from its recitation. What it does offer is a way of holding one's suffering in relationship with a divine presence understood as active, caring, and encompassing, and that itself can be a meaningful source of strength and peace.
- Why is 'The Succorer of all' placed next to 'The Invoked by all' in the prayer?
- While we leave formal interpretation to the authorized sources of the Bahá'í Faith, it is worth noticing how these two names echo each other: one names God as the one all beings call upon, and the other names God as the one who actively responds to that call. Together they suggest a kind of dialogue at the heart of existence, a reaching out that is met by a reaching back. For someone in the midst of difficulty, that pairing can feel like a very deep assurance.
- Is this prayer appropriate to say for someone else who is sick?
- Many Bahá'ís do offer this prayer on behalf of others who are ill, holding them in mind and heart as they recite it. The prayer's own language, 'Succorer of all,' 'Invoked by all', suggests a scope that naturally includes intercession for others. Pairing such prayer with practical support, encouragement to seek good medical care, and simple human presence is very much in keeping with the spirit of Bahá'í community life.
Listen to, recite, and reflect on the whole prayer, its more than one hundred names of God.
Hear the Long Healing Prayer