prayer for parents
Editorial introduction
A mother reared her child from the first day of life, and the child, grown, confesses that he has not repaid her labour and asks God to reward her instead. Gratitude that exceeds any repayment is the heart of praying for parents. Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá remember fathers and mothers with a mention that carries the fragrance of gifts, ask that they be immersed in the ocean of forgiveness, crowned, sheltered, drawn near and taught gratitude for their own blessings; and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá names it a special favour of this Dispensation that a son may supplicate for his father and descendants for their ancestors. Care flows the other way too, in a father’s prayer for his son and in the hope that a daughter’s growth will gladden her parents. The Qur’án joins kindness to parents, and gentle speech when they grow old, with a prayer that remembers how they cared for us when we were small [1] [2]. The journey continues into the bonds of parents and children, the life of families, the hopes placed in youth, and the wider world of prayer in which all of these are carried.
O God: she educated me from the beginning of (my) life, reared me. But I did not recompense her for her labor; do thou reward her. Grant her eternal life and make her dear in Thy Kingdom.
Verily Thou art the Forgiver, the Pardoner and the Kind.
And for your noble father and near mother I likewise beseeched infinite favors from the Divine Threshold, that they may be submerged in the sea of grace and beneficence.
We have remembered his father and mother with a mention from which wafts the fragrance of gifts and favors.
We make mention of thy father and beseech God, blessed and exalted be He, to draw him nigh unto Him and to send down upon him, at all times, mercy from His presence, grace from His own Self, and a sign from His direction.
O Lord! Have mercy upon the mother of this servant who has believed in Thee and Thy signs. Make her the recipient of the glance of Thy loving-kindness and the achiever of that which Thou lovest. Be pleased with her and ordain for her every good in the hereafter.
O Compassionate Lord! Make this dear servant dear to Thee and bestow upon him boundless culture and discrimination. Fill his cup to overflowing with the wine of Thy love and make him enthusiastic. Bestow blessing upon his commercial affairs, and immerse his mother, the handmaiden of God, in the ocean of forgiveness, and place upon her head a radiant crown.
I beseech and implore Thy forgiveness. I ask Thee, by the sanctity of Thy verses and Thy signs, to forgive me and my father and my mother. Verily, Thou art the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.
Then forgive me and my parents through Thy grace and bounty. Verily, Thou art the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.
O my Lord and my Hope! Immerse the parents of this servant in the oceans of Thy forgiveness, perfume their nostrils with the fragrances of Thy pardon, and cause them to dwell near Thy mercy.
O Forgiver! Grant his father and mother a place in Your shelter and bestow refuge in Your court. Forgive their sins and teach them gratitude for Your favors. Deliver them from remoteness and separation, and grant them a dwelling and abode in the circle of Your chosen ones.
O wise Jamshid! Since you have taken refuge in the mighty Pillar, the favors of the Glorious Lord will surely encompass your kind father. Among the special favors of the Greatest Name - may my spirit be a sacrifice for His loved ones - in this mighty Dispensation is that the son supplicates for forgiveness for the father, and descendants intercede for their ancestors. Therefore, this servant beseeches at the threshold of the Lord that your father and mother may be immersed in the ocean of forgiveness.
O Lord! Answer his prayer, fulfill his hopes, show honor to his mother and father, and ordain for them that which he loveth and is pleased with. Keep them safe beneath the glance of Thine eye of loving-kindness, protected by Thy care and guardianship.
O God! O my hope! I supplicate toward the Kingdom of Thy Holiness and Thy Sanctity and entreat toward the realm of Thy Might to bless and accept the father of this Thy servant who has attained to the visit of the Holy Threshold, circumambulated around Thy Sacred Home and prayed to Thee with the tongue of his being!
Aid him to serve his father in such wise as not to depart from his good-pleasure, and preserve him, O my Creator, beneath the shade of the Tree of Thy protection and shelter.
Among other things, he sought assistance and favor for thee, and for his deceased mother he sought pardon and forgiveness. A son should be such a servant to his father, and a cause of felicity for his parents at the Most Great and Glorious Threshold.
Now the father must show the utmost kindness to him and bestow endless favor, and pray day and night and seek divine confirmation so that the son may become like the trees of paradise - a fruitful tree adorned with leaves, blossoms and fruit, appearing in the streams of the Most Glorious Garden with perfect freshness and verdure.
And I beseech God that He may also awaken him, that he may know that this aware son is a manifestation of the favors of the Lord, and that his eye of insight has been opened to the lights of the greatest guidance and beholds the signs of God's mercy.
Verily, I read those beautiful words traced by thy pen and asked God to make thee a sign of the Signs of His Power amongst His girls, to cause thee to be an emblem of this great Century, to strengthen thee in speech and explanation, to make thee attain the visit of the Holy Threshold and to enable thy father and mother in whatever conduces to salvation and life until the eternity of the eternities and El-Baha be upon thee.
I beseech God to shower every good upon you and your family and children, and that God's protecting gaze may surround them from all directions.
O God! Cause them to grow with a goodly growth through Thy grace and bounty, and brighten the eyes of their parents through beholding the faces of their descendants. Verily Thou art the Generous, the Bountiful.
We beseech the Sacred Threshold that, by virtue of your faith and certitude, He may also cause your late father to enter His paradise of good-pleasure - and this is not difficult for God to accomplish. How many a son hath become the cause of his father's forgiveness in this Most Great Cycle!
Such a mother deserveth such a son, and such a son requireth such a mother. Blessed be the breast that gave him suck, and happy the bosom that nurtured him. Blessed art thou and blessed is he in all conditions.
Praised be Thou O Lord, My God! This is My mother who hath acknowledged Thy oneness, confessed Thy unity, attained the honour of meeting Thy Manifestations in Thy days, reached the station of recognition and entered the tabernacle of Heaven, for she loved Thyself and Thy Servant and held fast to the cord of Thy love through the sanctified Temples of Thy Sovereignty.
Glory be unto Thee, O my God! Send down upon my father at this moment in his resting place that which may comfort his heart. Verily, Thou art the Lord of all the worlds. And send down, O my God, upon her who bore me - verily, Thou art the Lord of all the worlds - whatsoever beseemeth Thy wondrous mercy, for Thou art the Most Merciful of the merciful ones and Thou art the Most Generous of the generous ones.
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
O Lord! Immerse the father and mother of this servant of Thy threshold in the ocean of forgiveness, and purify them from sin and error. Grant them abundant pardon and bestow forgiveness and remission.
For thought and discussion