Individual – “that the end of my days may be distinguished above their beginning”; to receive Baha’u’llah’s “grace and loving-kindness,…care and protection”; to receive “manifold blessings” in the next world

O Lord! Grant me a measure of Thy grace and loving-kindness, Thy care and protection, Thy shelter and bounty, that the end of my days may be distinguished above their beginning, and the close of my life may open the portals to Thy manifold blessings. May Thy loving-kindness and bounty descend upon me at every moment, and Thy forgiveness and mercy be vouchsafed with every breath, until, beneath the sheltering shadow of Thine upraised Standard, I may at last repair to the Kingdom of the All-Praised. Thou art the Bestower and the Ever-Loving, and Thou art, verily, the Lord of grace and bounty. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

A prayer for recitation at the grave of a martyr

O thou [1] peerless, matchless, glorious martyr!

Verily, I salute thy pure dust, and thy holy, blessed tomb, which is perfumed by the fragrances of sanctity which are blowing upon thee from the Supreme Concourse, and the lights which are cast upon thee from the Kingdom of Abha, and the copious rain which purifieth thy fragrant plain. Upon thee be Baha! Upon thee be mercy, O thou lamp ignited with the fire of the love of God, irradiated with the ray of the gift of God, and aflame in the glass of the knowledge of God! Thou art he who hath drunk the cup of sacrifice, hath expended his life in the path of God, and hath shed his blood on the earth in love for the Beauty of God. For they did not appreciate thy merit, denied thy dignity, were veiled from beholding the gift of thy Lord, and supposed themselves to be just. No! By no means!

Punishment is for such as persecuted thee, hell is for such as rejected thee, fire is for such as sentenced thee to death, infernal flame be for such as betrayed thee, and the hellish gulf is for such as shed thy blood with impunity! And paradise is for such as love thee, heaven is for such as serve thee, the everlasting abode is for such as visit (thy tomb)!

Upon thee be Baha! Upon thee be greeting and praise, O thou who hast suffered martyrdom in the path of God, and art submerged in the ocean of the mercy of God! Blessed are the nostrils which will be perfumed by the scent of thy brilliant spot! Blessed are the eyes which will be illumined by the ray which is being cast upon thee from the bounty of the Kingdom of Abha!

I beg of God to make thy sepulchre a mine of mercy, a depository of gifts, and to encompass it with manifest signs. Verily, He is the Beneficent! the Giver! Verily, He is gracious, and showeth great favor toward martyrs, and He is the Bestower, the Generous!

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 2)

[1] Siyyd-Jaffar, of Isfand-Abad, Persia, who suffered martyrdom in 1901. When he would not recant, Mulla Abdu’l-Kani, the chief religious magistrate of the locality, turned him over to three different men for execution, and when each refused to carry out the order, the Mulla struck him on the head with a stone, and, with the assistance of another Mulla, put him to death.

A prayer for Thornton Chase recited by ‘Abdu’l-Baha at his grave

O my God! O my God! Verily, this is a servant of Thine, who did believe on Thee and in Thy signs; verily he hearkened to Thy summons, turned to Thy Kingdom, humbled himself at Thy holy threshold, was possessed of a contrite heart, arose to serve Thy cause, to spread Thy fragrances, to promote Thy word, and to expound Thy wisdom.

Verily he guided the people to Thine ancient pathway, and led them to Thy way of rectitude. Verily he held the chalice of guidance in his right hand and gave unto those athirst to drink of the cup of favor. He presented himself at Thy lofty threshold, where he laid his brow on the fragrant soil of Thy garden and circumambulated Thy all-glorious and sublime abode, the traces of which are wide-spread and the fragrances of whose loyalty are sensed everywhere. Later he returned to these vast and extensive countries and proclaimed Thy name among the people, until his respiration ceased and his outward sensation was suspended, returning to Thee with a heart throbbing with Thy love and with an eye opened to Thy direction.

O Lord! O Lord! Submerge him in the ocean of Thy glory. O Lord! O Lord! Usher him into Thy delectable garden. O Lord! O Lord! Usher him into Thy lofty paradise and cause him to be present in Thy meeting of transfiguration. O Lord! Submerge him in the ocean of Thy lights.

Verily, Thou art the Clement! Verily, Thou art the Merciful, the Precious, the Omnipotent!

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Star of the West, vol. 4, no. 11, September 27, 1913)