In March 1913, he contracted cerebral meningitis and died a few weeks later. He was 25. Ironically, his mother had just arrived from America to vacation with him in the mountains of Lebanon, and she was present for the simple funeral in which Samuel Zwemer participated. Borden is buried in the American Cemetery in Cairo. On his grave were inscribed words suggested by Charles Erdman: "Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation of such a life." Memorial services were conducted for Borden at Princeton University and at a little African Methodist church where Borden had taught Sunday school for two years. Other services were held at Yale Hope Mission, at Moody Church, at Marble Collegiate Church in New York, and in Japan, Korea, India and South Africa.