A New Calendar

The Months

The Days

The Holy Days

Naw Rúz

The Cycles (Váhid)

A Period Kull-i-Shay

Why a new Calendar?

Acknowledgements



The Bahá'í Calendar

The Bahá'í Calendar , also called the Badí calendar was established by the Báb in the Kitáb-i-Asmá
and approved by Bahá'u'lláh, who stated that it should start in 1844 AD AH 1260).

The Year

It is based on the solar year of 365 days, five hours and some fifty minutes.
Each year is divided into nineteen months of nineteen days each with four Intercalary Days
(five in a leap year), called Ayyám-i-Há which Bahá'u'lláh specified should precede the nineteenth month.

New Year's Day (Naw Rúz) falls on the Spring Equinox. This usually occurs on 21 March
but if the Equinox falls after sunset on 21 March, Naw Rúz is to be celebrated on 22 March
because the Bahá'í day begins at sunset.

The Months

The names of the months in the Bahá'í ( Badí) calendar were given by
the Báb, who drew them from the nineteen names of God invoked in a prayer said during
the month of fasting in Shí'ih Islam.

They are:


Persian Name

English Name

Feast begins

Feast Ends

Bahá Splendour 21 March 08 April
Jalál Glory 09 April 27 April
Jamál Beauty 28 April 16 May
'Azamat Grandeur 17 May 04 June
Núr Light 05 June 23 June
Rahmat Mercy 24 June 12 July
Kalimát Words 13 July 31 July
Kamál Perfection 01 August 19 August
Asmá' Names 20 August 07 September
'Izzat Might 08 September 26 September
Mashíyyat Will 27 September 15 October
'Ilm Knowledge 16 October 03 November
Qudrat Power 04 November 22 November
Qawl Speech 23 November 11 December
Masá'il Questions 12 December 30 December
Sharaf Honour 31 December 18 January
Sultán Sovereignty 19 January 06 February
Mulk Dominion 07 February 25 February
'Alá Loftiness 02 March 20 March

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The Days

The Bahá'í day of rest is Isiqlál (Friday) and the Bahá'í day begins and ends at sunset.

Each of the days of the month is also given the name of one of the attributes of God.
The names are the same as those of the nineteen months; thus Naw-Rúz,
the first day of the first month, would be considered the 'day of Bahá of the month Bahá'.
If it fell on a Saturday, the first day of the Bahá'í week, it would also be the 'day of jalál'.

Ayyám-i-Há

Literally, Days of Há (i.e. the letter Há, which in the abjad system has the numerical value
of 5). Intercalary Days. The four days (five in a leap year) before the last month of the
Bahá'í year, 'Alá', which is the month of fasting.

Bahá'u'lláh designated the Intercalary days as Ayyám-i-Há in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
and specified when they should be observed; the Báb left this undefined.

The Ayyám-i-Há are devoted to spiritual preparation
for the fast, hospitality, feasting, charity and gift giving.

The days of the Bahá'í week are;


1. Jalál Glory Saturday
2. Jamál Beauty Sunday
3. Kamál Perfection Monday
4. Fidál Grace Tuesday
5. 'Idál Justice Wednesday
6. Istijlál Majesty Thursday
7. Istiqlál Independence Friday

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The Cycles (Váhid)

In His Writings, revealed in Arabic, the Báb divided the years
following the date of His Revelation into cycles of nineteen years each.

Each cycle of nineteen years is called a Váhid; nineteen cycles
constitute a period called Kull-i-Shay

The names of the years in each cycle are:

1. Alif   The Letter "A"
2. Bá   The letter "B"
3. Ab   Father
4. Dál   The letter "D"
5. Báb   Gate
6. Váv   The letter "V"
7. Abad   Eternity
8. Jád   Generosity
9. Bahá   Splendour
10. Hubb   Love
11. Bahháj   Delightful
12. Javáb   Answer
14. Vahháb   Bountiful
13. Ahad   Single
15. Vidád   Affection
16. Badí   Beginning
17. Bahí   Luminous
18. Abhá   Most Luminous
19. Váhid   Unity

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The first Kull-i-Shay' of the Bahá'í Era

The Báb has, in His writings revealed in Arabic, divided the years following the date of
His Revelation, into cycles of nineteen years each. Each cycle of nineteen years is called Váhid.

Nineteen cycles constitute a period called Kull-i-Shay. The numerical value of the word 'Váhid'
is nineteen. It signifies unity, and is symbolic of the unity of God. The numerical value of the
'Kull-i-Shay' is 361, and literally means 'all things.'

In the table below are given the first 361 years of the Bahá'í Era.

Some important years in Bahá'í history are in blue.


Name Meaning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
1 Alif A 1844 1863 1882 1901 1920 1939 1958 1977 1996 2015 2034 2053 2072 2091 2110 2129 2148 2167 2186
2 Bá B 1845 1864 1883 1902 1921 1940 1959 1978 1997 2016 2035 2054 2073 2092 2111 2130 2149 2168 2187
3 Ab Father 1846 1865 1844 1903 1922 1941 1960 1979 1998 2017 2036 2055 2074 2093 2112 2131 2150 2169 2188
4 Dál D 1847 1866 1885 1904 9123 1942 1961 1980 1999 2018 2037 2056 2075 2094 2113 2132 2151 2170 2189
5 Báb Gate 1848 1867 1886 1905 1924 1943 1962 1981 2000 2019 2038 2057 2076 2095 2114 2133 2152 2171 2190
6 Váv V 1849 1868 1887 1906 1925 1944 1963 1982 2001 2020 2039 2058 2077 2096 2115 2134 2153 2172 2191
7 Abad Eternity 1850 1869 1888 1907 1926 1945 1964 1983 2002 2021 2040 2059 2078 2097 2116 2135 2154 2173 2192
8 Jád Generosity 1851 1870 1889 1908 1927 1946 1965 1984 2003 2022 2041 2060 2079 2098 2117 2136 2155 2174 2193
9 Bahá Splendour 1852 1871 1890 1909 1928 1947 1966 1985 2004 2023 2042 2061 2080 2099 2118 2137 2156 2175 2194
10 Hubb Love 1853 1872 1891 1910 1929 1948 1967 1986 2005 2024 2043 2062 2081 2100 2119 2138 2157 2176 2195
11 Bahháj Delightful 1854 1873 1892 1911 1930 1949 1968 1987 2006 2025 2044 2063 2082 2101 2120 2139 2158 2177 2196
12 Javáb Answer 1855 1874 1893 1912 1931 1950 1969 1988 2007 2026 2045 2064 2083 2102 2121 2140 2159 2178 2197
13 Ahad Single 1856 1875 1894 1913 1932 1951 1970 1989 2008 2027 2046 2065 2084 2103 2122 2141 2160 2179 2198
14 Vahháb Bountiful 1857 1876 1895 1914 1933 1952 1971 1990 2009 2028 2047 2066 2085 2104 2123 2142 2161 2180 2199
15 Vidád Affection 1858 1877 1896 1915 1934 1953 1972 1991 2010 2029 2048 2067 2086 2105 2124 2143 2162 2181 2200
16 Badi' Beginning 1859 1878 1897 1916 1935 1954 1973 1992 2011 2030 2049 2068 2087 2106 2125 2144 2163 2182 2201
17 Bahí Luminous 1860 1879 1898 1917 1936 1955 1974 1993 2012 2031 2050 2069 2088 2107 2126 2145 2164 2183 2202
18 Abhá Most Luminous 1861 1880 1899 1918 1937 1956 1975 1994 2013 2032 2051 2070 2089 2108 2127 2146 2165 2184 2203
19 Váhid Unity 1862 1881 1900 1919 1938 1957 1976 1995 2014 2033 2052 2071 2090 2109 2128 2147 2166 2185 2204

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The Bahá'í Holy Days

Date - 21 March Naw Rúz. (Bahá'í New Year)
Date - 21 April The First Day of Ridván.
Date - 29 April The Ninth Day of Ridván.
Date - 02 May The Twelfth Day of Ridván.
Date - 23 May The Anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb.
Date - 29 May The Anniversary of the Ascension of the Bahá'u'lláh.
Date - 09 July The Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Báb.
Date - 20 October The Anniversary of the Birth of the Báb.
Date - 12 November The Anniversary of the Birth of the Bahá'u'lláh.
Date - 26 November The Day of the Covenant
Date - 28 November The Anniversary of the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

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Naw Rúz

Literally, New Day. The Bahá'í New Year. Like the ancient Persian New Year,
it occurs on the spring equinox, which generally falls on 21 March. If the equinox
falls after sunset on 21 March, Naw Rúz is celebrated on 22 March, since the
Bahá'í day begins at sunset. For the present, however, the celebration of Naw Rúz
is fixed on 21 March. In the Bahá'í calendar, Naw Rúz falls on the day of Bahá of
the month of Bahá.

The Festival of Naw Rúz marks the end of the month of fasting
and is a joyous time of celebration. It is a Bahá'í Holy Day on
which work is to be suspended.


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Why a new Calendar?

Every new religion has its own calendar and the Bahá'í Faith is no different.

The Gregorian calendar currently in use in the west is quite unscientific, as the "months" are a throwback
to the days when people used the phases of the moon to mark the passage of time (the moon goes through
its phases in 29 days). "Month" may be considered short for "moonth". The names of our months were
assigned to show respect to various Roman deities and emperors, i.e.., June for the goddess Juno, July for
Julius Caesar, August for Augustus Ceasar. September, October, November, and December mean "7th,
8th, 9th, and 10th" as they were the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months originally. So why are we still showing
our respect for Roman Emperors? Isn't it time to adopt a calendar based on the Sun, rather than the moon?
And instead of honouring ancient deities, the Bahá'í months are named for attributes of God.

Similarly, our days of the week are named for attributes of the one true God,
instead of honouring the sun god, moon god and mythological gods such as Woden,
Thor, and Saturn. Judge objectively for yourself which calendar is more appropriate for today.

This description of the Gregorian calendar was in answer to a question on the newsgroups soc.religion.bahai


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Parts of this Page have been copied from

"A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary"

Permission has been granted by the publisher and it's general
editor, Dr. Wendy Momen, to quote from it.

The Publisher of "A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary" and many other fine books is,
George Ronald, 46 High Street, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 2DN.


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