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Extract from the Persian Bayán
Celebrate Your Birthday Sooner
Naw-
Express a Date Without Using Numbers
It was in their letter to the Bahá'ís of the World, dated 10 July 2014, that the Universal House of Justice announced that Ṭihrán would be the spot on Earth above which the March/Bahá equinox would mark the first day of the Bahá'í year, a decision officially and explicitly left to the Universal House of Justice by Shoghi Effendi.
However, unofficially there is an indication that Shoghi Effendi may have previously indicated that this would be the case.
Amatu'l-
"The Bahá'í day starts at sunset, not at midnight, and is like the Muslim system and the Jewish system. If the normal equinox starts one minute before sunset on March 21st, then March 21st is Naw-
Extract from the Persian Bayán
While other calendars might be referred to as the "Christian Calendar", the "Muslim" (or "Islamic") "Calendar", or the "Jewish Calendar", all religious calendars of the past are adaptations, sometimes based on scriptural statements, of man-
The structure of the Badí' calendar is part of the Revelation of the Báb* and was adopted and slightly expanded upon by Bahá'u'lláh*.
Below is a French translation of the section of the Persian Bayán (Vahíd 5, Báb 3) that details some of the symbolism the Báb associated with the months and days of this calendar. This is followed by about two-
The Persian Bayan is one of the main holy books revealed by the Báb.
Notes provided with the French translation are included with the translation itself, notes are provided with the English translation where the wording of the French translation might shed further light on the meaning.
"the Point" refers to the "Primal Will", and is frequently used by the Báb to refer to Himself.
These translations are provided for guidance and information only and should not be relied upon for accuracy.
*the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh are the prophet-
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French Translation / Traduction Française [skip to English]
Dans l'explication de la connaissance des années et des mois.
"Le résumé de cette porte est que:
Dieu a créé toutes les années sur son ordre. Depuis la manifestation du Bayan, il l'a fixé à l'année le nombre de toutes choses (1). Il l'a fixée en dix neuf mois et chaque mois de dix neuf jours. De sorte que tous doivent compter à partir de l'entrée dans du Bélier jusqu'à la fin du voyage du soleil (2), qui se termine au Poisson dans les dix neufs miroirs des dix-
(1) [nota: 361 jours.]
(2) [nota: Dans les signes du Zodiaque.]
(3) [nota: 19 x 19 = 361. Il est à remarquer que si l'on doit compter à partir de l'entrée du soleil dans le signe du Bélier, l'année formera 365 jours. Il existe donc 4 jours complémentaires.]
Le premier mois est appelé "Baha". Le dernier "Oula", et la religion a été établie sur les bases de ce chiffre (4).
Chaque jour, il en a fait un Printemps pour chacun de ses ordres, afin que ceux qui jouissent dans ce Paradis, jouissent de la plus complète jouissance possible dans les contingences.
Dans les trois premiers mois qui sont les mois du tesbih, a lieu la création du feu de l'amour de Dieu dans les, coeurs des contingences; dans les quatre mois suivants, qui sont les mois du Tahamid, a lieu la création des esprits des êtres, et, pendant ces mois, la nourriture (de la connaissance de Dieu) leur est distribuée.
(4) [nota: Dix neuf ou trois cent soixante et un.]
Dans les six autres mois, qui sont les mois du tauhid, Dieu fait mourir les créatures, non de la mort matérielle, mais de la mort de la négation dans la vie de l'affirmation. Dans les six autres mois du Tekbir Dieu très haut donne la vie à ceux qui sont morts à l'amour d'autre que lui et qui sont fermes dans son amour.
Les trois premiers mois sont ceux du feu (1) de Dieu.
Les quatre suivants sont ceux de l'amour éternel, les six suivants, ceux de l'Unité de Dieu, qui rayonne à travers l'âme de toutes choses dans l'amour éternel, et qui reçoit son aide du feu de Dieu. Les six autres mois à la poussière, et ce qui s'est manifesté des trois éléments est caché dans celui-
Le premier mois est le mois du Point, et les mois du vivant (2) tournent autour de lui. Et il est au milieu des autres mois comme le, soleil, et les autres mois sont comme des miroirs, et les rayons de ce mois s'épanouissent en eux de sorte qu'en eux on ne peut voir que lui (3), Dieu l'a nommé le mois Baha parce que la luminosité de tous ces mois se trouve en lui.
(1) [nota: Du feu créateur, et non du feu du châtiment.]
(2) [nota: Les dix huit autres.]
(3) [nota: Ce premier mois.]
Ce premier mois, il l'a fixé pour Celui que Dieu doit manifester, et chacun des jours de ce mois, il l'a fixé pour l'une des lettres de l'Unité (19). Le premier jour, qui est le "No rouz", est le jour de "Il n'y a pas de dieu, si ce n'est Dieu".
Ce jour est comme le Point dans le Bayan: tous sont créés de lui et retournent à lui.
Le spectacle de ce jour est dans le point du Bayan, le maître des sept lettres; car c'est lui qui est l'Orient de cette arche; c'est lui qui fait descendre les versets de ce genre, c'est lui dans lequel ne peut être vu rien autre que Dieu très haut. C'est lui le "premier", et par ce mot "premier", il ne peut être connu; c'est lui le "dernier", et par ce mot "dernier", il ne peut être connu; c'est lui "l'apparent", et il ne peut être connu par ce mot "apparent" -
Chaque personne qui est consentante en ce jour et répète trois cent soixante et une fois la formule de l'Unité de Dieu, Dieu le garde pendant cette année là de tout ce que le destin fait descendre du ciel. Dieu est le gardien de toutes choses.
Le fruit de cette science est que dans ces mois, qui sont un des rangs de la créature, si tous démontrent les lettres de l'Unité, comment en peut-
Ce n'est pas pour la science, c'est pour qu'on en puisse prendre le fruit. Dans le jour de la manifestation de ces spectacles, si quelqu'un se trouve être possesseur de tout ce qui est sur la terre, il ne doit voir en lui que ces propres spectacles et s'humilier devant eux, s'ils se manifestent, comme dans cette manifestation-
Agir ainsi sert à ceux qui craignent Dieu.
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English Translation / Traduction Anglaise
"The substance of this gate is that the Lord of the universe hath fashioned all types of years by His behest, and hath ordained that from the inception of the Bayan, each year should equal the numerical value of the words "all things" (Kull-
"Thus, He hath destined each day to be the springtime of one of His laws, that the inmates of this paradise may partake of divine delights in the utmost joy possible within the realm of creation. Therefore, during the first three months -
Noteworthy phrasing from the French translation:
(1) "the creation of the fire of the love of God"
(2) "the food (of the knowledge of God) is distributed to them"
"The first three months are [those of] the fire of God(1), the next four months, the air of eternity(2), and the subsequent six months are the water of divine unity(3) which streameth forth upon all souls, descending from the atmosphere of eternity, which in turn is derived from the fire of God. The last six months pertain to earthly existence, whereby all that hath appeared from these three elements may be established within the element of dust, through which the fruit will be harvested..."
Noteworthy from the French translation:
(1) A footnote Creative fire, not the fire of punishment)
(2) The "air of eternity" is alternatively translated as "eternal love"
(3) the "Unity of God"
"The first month is the month of the Point, and the months belonging to the Letters of the Living revolve around it(1). Among all the months, the month of the Point resembleth the sun, while all other months resemble mirrors which reflect the radiant lights of that supreme month, in such wise that naught is seen in them but that month(2). God hath called that month the month of Baha (Splendour, Glory), meaning that therein lieth the splendour and glory of all months, and He hath singled it out for Him Whom God shall make manifest. Each of its days is related by God to one of the Letters of Unity."
Noteworthy from the French translation:
(1) refers to "Him" instead of "it"
(2) naught is seen in the other months but "Him", instead of "that month"
Celebrate Your Birthday Sooner
[This feature was published in a year where Naw-
Patience is a virtue, but would you like to celebrate your birthday one day early this year?
Officially the Bahá'í world still plans according to Coordinated Universal Time, which uses the Gregorian calendar, while we now use a common implementation of the Badí' calendar to determine the correct time to celebrate feasts and holy days.
This isn't a serious suggestion, but if, however, you personally wanted to adopt the Badí' calendar as the one by which your own birthday is calculated then there is a strong chance that your birthday will fall one -
You have two options for doing this. As Naw-
Words in Star of the West on the subject of Naw-
Star of the West is not a trusted source, in it these Words are attributed to ‘Abdu’l-
“From time immemorial this day has been consecrated for in this there is a symbol.
“At this moment the sun appears at the meridian and the day and night are equal. Until today the North Pole has been in darkness. Today the sun appears on the horizon of the North Pole. Today the sun rises and sets at the equator and the two hemispheres are equally illumined. This sacred day, when the sun illumines equally the whole earth, is called the equinox, and the equinox is the symbol of the Manifestation of God. The Sun of Truth rises on the horizon of Divine Mercy and sendst forth its rays. This day is consecrated to commemorate it. It is the beginning of spring. When the sun appears at the equinox, it causes a movement in all living things. The mineral world is set in motion, plants begin to shoot, the desert is changed into a prairie, trees bud and every living thing responds, including the bodies of animals and men.
“The rising of the sun at the equinox is the symbol of life, and likewise it is the symbol of the Divine Manifestations of God, for the rising of the Sun of Truth in the Heaven of Divine Bounty established the signal of Life for the world. The human reality begins to live, our thoughts are transformed and our intelligence is quickened. The Sun of Truth bestows Eternal Life, just as the solar sun is the cause of terrestrial life."
The Bahá'í day starts at sunset. Is this unique?
This may be a new concept to many of us, but the day also starts at sunset on the traditional Hebrew and Islamic calendars, and the Liturgical Christian calendar day, observed in Monasteries, similarly starts in the evening. Some religious groups who do not consider a day to last from one sunset to the next still consider their holy days to run from sunset to sunset or evening to evening. In many modern western societies there is also evidence of this tradition as Christmas Day and New Years Day start with Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.
Starting the day at sunset, the start of the evening, is often attributed to the opening verses of Genesis in the Old Testament, where darkness is said to come before light and each of the six "day"s of creation are referred to as "evening and morning". The Sabbath, or day of rest, is then more explicitly referred to as being from one evening to the next elsewhere in the Bible.
It is argued by some that starting a day at sunset makes it much easier to know when one day ends and a new day starts without the use of clocks.
With the time of sunset changing from day to day and place to place, using a Badí' calendar day to plan events may sometimes be rather complicated, but the Baha'i community is not currently being asked to plan all of their events in this way. The implementation of the Badí' Calendar is primarily to ensure that the world-
Each of the 19 Bahá'í months has 19 days, no matter which month or year it is.
In the main scriptural languages of the world's religions (Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic) 19 is the numerical value of the word One.
19 is also the numerical value of the word Váḥid, meaning unity, which -
How accurately can you express a date without using numbers?
Using the Gregorian calendar you can sensibly refer to a date within about 4 weeks of the current one without numerical references, for example “the Thursday after next” or “the Saturday before last”.
Using the Badi' calendar you can pinpoint most dates within an entire 19 year period (a Váḥid) without any numbers, or within a 76 year period if we similarly include phrases like “in the Váḥid before last”
The Gregorian calendar gives names to the weekdays and the months, but you need numbers to refer to the day of the month and to specify the year, whereas the Badi' calendar has names for these too.
Using an example published in The Bahá'í World as a guide for structure, the Gregorian date "Sunday the 3rd May, 2015" is expressed as:
The day of Jamál, the day of Raḥmat, of the month of Jamál, of the year Alif, of the tenth Váḥid of the first Kull-
To break that down:
Jamál (meaning Beauty) is the 2nd day of the week
Raḥmat (meaning Mercy) is the 6th day of the month
Jamál is also the name of the 3rd month
Alif is the name of the 1st year in each Váḥid (19 years)
The tenth Váḥid (meaning Unity) started at Naw-
Each Kull-
So, if you and a friend know the Badi' calendar well, there is no need to use any numbers when referring to dates within the current Váḥid.
Sunday the 3rd of May, 2015 is The day of Jamál, the day of Raḥmat, of the month of Jamál, of the year Alif.
A collection of short features about the Badí Calendar, previously published on the Facebook page