The Bahá’í Calendar
There is a surprising number of calendars in use around the world and it is essential, if real world unity is to be established, that there should be one calendar that is recognised and acceptable the world over. It is an essential part of the distinctive Bahá’í life that all the Bahá’ís the world over observe, in their religious activities, a calendar which was inaugurated by the Báb. The calendar brings some entirely new ideas in the measurement of time and the fixing of dates. The solar year was adopted but it begins, like the ancient Persian New Year and the modern Iranian Naw-Rúz, with the March equinox (21 March). It is therefore astronomically fixed and the Bahá’í era commences with the year of the Declaration of the Báb (1844).
In the Bahá’í year there are 19 months of 19 days each, making a total of 361 days, so between the 18 and 19 month there are four or five ‘intercalary days’. The nineteenth month is a month of fasting in preparation for the celebration of the New Year’s Day (Naw-Rúz). The Báb named the months after the attributes of God and the Bahá’í day starts and ends at sunset.
The names of the 19 months are as follows:
| Month | Arabic Name | Translation | First Days |
| 1st Month | Baha | Splendour | March 21 |
| 2nd Month | Jalal | Glory | April 9 |
| 3rd Month | Jamal | Beauty | April 28 |
| 4th Month | ‘Azamat | Grandeur | May 17 |
| 5th Month | Nur | Light | June 5 |
| 6th Month | Rahmat | Mercy | June 24 |
| 7th Month | Kalimat | Words | July 13 |
| 8th Month | Kamal | Perfection | August 1 |
| 9th Month | Asma | Names | August 20 |
| 10th Month | ‘Izzat | Might | September 8 |
| 11th Month | Mashiyyat | Will | September 27 |
| 12th Month | ‘Ilm | Knowledge | October 16 |
| 13th Month | Qudrat | Power | November 4 |
| 14th Month | Qawl | Speech | November 23 |
| 15th Month | Masa’il | Questions | December 12 |
| 16th Month | Sharaf | Honour | December 31 |
| 17th Month | Sultan | Sovereignty | January 19 |
| 18th Month 1 | Mulk | Dominion | February 7 |
| 19th Month | ‘Ala | Loftiness | March 2 |
During the year there are special feasts and anniversaries as well as the days of fasting and these are listed as follows:
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Naw Ruz (New Year’s Day)
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March 21
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1st Day of Ridvan
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April 21
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9th Day of Ridvan
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April 29
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12th Day of Ridvan
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May 2
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Declaration of The Bab
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May 23
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Ascension of Baha’u’llah
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May 29
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Martyrdom of The Bab
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July 9
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The Birth of the Bab
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October 20
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The Birth of Baha’u’llah
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November 12
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During the Bahá’í year there are nine holy days on which all work is suspended. Three of these are in the period which commemorates the declaration of Bahá’u’lláh and there is one for the Declaration of the Báb while two of them mark the birthdays of both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh and two commemorate their deaths. The ninth one is the New Year’s day.