The Baha'i Faith works on a calendar of nineteen months of nineteen days, with either four or five (depending on whether it is a leap year) Intercalary Days between the eighteenth and nineteenth months. The number nineteen was considered sacred to the Bab, the forerunner to Baha'u'llah. The Baha'i calendar is sometimes called the Badi ("Wonderful" in Arabic) calendar.
Importance of The Number Nineteen:
Every letter in the Arabic alphabet has a numerical value, and through addition all words therefore also have a numeric value. Nineteen is the value of the word wahid, or "God the One." Baha'u'llah preferred the number nine, the value of the word baha ("glory" or "splendor"), but he retained the Bab's calendar system.
Measurement of Days:
In the West, days are generally measured from midnight to midnight. In the Baha'i Faith (as well as many other faiths), days are measured from sunset to sunset. Thus, while Baha'i sources generally state that Naw-Ruz occurs on March 21, some also describe how celebration start after sundown on March 20.
Counting Years:
The Baha'i calendar started on March 21, 1844. That first year was denoted 1 BE (Baha'i Era). 1844 was the year that the Bab first announced his revelation and the year that Baha'u'llah joined the Babi movement.
Multi-Year Cycles:
Baha'is also recognize multi-year cycles known as Vahids and Kull-I-Shays. A Vahid is a cycle of nineteen years. We are in the ninth Vahid, which started in 1996 and will run until 2015 CE. A Kull-I-Shay is a group of nineteen Vahids. We are in the first Kull-I-Shays, which will run until 2205 CE.
The entire system is therefore groups of nineteen nestled within larger groups of nineteen: nineteen days to a month, nineteen months to a year, nineteen years to a Vahid, and nineteen Vahids to a Kull-I-Shay.
The Months:
The following is a summation of the yearly calendar, starting with Naw-Ruz, the New Year. It includes the relevant dates, the Islamic month name, and the common English translation.
- March 21 – April 8: Baha "Splendor"
- April 9 – April 27: Jalal "Glory"
- April 28 – May 16: Jamal "Beauty"
- May 17 – June 4: 'Azamat "Grandeur"
- June 5 – June 23: Nur "Light"
- June 24 – July 12: Rahmat "Mercy"
- July 13 – July 31: Kalimat "Words"
- August 1 – August 19: Kamal "Perfection"
- August 20 – September 7: Asma "Names"
- September 8 – September 26: 'Izzat "Might"
- September 27 – October 15: Mashiyyat "Will"
- October 16 – November 3: 'Ilm "Knowledge"
- November 4 – November 22: Qudrat "Power"
- November 23 – December 11: Qawl "Speech"
- December 12 – December 30: Masa'il "Questions"
- December 31 – January 18: Sharaf "Honor"
- January 19 – February 6: Sultan "Sovereignty"
- February 7 – February 25: Mulk "Dominion"
- February 26 – March 1: Ayyam-I-Ha "Days of Ha" ("ha" is an alphabetical letter with a value of "five"), the Intercalary Days
- March 2 – March 20: Ala "Loftiness"
