The Bahá

The Baha'i calendar was given to us by the Bab and is called the Badi calendar. It is based on the solar year of 365 days, 5 hours, and 50 odd minutes. The year consists of 19 months of 19 days each (i.e. 361 days), with the addition of four extra days (five in a leap year). 19 years is a cycle called a Vahid. 19 cycles is a Kull-i-Shay. The numerical value of the word Vahid is 19. The numerical value of the word Kull-i-Shay is 361. It will be a long time before we have a cute calendar event like: The 2nd day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year of the 2nd Vahid of the 2nd Kull-i-Shay. The names are attributes of God. Additional information is available¹ The following is base on those references:

Year	Name	Translation	Baha'i Era Year These years begin on the March 21st of the common era year.	Common Era Year
1	Alif	A.	153	1996
2	Ba'	B.	154	1997
3	Ab	Father	155	1998
4	Dal	D.	156	1999
5	Bab	Gate	157	2000
6	Vav	V.	158	2001
7	Abad	Eternity	159	2002
8	Jad	Generosity	160	2003
9	Baha	Splendor	161	2004
10	Hubb	Love	162	2005
11	Bahhaj	Delightful	163	2006
12	Javab	Answer	164	2007
13	Ahad	Single	165	2008
14	Vahhab	Bountiful	166	2009
15	Vidad	Affection	167	2010
16	Badi'	Beginning	168	2011
17	Bahi	Luminous	169	2012
18	Abha	Most Luminous	170	2013
19	Vabid	Unity	171	2014

The Baha'i year begins and ends on the Vernal Equinox - March 21 in the Gregorian calendar. Each year is divided into nineteen months of nineteen days each; this equals 361 days. , are added February 26^th to March 1^st inclusive -- four in ordinary and five in leap years to equal 365/366 days. The Baha'i day begins and ends at sunset. The Baha'i day would, therefore, begin with the previous sunset from the day listed here.

Month	Baha'i (Arabic) Name	Translation	Gregorian Calendar
1st	Baha	Splendor	March 21st
2nd	Jalal	Glory	April 9th
3rd	Jamal	Beauty	April 28th
4th	'Azamat	Grandeur	May 17th
5th	Nur	Light	June 5th
6th	Rahmat	Mercy	June 24th
7th	Kalimat	Words	July 13th
8th	Kamal	Perfection	August 1st
9th	Asma'	Names	August 20th
10th	'Izzat	Might	September 8th
11th	Mashiyyat	Will	September 27th
12th	'Ilm	Knowledge	October 16th
13th	Qudrat	Power	November 4th
14th	Qawl	Speech	November 23rd
15th	Masa'il	Questions	December 12th
16th	Sharaf	Honor	December 31st
17th	Sultan	Sovereignty	January 19th
18th	Mulk	Dominion	February 7th
19th	'Ala'	Loftiness	March2nd

Days	Baha'i (Arabic) Name	English Name	Translation
1st	Jalal	Saturday	Glory
2nd	Jamal	Sunday	Beauty
3rd	Kamal	Monday	Perfection
4th	Fidal	Tuesday	Grace
5th	'Idal	Wednesday	Justice
6th	Istijlal	Thursday	Majesty
7th	Istiqlal	Friday	Independence

Event	Common era Date(s)	Explanation	A day on which work should be suspended?	Comment
Feast of Naw-Ruz	March 21st	Baha'i New Year	Yes	Begins Year 166 of the Baha'i era (2009)
Feast of Ridvan	April 21 through May 2nd	Declaration of Baha'u'llah	Yes - but only the first, ninth and twelfth days (April 21st & 29th and May 2nd)	(1863)
Declaration of the Bab	May 23rd	Beginning of the Baha'i era	YES	2 hours after sunset on May 22nd. (1844)
Birth of 'Abdu'l-Baha	May 23rd	Son of Baha'u'llah and Exemplar of the Faith	--	(1844)
Ascension of Baha'u'llah	May 29th		YES	3 AM (1892)
Martyrdom of the Bab	July 9th		YES	Noon (1850)
Birth of the Bab	October 20th		YES	(1819)
Birth of Baha'u'llah	November 12		YES	(1817)
Day of the Covenant	November 26th		NO
Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha	November 28th		NO	(1921)
Ayyam-i-Ha	February 26^th - March 1^st	Intercalary Days	NO
Fast	March 2nd - March 20th	19 Days - Sunrise to Sunset.	NO

¹For further details see the section on the Baha'i calendar in The Baha'i World, volume XVIII.
Also -- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, page 177, 178 and 228.