About the Baháʼí Daily Calendar.

A Baháʼí daily practice (sometimes spelled 'Bahai') centers on prayer, reading of the sacred writings, and reflection on the divine attribute associated with each day of the Bahai calendar. Baháʼís are asked to recite one of three Obligatory Prayers each day, to read from the writings of Baháʼu'lláh morning and evening, and to bring their work and service into alignment with the spiritual focus of the day.

See also: Prayers and Meditations by Baháʼu'lláh

Baháʼu'lláh revealed three Obligatory Prayers and asks every Baháʼí from the age of 15 to recite one of them each day. The Short Obligatory Prayer is a single verse said once between noon and sunset; the Medium is recited three times a day; the Long is offered once in any 24-hour period. The choice is left to the individual. Together with the Greatest Name — 'Alláh-u-Abhá', repeated 95 times each day — these form the backbone of Baháʼí daily devotion.

See also: The Kitáb-i-Aqdas

The Baháʼí (Badíʻ) calendar — often written 'Bahai calendar' — is a solar calendar of 19 months of 19 days (361 days), plus 4 or 5 intercalary days called Ayyám-i-Há to align it with the solar year. Each day and each month is named after a divine attribute (Splendor, Glory, Beauty, Grandeur, and so on), and each day begins at sunset rather than midnight. The Baháʼí year begins on Naw-Rúz, the spring equinox.

See also: Naw-Rúz and the Baháʼí Holy Days

Every day of the Baháʼí calendar is named after a divine attribute — for example, the days of the month are Bahá (Splendor), Jalál (Glory), Jamál (Beauty), ʻAẓamat (Grandeur), Núr (Light), Raḥmat (Mercy), and so on. Reflecting on the attribute assigned to each day is a way of aligning one's inner life with the Will of the Creator throughout the year. This site collects the day's focal point together with the corresponding sacred verses.

In the Baháʼí calendar each day begins at sunset and ends at the following sunset. This follows a very old spiritual tradition — shared with the Jewish and Islamic calendars — in which the sacred day opens at nightfall, so that evening prayer and reflection are the first act of the day rather than the last. It's also a practical marker: the visible setting of the sun anchors the day for people anywhere in the world.