The Baha’i year consists of 19 months of 19 days each. The months are named after the attributes of God. Each Baha’i community holds a Nineteen Day Feast on the first day of each Baha’i month.
The Feast has spiritual, administrative and social functions and is the primary locus of fellowship and community decision-making in each Baha’i locality.
Some Reflections for the Feast of Words (Kalimat in Arabic) – begins at sunset July 12
Photo by Ronnie Y. Bindra
“O Son Of Beauty! By My spirit and by My favor! By My mercy and by My beauty! All that I have revealed unto thee with the tongue of power, and have written for thee with the pen of might, hath been in accordance with thy capacity and understanding, not with My state and the melody of My voice.”
– Baha’u’llah
“O SON OF MY HANDMAID! Guidance hath ever been given by words, and now it is given by deeds.”
– Baha’u’llah
Photo by Shahriar Erfanian
“One word is like unto springtime causing the tender saplings of the rose-garden of knowledge to become verdant and flourishing, while another word is even as a deadly poison. It behoveth a prudent man of wisdom to speak with utmost leniency and forbearance so that the sweetness of his words may induce everyone to attain that which befitteth man’s station. …”
– Baha’u’llah
“The day is approaching when all the peoples of the world will have adopted one universal language and one common script. When this is achieved, to whatsoever city a man may journey, it shall be as if he were entering his own home. These things are obligatory and absolutely essential.”
Photo by Saleem Vaillancourt
“…‘Say: all things are of God.’ This exalted utterance is like unto water for quenching the fire of hate and enmity which smouldereth within the hearts and breasts of men. By this single utterance contending peoples and kindreds will attain the light of true unity. Verily He speaketh the truth and leadeth the way. He is the All-Powerful, the Exalted, the Gracious.”
Photo by Lauren Herrmann
“…It is evident that the Letter is a member of the Word, and this membership in the Word signifieth that the Letter is dependent for its value on the Word, that is, it deriveth its grace from the Word; it has a spiritual kinship with the Word, and is accounted an integral part of the Word. …”
– ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Selections From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha
“Actions must be more to them than words.”
– ‘Abdu’l-Baha
“Reveal then Thyself, O Lord, by Thy merciful utterance and the mystery of Thy divine being, that the holy ecstasy of prayer may fill our souls – a prayer that shall rise above words and letters and transcend the murmur of syllables and sounds – that all things may be merged into nothingness before the revelation of Thy splendor.”
– ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i Prayers
“Therefore, you must without delay employ your powers in spreading the effulgent glow of the love of God and so order your lives that you may be known and seen as examples of its radiance.”
– ‘Abdu’l-Baha
View photos on the website “Nineteen Months” taken by photographers inspired by reflection on the month of Words – nineteenmonths.com is an international collaborative photo blog using spirituality to inspire photographers and in turn, inspire others.