Readings for the Feast of Asma (Names):

arthra

arthra

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Each Baha'i community is free to select readings, prayers for a Nineteen Day Feast so I am simply offering these as possible selections:

O Thou Who dealest equitably with all who are in heaven and on earth, and rulest over the kingdom of Thy creation and of Thy Revelation! I testify that every man of equity hath recognized his unfairness in the face of the revelation of the splendors of the Day-Star of Thy Justice, and the ablest of pens hath confessed its impotence before the movement of Thy most exalted Pen. By Thy life, O Thou the Possessor of all names! The minds of the profoundest thinkers are sore perplexed as they contemplate the ocean of Thy knowledge, and the heaven of Thy wisdom, and the Luminary of Thy grace. How can he who is but a creation of Thy will claim to know what is with Thee, or to conceive Thy nature? ... I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by Thy Name which Thou hast made to be the Day-Spring of Thy Revelation and the Dawning-Place of Thine inspiration, to ordain for this wronged One and for them that are dear to Thee what becometh Thy loftiness. Thou, in very truth, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

-- Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations, XXXIX, pp. 55-56

It hath been ordained that every believer in God, the Lord of Judgement, shall, each day, having washed his hands and then his face, seat himself and, turning unto God, repeat "Alláh-u-Abhá" ninety-five times. Such was the decree of the Maker of the Heavens when, with majesty and power, He established Himself upon the thrones of His Names. Perform ye, likewise, ablutions for the Obligatory Prayer; this is the command of God, the Incomparable, the Unrestrained.

-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 26

All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on High, were heard calling aloud: `Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.'

-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Baha'u'llah (Tablet of Carmel), p. 3
 
arthra said:
It hath been ordained that every believer in God, the Lord of Judgement, shall, each day, having washed his hands and then his face, seat himself and, turning unto God, repeat "Alláh-u-Abhá" ninety-five times. Such was the decree of the Maker of the Heavens when, with majesty and power, He established Himself upon the thrones of His Names. Perform ye, likewise, ablutions for the Obligatory Prayer; this is the command of God, the Incomparable, the Unrestrained.
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How is this obligatory act usually performed? Is it customary to keep a certain pace, or is a melody used? Do Baha'is use some kind of prayer beads to keep count?
 
Cino said:
How is this obligatory act usually performed? Is it customary to keep a certain pace, or is a melody used? Do Baha'is use some kind of prayer beads to keep count?
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Each Baha'i determines this. I personally chant 5 Allah'u'abha's followed by 10 lots of 9 Allah'u'abha's. I have 10 fingers, so that I how I count, but I do have prayer beads my daughter brought me.

I follow these with the Long Obligatory Prayer, as that is suited to my busy day at work, knowing that in the morning I have carried out the Obligatory obligations.

Regards Tony
 
Reciting the
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Greatest Name "Allah'u'Abha" ninety five times can be done with prayer beads. I use my fingers. The recitation is private ... Each believer alone reciting.
 
Nice counting scheme!

Is there a marked for Baha'i ritual objects like prayer beads, or do believers generally build their own?
 
Does Allah u Abha mean ‘God is Great’
Can Baha’i use their own language. Or must it be said in ancient Persian?
 
Cino said:
I think this practice has a parallel in the Jesus Prayer, @RJM?
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Yes. I'm just asking about the language choice -- for a faith that wants to be the universal world religion? But it's no big thing
 
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In yoga the sound of the droning mantra "Aum Mani Padme Hum' is supposed to have a vibrational effect, beyond the actual meaning of the Sanskrit phrase itself which translates 'The Jewel of the Lotus' in English. International yogis do not chant the phrase translated into the language which they normally speak at home -- it wouldn't be the same. So perhaps the repetition of the Arabic or Persian phrase 'Allah u Abha' falls into the same sort of category
 
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I believe there are also similar Muslim practices of repeating certain divine names 100 times?
 
Is the Hail Mary more effective in Latin?

Say I decide to become Baha'i -- do I have to say my prayers in Persian?
 
RJM said:
Is the Hail Mary more effective in Latin?

Say I decide to become Baha'i -- do I have to say my prayers in Persian?
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I don't know, but I've seen Baha'i prayer book in many languages, including a constructed language, Esperanto.
 
Cino said:
I don't know, but I've seen Baha'i prayer book in many languages, including a constructed language, Esperanto.
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Of course. And it would make complete sense Baha'i might focus on Esperanto as the future possible global language. Which still leaves the important daily Persian recitation of the Baha'i Divine praise -- that is the subject here?
 
RJM said:
In yoga the sound of the droning mantra "Aum Mani Padme Hum' is supposed to have a vibrational effect, beyond the actual meaning of the Sanskrit phrase itself which translates 'The Jewel of the Lotus' in English. International yogis do not chant the phrase translated into the language which they normally speak at home -- it wouldn't be the same. So perhaps the repetition of the Arabic or Persian phrase 'Allah u Abha' falls into the same sort of category
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That's great, I did not know that and now full appreciate why the Baha'i Lotus Temple is called "The Jewel of the Lotus".

Regards Tony
 
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RJM said:
Of course. And it would make complete sense Baha'i might focus on Esperanto as the future possible global language. Which still leaves the important daily Persian recitation of the Baha'i Divine praise -- that is the subject here?
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I have always said it as Allah'u'abha. I know others have chosen to say it as translated.

I personally see many will want to learn the original language of the Revelation to appreciate what was said.

The Baha'i did miss the boat on Esperanto. It was definitely encouraged that we pursue it. Yet maybe the world is still not yet ready for such a united initiative? Language has been one of the greatest barriers to peace.

Regards Tony
 
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Tone Bristow-Stagg said:
The Baha'i did miss the boat on Esperanto. It was definitely encouraged that we pursue it. Yet maybe the world is still not yet ready for such a united initiative? Language has been one of the greatest barriers to peace.
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I'm a bit of an Esperantist, it's a fascinating project. It has major problems as a language, there is an entire area of the grammar which was never really finished (quite a few verb tenses and moods which are important to express subtle things and potentialities), so it is a good thing it was never adopted for anything serious in its present form.

Anyway, the inventor of Esperanto, Dr. Zamenhof, had a daughter, Lidia, who became a Baha'i and translated some of the prayers and other works into Esperanto. Tragically, she was murdered in the Holocaust.

Also, I've heard that the revolutionaries in Iran around Ayatollah Khomeini promoted Esperanto for some time, until they realized the Baha'is were into the language as well! I couldn't name any dependable source, but the story is good :) (if a bit sad)

Interesting topic! I seem to remember that adopting a universal language is one of the goals of the Baha'i faith. Have you settled on a new candidate language yet? English?
 
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