Declaration of the Bab
The night the Bab announced his divine mission, the founding moment of the Baha'i Faith.
The Declaration of the Bab is fixed in the Baha'i solar calendar, so it falls on May 23 or 24 depending on the date of Naw-Ruz that year, commemorated from the evening before.
When Is Declaration of the Bab?
The Declaration of the Bab is fixed in the Baha'i solar calendar, so it falls on May 23 or 24 depending on the date of Naw-Ruz that year, commemorated from the evening before.
Because the Gregorian date changes from year to year, check a calendar published by the tradition or your local community for this year's date.
Why It Matters
On the evening of May 22-23, 1844, the Bab declared to a seeker that he was the promised Qa'im, the gate to a new divine revelation. This marks the birth of the Baha'i Faith.
How It Is Observed
The holy day begins two hours and eleven minutes after sunset (the exact time of the declaration), prayers and readings from the Bab's writings, community gatherings.
Sacred Text
“I am, I am, I am, the promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten.”
, The Bab at his examination in Tabriz, 1848 (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By) ↗