Over these next few days, Baha’is all over the world are celebrating “Ayyam-i-Ha”- which translates as the “Days of Joy”. And no, unlike what some people think (including some Baha’i kids!), it is not related to the Japanese company that makes motorcycles and some really good pianos!  But it does require some explanation.

You may have noticed that different religions follow different calendars. The traditional “Christian” or “Gregorian calendar” is what most of us are used to, but Jews have a Jewish calendar which is based on the cycles of the moon, and Muslims also have a lunar calendar that marks the months and years differently.  When the Bab announced His Revelation, one of the things He did to make the point that a new Revelation had come into the world was to reveal a new calendar.  The calendar consists of 19 months of 19 days each. That in itself was a symbol, as the number 19 was intended to subtly point His followers to Baha’u’llah as the Promised One of the Bab’s religion.  Baha’u’llah’s name- when written as a number- a feature used in semitic languages like Arabic- totals 19.  There were also 19 years between their respective Revelations.

But when you multiply 19 days by 19 months, it only totals 361 days!  The Bab’s calendar, like the western “Gregorian calendar”- has 365 days, so there were 4 days left over!  These “intercalary” days- days that did not have a month associated with them- were deemed by Baha’u’llah to be the “Days of Joy”, when Baha’is should get together, exchange gifts, and generally prepare for the last month of the calendar- the 19 day month of fasting.  That last month is completed with the new year, the first day of spring, or “Naw Ruz”.  Naw Ruz was not unknown to Baha’u’llah’s early followers, as it was an ancient Persian holiday, but Baha’u’llah incorporated it into the full Baha’i calendar as well.

So if you see a Baha’i looking strangely happy in the next few days, its because they are experiencing the “Days of Joy”! After that, you may notice them looking strangely hungry, and more than a little thirsty…but somewhat prayerful…