The Day of the Covenant is the day when Baháʼís celebrate the appointment of

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: , ;, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás (, ), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 un ...

as the Centre of Baha'u'llah's Covenant. It occurs yearly on the 4th day of Speech (Qawl) which coincides with either

November 25 Events Pre-1600 *571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Ancient Rome, Rome, celebrates the first of his three Roman triumph, triumphs for his victory over the Etruscans. *1034 – Máel Coluim II of Scotland, Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, Ki ...

or 26 depending on when Naw Ruz falls on that year. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had stated that since May 23 was also the day that the

Báb The Báb (born ʻAlí-Muḥammad; ; ; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850) was an Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbai ...

declared his mission, and should be exclusively associated with him, that that day should under no circumstances be celebrated as his day of birth. However, as the Baháʼís begged for a day to be celebrated as ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's birthday, in 1912 he gave them November 26, 181 days after the ascension of Baháʼu'lláh, to be observed as the day of the appointment of the Centre of the Covenant. The holiday was originally known as the Jashn-i-Aʻzam in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

(The Greatest Festival), because ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was known as the Greatest Branch; in the West, the holy day became known as the Day of the Covenant. The day is one of two Baháʼí holy days where work does not need to be suspended.

Notes

Bahá'í holy days November observances {{Baháʼí-stub