# Ayyam-i-Ha (February 25)

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Christopher Buck, Ayyam-i-Ha (February 25), bahai-library.com.
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> 60    Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’ı́ Intercalary Days) (February 25–March 1)
> 
> Awwal Muharram. See New Year’s Day
> 
> Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’ı́ Intercalary Days) (February 25–March 1)
> 
> Most religions have a season of gift-giving and good cheer, and for Bahá’ı́s, this is
> “Ayyám-i-Há” (“Days of Há”; February 25–March 1, sunset to sunset). The obser-
> vance of “Ayyám-i-Há” is creatively expressed. For instance, in 2007, the Bahá’ı́ com-
> munity in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, hosted their 40th annual “Ayyám-i-Há tea party”
> which Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Member of Parliament David Sweet attended—
> even though this was a decidedly nonpolitical event. (Bahá’ı́s shun partisan politics,
> which they see as divisive). (See “Baha’i Intercalary Days Time of Fellowship, Char-
> ity; Party Is Now a 40-year-old Community Tradition,” Ancaster News, March 23,
> 2007, 11.) This is just one example of how “Ayyám-i-Há” may be celebrated. It is also
> a day of service to the wider community, as the examples provided below show.
> So what is “Ayyám-i-Há”? The Bahá’ı́ Calendar is made up of 19 months of
> 19 days each, which totals 361 days (see “Bahá’ı́ Calendar and Rhythms of
> Worship”), to which are added four (or, in leap years, five) “Intercalary Days” (the
> other name by which Ayyám-i-Há is known), to harmonize with the 365-day (366
> in leap years) solar year. Thus Ayyám-i-Há is a Bahá’ı́ festival that serves calendri-
> cal and community purposes. This season of joy and giving precedes a 19-day
> period of restraint and contemplation known as the Bahá’ı́ Fast (March 2–20, sunset
> to sunset), in which Bahá’ı́s abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. (See
> “Nineteen-Day Feast [Bahá’ı́].”) Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892), prophet-founder of the
> Bahá’ı́ Faith, ordained Ayyám-i-Há as follows:
> 
> O Pen of the Most High! Say: O people of the world! . . . Let the days in
> excess of the months be placed before the month of fasting. . . . It behoveth
> the people of Bahá, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for them-
> selves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy
> and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify
> His Name . . . Thus hath it been ordained by Him Who is the Lord of all man-
> kind. (Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, 24–25)
> 
> As this passage of Bahá’ı́ scripture indicates, this time of festivity (“good
> cheer”) is not only to have a good time, but to do some good at the same time,
> by giving to the less fortunate. It is a time of both cheer and charity, in which
> reaching out to those in need enriches the quality of this time and renders it all
> the more worthwhile.
> The numerical (abjad) value of the Arabic/Persian letter “Há” is five, which cor-
> responds to the potential number of intercalary days. The Bahá’ı́ Writings attach
> symbolic significance to the letter “Há,” which represents, inter alia, the mysterious
> and transcendent “Essence” of God. Since the days and months of the Bahá’ı́
> Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’ı́ Intercalary Days) (February 25–March 1)              61
> 
> calendar are named after some of the “attributes” of God, the “Days of Há” may
> symbolize the transcendence of the essence of God over the attributes of
> God, which represent the “nature” of God as manifest in creation, and as perfectly
> manifested in the “Manifestations of God.” This is a Bahá’ı́ term for the great proph-
> ets and messengers of God, including, inter alia, Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Bud-
> dha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh, whom Bahá’ı́s recognize as great
> God-inspired truth-bearers and lawgivers in their respective religious eras.
> Thus, Ayyám-i-Há can signify the “Days of God” and are thus invested with
> spiritual meaning beyond their pragmatic calendrical function, where symbolism
> and celebration go hand in hand. As one report stated: “Ayyám-i-Há can be
> thought of as days outside of time, days that symbolize eternity, infinity and the
> mystery and unknowable Essence of God Himself.” (“ ‘Days Outside of Time’
> Festival Reveres Eternal Essence of God” [2008].)
> Shoghi Effendi (Guardian of the Bahá’ı́ Faith, who led the Bahá’ı́ world from
> 1921 to 1957 and who furthered the development of the system of elected councils
> at the local, national, and international levels that administer Bahá’ı́ affairs today),
> wrote: “As regards the celebration of the Christian Holidays by the believers, it is
> surely preferable and even highly advisable that the friends should in their relation
> to each other discontinue observing of such holidays as Christmas and New Year’s,
> and to have their festal gatherings of this nature instead during the intercalary days
> and Naw-Rúz.” (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer, March 19, 1938; cited in Lights of Guidance, 302.) In practical terms,
> young Bahá’ı́ children in cultures where the celebration of Christmas is pervasive
> may be inclined to view Ayyám-i-Há as “Bahá’ı́ Christmas,” as it is most likely a
> time when they will receive gifts from family and friends. In turn, Bahá’ı́ parents
> often find this a good time to strengthen the children’s identity as Bahá’ı́s, by hold-
> ing Ayyám-i-Há parties to which they can invite their friends and celebrating it
> with their classmates at school when possible. A Bahá’ı́ children’s book, The
> Ayyám-i-Há Camel, shows one family’s way of personalizing the holiday:
> inventing an “Ayyám-i-Há Camel” to represent the gift-giving nature of this
> Bahá’ı́ festival.
> Bahá’ı́s celebrate Ayyám-i-Há worldwide, since the Bahá’ı́ Faith has been estab-
> lished in every country in the world, except for the Vatican and North Korea, making
> it the second-most widespread religion in the world today, next to Christianity.
> Among the world’s six million Bahá’ı́s, Ayyám-i-Há traditions are highly diverse
> and “in the making.” In 2008 in Zambia, for instance, one Bahá’ı́ blogger posted:
> “Last Friday we had an Ayyám-i-Há party with the children’s classes. We had a treas-
> ure hunt, a piñata, a water balloon fight and some arts+crafts! The kids had so much
> fun.” (Karrie, “Service in Zambia,” online at http://serve-zambia.blogspot.com.)
> Bahá’ı́ families and communities are to remain free to creatively express their obser-
> vance of this occasion, so as to avoid creating hard-and-fast customs or rituals.
> Some other examples of ways in which Ayyám-i-Há has been celebrated
> include: sending “Ayyám-i-Há cards” to friends and family; having an annual
> 62    Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’ı́ Intercalary Days) (February 25–March 1)
> 
> family “Ayyám-i-Há dinner”; organizing treasure hunts for Bahá’ı́ children and
> their friends; bringing small presents to a Bahá’ı́ child’s kindergarten classmates
> and organizing an edible art activity; giving children an “Ayyám-i-Há present”
> on each day of the four or five days; hanging “Ayyám-i-Há stockings”; baking
> “Ayyám-i-Há cookies” (in the shape of a nine-pointed star, a symbol of the Bahá’ı́
> Faith); making Bahá’ı́ prayer beads; decorating the home with nine-pointed stars;
> making “Ayyám-i-Há banners” with pockets for small gifts; having a community
> bowling party or pancake party; etc.
> As for Ayyám-i-Há charity and service projects, these examples are
> representative: organizing a food drive or hunger relief for donating food to local
> food banks; paying surprise visits to friends or home-bound acquaintances, with
> heartwarming displays of friendship and songs; visiting people in hospitals and
> homes for the aged; providing crafts activities for residents at nursing homes; giv-
> ing gift packages to people at homeless shelters; and so forth.
> In 2008 in Malaysia, for instance, the Local Bahá’ı́ Youth Committee of Kuching
> organized a blood donation campaign at the Kuching Bahá’ı́ Centre in Malaysia. In
> 2007, the Bahá’ı́s joined with Temple Israel, a conservative synagogue in Albany,
> New York, in co-organizing a multicultural music and dance concert in the majestic
> sanctuary at Temple Israel on February 25, 2007, during which $1,701.50 was raised
> among the some 200 attendees and donated to the Food Pantries for the Capital Dis-
> trict. In 2003 in Singapore, Bahá’ı́s observed Ayyám-i-Há with a blood donation
> drive, followed by a picnic for families in a beachside park. Recently, “home visits”
> seem to be a popular mode of service among Bahá’ı́s.
> There is a special Bahá’ı́ prayer for Ayyám-i-Há (found in most Bahá’ı́ prayer
> books), and in which these blessings are invoked:
> 
> I implore Thee, O Thou the King of kings and the Pitier of the downtrodden,
> to ordain for them the good of this world and of the world to come. Write
> down for them, moreover, what none of Thy creatures hath discovered, and
> number them with those who have circled round Thee, and who move about
> Thy throne in every world of Thy worlds. (Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’ı́ Prayers,
> 236–37)
> 
> Here, God is represented as “the Pitier of the downtrodden,” which makes the
> one who is praying mindful of those who are less fortunate, and of the need to
> reach out to make this world a better place. For Bahá’ı́s, personal salvation is
> bound up with social salvation, in that personal transformation is dynamically
> related to the efforts a person makes to transform society. The Bahá’ı́ Intercalary
> Days are therefore all about good cheer, hospitality, and doing good for others,
> when celebrations and service go hand in hand.
> Christopher Buck
> Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’ı́ Intercalary Days) (February 25–March 1)                 63
> 
> See also ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Ascension of; Báb, Festival of the Birth of the; Báb, Festival
> of the Declaration of the; Báb, Martyrdom of the; Bahá’ı́ Calendar and Rhythms of
> Worship; Bahá’ı́ Faith; Bahá’ı́ Fast; Bahá’u’lláh, Ascension of; Bahá’u’lláh, Festival
> of the Birth of; Covenant, Day of the; Naw-Rúz, Festival of; Nineteen-Day Feast
> (Bahá’ı́); Race Unity Day; Ridván, Festival of; World Religion Day.
> ˙
> References
> Bahá’ı́ Faith (“Official Website of the Bahá’ı́s of the United States”). “ ‘Days Outside of
> Time’ Festival Reveres Eternal Essence of God” (February 13, 2008). Posted at http://
> us.bahai.org/eternal-essence-of-god. Accessed July 3, 2010.
> “Baha’i Intercalary Days Time of Fellowship, Charity; Party Is Now a 40-Year-Old Com-
> munity Tradition.” Ancaster News (Ontario), March 23, 2007, 11.
> Bahá’ı́ Prayers: A Selection of Prayers Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá. Wilmette, IL: Bahá’ı́ Publishing Trust, 1991.
> Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Haifa: Bahá’ı́ World Centre, 1992.
> Covestone, Satcy. The Ayyám-i-Há Surprise (Bahá’i children’s book). Leuven, Belgium:
> Brilliant Books, 2000.
> Holt-Fortin, Cher. The Ayyám-i-Há Camel (Bahá’i children’s book). Los Angeles:
> Kalimát Press, 1989.
> Karrie, “Service in Zambia.” Posted at http://serve-zambia.blogspot.com. Accessed July 4,
> 2010).
> Keil, Gerald. Time and the Bahá’ı́ Era: A Study of the Badı́‘ Calendar. Oxford: George
> Ronald, 2008.
> Tomarelli, Patti Rae. Maggie Celebrates Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’i children’s book). Evanston,
> IL: Bellwood Press, 2000.
> Walbridge, John. “Ayyám-i-Há: The Intercalary Days.” Sacred Acts, Sacred Space, Sacred
> Time, 216. Oxford: George Ronald, 1996.
>
> — *Ayyam-i-Ha (February 25) (Used by permission of the curator)*