Among different peoples and at different times, many different methods have been adopted for the measurement of time and fixing of dates. Several different calendars are still in daily use, e.g., the Gregorian in Western Europe, the Julian in many countries of Eastern Europe, the Hebrew among the Jews, and the Muhammadan in Muslim communities.

The Báb, forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh, signalized the importance of the dispensation which He came to herald, by inaugurating a new calendar, the Bahá'í calendar. In this, as in the Gregorian Calendar, the lunar month is abandoned and the solar year is adopted.

The Bahá'í calendar year consists of 19 months of 19 days each (i.e. 361 days), with the addition of certain "Intercalary Days" (four in ordinary and five in leap years) between the eighteenth and nineteenth months in order to adjust the calendar to the solar year. The individual months were named after the attributes of God.

The Bahá'í New Year, like the ancient Persian New Year, is astronomically fixed, commencing at the March equinox (usually March 21), and the Bahá'í Era, abbreviated with B.E., commences with the year of the Báb's declaration (i.e. 1844 A.D., 1260 A.H.).

The months in the Bahá'í calendar are:

1. Baha - Splendour - 21 March - 8 April
2. Jalal - Glory - 9 April - 27 April
3. Jamal - Beauty - 28 April - 16 May
4. 'Azamat - Grandeur - 17 May - 4 June
5. Nur - Light - 5 June - 23 June
6. Rahmat - Mercy - 24 June - 12 July
7. Kalimat - Words - 13 July - 31 July
8. Kamal - Perfection - 1 August - 19 August
9. Asma' - Names - 20 August - 7 September
10. 'Izzat - Might - 8 September - 26 September
11. Mashiyyat - Will - 27 September - 15 October
12. 'Ilm - Knowledge - 16 October - 3 November
13. Qudrat - Power - 4 November - 22 November
14. Qawl - Speech - 23 November - 11 December
15. Masa'il - Questions - 12 December - 30 December
16. Sharaf - Honour - 31 December 18 January
17. Sultan - Sovereignty - 19 January - 6 February
18. Mulk - Dominion - 7 February - 25 February
19. 'Ala - Loftiness - 2 March - 20 March

[Adapted from "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era" by Dr. J.E. Esslemont]