Alláh-u-Abhá

Alláh-u-Abhá (Arabic: الله أبهى‎, Allāhu ʾAbhā "God is the Most Glorious") is a greeting that Bahá'ís use when they meet each other.[1] Abhá is a superlative of the word Bahá',[2] and a form of the Greatest Name.[1] It can be compared to the takbir of Islam, Allahu Akbar "God is Great" or Subhan Allah "how pure is God". Alláh-u-Abhá is used both when greeting someone or bidding someone farewell.

Bahá'ís are asked to engage in the practice of dhikr: to repeat the phrase Alláh-u-Abhá 95 times per day, as described by Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, his book of laws.[3] Nader Saiedi explains that the significance of the number 95 originates from the Persian Bayán, where the Báb states that ninety-five stands for the numerical value of "for God" (lillāh),[4] symbolizing the recognition of the manifestation of God and obedience to his laws, which are inseparable from each other, as confirmed by Bahá'u'lláh in the opening paragraph of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.[5]

The form Allāhu is the nominative case of Allah "God". The form Abhā is the elative of the adjective bahā' "beauty, brilliancy". In Bahá'i writings, it is usually translated as "most glorious".

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Compilations (1983). Hornby, Helen, ed. Lights of Guidance: A Bahá'í Reference File. Bahá'í Publishing Trust, New Delhi, India. p. 266. ISBN 81-85091-46-3.
  2. ↑ Lambden, Stephen (1993). "The Word Bahá': Quintessence of the Greatest Name". Bahá'í Studies Review. 3 (1).
  3. ↑ Smith, Peter (2000). "prayer". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 274–275. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
  4. ↑ Saiedi, Nader (2000). "Chapter 7: The Kitab-i-Aqdas: Date and Constitutive Principles". Logos and Civilization - Spirit, History, and Order in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. USA: University Press of Maryland and Association for Baha'i Studies. p. 266. ISBN 1883053609.
  5. ↑ Saiedi, Nader (2008). Gate of the Heart. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 312–312, 333. ISBN 978-1-55458-035-4.

Further reading


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