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'Aba: Outer cloak or mantle. A loose, sleeveless, cloak-like outer garment worn by men.

Abhá: Bahá means “Glory". Abhá is its superlative, "Most Glorious". Both are titles of Baha’u’llah and of His Kingdom.

Abhá Beauty: A translation of Arabic Jamál-i-Abhá, a title of Baha’u’llah.

Abhá Kingdom: "The Most Glorious Kingdom": the spiritual world beyond this world

Abhá Pen: "The Pen of the Most Glorious"; that is, the power of the Holy Spirit manifested through the Prophet's writings.

Ablutions: The washing of one's hands and face before prayer.

Acre or Akka: Also called Akko. A four-thousand-year-old seaport located on the northern coast of what is now Israel. It is surrounded by fortress-like walls facing the sea. In the mid-1800s it was a penal colony to which the worst criminals of the Ottoman Empire were sent. In 1868 Baha’u’llah and His family and companions were banished to Acre by Sultan ‘Abdu'l-‘Aziz. Because of the privations suffered within its walls Baha’u’llah named Acre "the Most Great Prison."

'AD: A powerful Arabian tribe, destroyed, like Thamud, for its idolatry.

Adamic Cycle: The cycle of religious history that began withAdam and ended with the Dispensation of the Bab. The present cycle, called the Baha'i Cycle, or Cycle of Fulfillment, began with Baha’u'llah and is to last for five hundred thousand years.

Adhan: Muslim call to prayer

Administrative Order: The international system for the administration of the affairs of the Baha'i community. Ordained by Baha’u’llah, it is the agency through which the spirit of His revelation is to exercise its transforming effects on humanity and through which the Baha’i World Commonwealth will be ushered in. Its twin, crowning institutions are the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. It is unique in religious history in that the institutions that make it up and the principles by which it operates are set forth in the writings of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha. Its structure was further clarified and raised up by Shoghi Effendi during his ministry as Guardian of the Faith (1921-57). This process of elucidation continues through guidance from the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing and legislative body of the Baha'i Faith, which is supported by National and Local Spiritual Assemblies elected by members of the Baha'i community. These local and national bodies are invested with the authority to direct the Baha'i community's affairs and to uphold Baha'i laws and standards. They are also responsible for the education, guidance, and protection of the community. The Administrative Order also comprises the institutions of the Hands of the Cause of God, the International Teaching Center, and the Continental Boards of Counselors and their Auxiliary Boards and assistants, who bear particular responsibility for the protection and propagation of the Faith and share with the Spiritual Assemblies the functions of educating, counseling, and advising members of the Baha'i community. Other institutions of the Administrative Order include Huququ’llah, The Baha’i Fund, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, and the Nineteen Day Feast. The present Administrative Order is the precursor of the World Order of Baha'u'llah and is described by Shoghi Effendi as its "nucleus" and pattern."

Adrianople: Present-day Edirne, a city in European Turkey about 130 miles northwest of Constantinople (Istanbul) to which Baha’u’llah was exiled from 12 December 1863 to 12 August 1868; It was designated by Baha’u’llah as the ''remote prison”. It was the furthest point from His homeland that He reached and the first time in known history that a Messenger of God lived on the European continent. During the exile Baha’u’llah suffered an attempt on His life by Mirza Yahya that, together with subsequent acts of treachery, forced Him to sever ties with His half-brother. After this "most great separation" Baha'u'llah’s ministry reached its zenith with the revelation of the Suriy-i-Mulk (Tablet of the Kings) and Tablet to individual kings and leaders. In August 1868 Sultan ‘Abdu’l-Aziz banished Baha’u’llah from Adrianople to ‘Akka.

Afnán: Literally: “twigs". It denotes relatives of the Báb; specifically, descendants of His three maternal uncles and His wife's two brothers.

Ages: The Baha'i Dispensation is divided into three Ages: the Heroic, Formative, and Golden Ages. The Heroic Age, also called the Apostolic or Primitive Age, began in 1844 with the Declaration of the Báb and spanned the ministries of the Báb (1844-53), Bahá'u'lláh (1852-92), and 'Abdu'l-Bahá (1892-1921). The transitional event most often identified with the end of the Heroic Age and the beginning of the Formative Age is the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1921. The Formative Age, also known as the Age of Transition or the Iron Age, began in 1921 when Shoghi Effendi, according to instructions in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament, became the Guardian of the Cause of God and began to build Bahá'u'lláh's Administrative Order. The Formative Age is the second and current Age; it is to be followed by the third and final Age, the Golden Age destined to witness the proclamation of the Most Great Peace and the establishment of the Baha'i World Commonwealth. "The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture," Shoghi Effendi wrote, "- all of which must synchronize with the initial stages in the unfoldment of the Golden Age of the Bahá’i Era - should, by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society, though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and develop." 

AH: Abbreviation for Anno Hegirae, Latin for "in the year of the Hegira," used to indicate a date reckoned according to the Muslim calendar, which began in 622 A.D. with Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina – basis of Muhammadan chronology. The Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar with twelve months of twenty-nine or thirty days.

Ahmad, Tablet of: (Arabic) A Tablet revealed by Baha'u'llah around 1865 for a faithful believer from Yazd. Often read in times of trouble, it contains the remarkable promise, “Should one who is in affliction or grief read this Tablet with absolute sincerity, God will dispel his sadness, solve his difficulties and remove his afflictions." Another Tablet of the same name was revealed in Adrianople in Persian for Haji Mirza Ahmad of Kashan, who later sided with Miza Yahya.

Akbar: Arabic for “Greater”

Akhtar: 'The Star': A Persian reformist newspaper published in Constantinople and influenced by the Azalis.

‘Akka: Also called Akko and Acre: The prison city in Palestine where Baha’u’llah was finally exiled. He arrived there on August 31, 1868. A four-thousand-year-old seaport located on the northern coast of what is now Israel. It is surrounded by fortress-like walls facing the sea. In the mid-1800s it was a penal colony to which the worst criminals of the Ottoman Empire were sent. In 1868 Baha’u’llah and His family and companions were banished to Acre by Sultan ‘Abdu'l-‘Aziz. Because of the privations suffered within its walls Baha’u’llah named Acre "the Most Great Prison."

Alif, Lam, Mim: These and other disconnected letters appear at the head of twenty-nine surihs of the Qur'an.

Al-Medina: Literally, "the city", so called as giving shelter to Muhammad: formerly Yathrib. The burial place of Muhammad; second only to Mecca in sanctity.

'Ama: Allegorical reference to Heaven.

Amir: “Lord”, “prince”, “commander”, “governor”

Amru'llah: Literally ‘the Cause of God’; also ‘the Command of God’. Name given to the house in which Baha’u’llah lived in Adrianople.

Andarun: Private inner rooms where the women of a household resided according to Persian custom.

Ancient of Days: A title of God, peculiar in the Bible to the Book of Daniel.

Aqa: “Master”; an honorific title roughly equivalent to the English "Sir or "Mister." The title given by Baha’u’llah to ‘Abdu’l-Baha.

Aqdas: The greatest of Baha’u’llah’s works containing His laws and ordinances (1873).

Arc, the: A curved path laid out by Shoghi Effendi on Mount Carmel, stretching across the Baha’i properties near the Shrine of the Bab and centered on the graves of distinguished members of Baha’u’llah’s family. The seats of the major international administrative institutions of the Baha’i Faith are constructed along this arc.

Askelton: A coast town in Southern Palestine. (Judges 14, 19)

Athim: Arabic, means Sinner.

Auxiliary Boards: An institution created by Shoghi Effendi in 1954 to assist the Hands of the Cause of God. When the institution of the Continental Boards of Counsellors was established in 1968 by the Universal House of Justice, the Auxiliary Boards were placed under its direction.