NAME
Date::Baha::i - Convert to and from Baha'i dates
SYNOPSIS
use Date::Baha'i;
$bahai_date = to_bahai();
$bahai_date = to_bahai(epoch => time);
$bahai_date = to_bahai(
year => $year,
month => $month,
day => $day,
);
%bahai_date = to_bahai();
%bahai_date = to_bahai(epoch => time);
%bahai_date = to_bahai(
year => $year,
month => $month,
day => $day,
);
$date = from_bahai(
year => $bahai_year,
month => $bahai_month,
day => $bahai_day,
);
($year, $month, $day) = from_bahai(
year => $bahai_year,
month => $bahai_month,
day => $bahai_day,
);
$holy_day = next_holy_day();
$holy_day = next_holy_day($year, $month, $day);
@cycles = cycles();
@years = years();
@months = months();
@days = days();
@days_of_the_week = days_of_the_week();
%holy_days = holy_days();DESCRIPTION
This package renders the Baha'i date from two standard date formats - epoch time and a year/month/day triple. It also converts a Baha'i date to standard ymd format.
This package is not a date arithmetic calculator. It simply takes a standard or Baha'i date and converts it to the reverse representation.
The following passages are excerpts from the SEE ALSO section links.
What we usually call the Baha'i calendar is technically called the Badi calendar. The word "Badi" means "Wonderful" and was the name of several people of importance in Baha'i history, most notably the youth who volunteered to carry a Tablet from Baha'u'llah to Nasiri'd-Din Shah and was upon its delivery tortured and killed. An alternate translation of the word, used in the calendar itself, is "Beginning". But regardless of how the calendar came to be called the Badi calendar, it was created by the Bab, and Baha'u'llah specified a few of the details that His Forerunner had not provided.
The number nineteen has a special significance for Baha'is. It was common in Persian mystical writings to utilize a system of numerical values to convey meanings beyond what mere words could impart. Within this system, words are assigned numerical values, and relationships between words can be implied based upon these values. The word "vahid", meaning unity, has the numerical value of nineteen, and is often used by the Bab and Baha'u'llah when specifying the quantity nineteen. So the number nineteen, in addition to being a quantity, also is evocative of the central teaching of the Baha'i Faith, unity. It forms the basis not only of the calendar, but also was integral to the structure of the Persian Bayan (the Bab's Book of laws); is found in Baha'u'llah's laws concerning dowries, the payment of Huquq'u'llah, certain fines, and various prayers; and is even seen in the history of the Faith, as Baha'u'llah's public declaration of His mission took place nineteen years after the Bab's declaration.
Now we come to the days of the month themselves. As is the case with Jewish and Islamic reckoning, the day begins at sunset, rather than at midnight. For most of us, this takes a bit of getting used to! It becomes important because certain things happen on specific days. The first day of each Baha'i month is designated as a Feast day. The Feast is a community gathering that incorporates worship, community business, and socializing. It is the foundation of Baha'i community life and is primarily administrative in nature. When Baha'is gather for the Feast of (say) Baha, the first month of the year, you might think that the date on which they should gather is, in the Gregorian calendar, March 21st. But they may actually hold their Feasts anytime between sunset on March 20th and before sunset on March 21st. That time period is the first day of Baha. Holy Days are also reckoned in this fashion, as are the times for the start and end of the Fast.
Finally, for those who like to go into excruciating detail, the Bab also spoke of time periods longer than a year. He grouped years into "Vahids" of nineteen years each, and gave each Vahid a name. (It is here that the word "Badi" appears, as the name of the sixteenth year in the cycle.) He further grouped the Vahids themselves into sets of nineteen to create a time period called a "Kull-i-Shay" (literally, "all things"). One Kull-i-Shay is therefore 361 years.
Text taken from http://www.planetbahai.org/articles/2003/ar032103a.html
This calendar was instituted by the Baha'i spiritual leader Baha'u'llah, who stated that it should begin in the Gregorian year 1844 at the (northern) Spring equinox, which is the traditional Iranian New Year. According to calendars rules, the year begins at the sunset following the equinox, but up to now the practice in the West has been to start the year at sunset on 20 March. This is usually shown as 21 March, with the understanding that the day begins on the evening before. In the Middle East, Baha'is start the year at the sunset in Tehran following the equinox, and the Baha'i Universal House of Justice has not yet decided on the rules of the calendar to be used by all (Reingold and Dershowitz: Calendrical Calculations 2001). For now, I present the calendar as used in the West.
Baha'u'llah proclaimed the fulfillment of all religions and the unity of humankind, and the calendar is designed to be a world calendar, (relatively) free of cultural baggage. It is an entirely solar calendar, without even the vestige of previously lunar months as in the Gregorian Calendar.
Text taken from http://www.moonwise.co.uk/year/159bahai.htm
The Baha'i year is based on the solar year of 365 days, five hours and some fifty minutes. Each year is divided into nineteen months of nineteen days each with four Intercalary Days (five in a leap year), called Ayyam-i-Ha which Baha'u'llah specified should precede the nineteenth month.
The days of the Baha'i week are:
1. Jalal - Glory (Saturday)
2. Jamal - Beauty (Sunday)
3. Kaml - Perfection (Monday)
4. Fidal - Grace (Tuesday)
5. 'Idal - Justice (Wednesday)
6. Istijlal - Majesty (Thursday)
7. Istiqlal - Independence (Friday)The Baha'i day of rest is Isiqlal (Friday) and the Baha'i day begins and ends at sunset.
The names of the months in the Baha'i (Badi) calendar were given by the Bab, who drew them from the nineteen names of God invoked in a prayer said during the month of fasting in Shi'ih Islam. They 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)
* Ayyam-i-Ha - Days of Ha (26 February - 1 March))
19. 'Ala - Loftiness (2 March - 20 March)Ayyam-i-Ha:
Literally, Days of Ha (i.e. the letter Ha, which in the abjad system has the numerical value of 5). Intercalary Days. The four days (five in a leap year) before the last month of the Baha'a year, 'Ala', which is the month of fasting. Baha'u'llah designated the Intercalary days as Ayyam-i-Ha in the Kitab-i-Aqdas and specified when they should be observed; the Bab left this undefined. The Ayyam-i-Ha are devoted to spiritual preparation for the fast, hospitality, feasting, charity and gift giving.
The Cycles (Vahid)
In His Writings, the Bab divided the years following the date of His Revelation into cycles of nineteen years each.
Each cycle of nineteen years is called a Vahid. Nineteen cycles constitute a period called Kull-i-Shay.
The names of the years in each cycle are:
1. Alif - The Letter "A"
2. Ba - The letter "B"
3. Ab - Father
4. Dal - The letter "D"
5. Bab - Gate
6. Vav - The letter "V"
7. Abad - Eternity
8. Jad - Generosity
9. Baha - Splendour
10. Hubb - Love
11. Bahhaj - Delightful
12. Javab - Answer
13. Ahad - Single
14. Vahhab - Bountiful
15. Vidad - Affection
16. Badi - Beginning
17. Bahi - Luminous
18. Abha - Most Luminous
19. Vahid - UnityThere are eleven Holy Days which Baha'is celebrate. On [many] of these days, all work should cease. They are listed in chronological order according to the Baha'i calendar.
* Naw Ruz - (Generally) March 21
Literally, New Day. The Baha'i New Year. Like the ancient Persian New Year, it occurs on the Spring equinox, which generally falls on 21 March. If the equinox falls after sunset on 21 March, Naw Ruz is celebrated on 22 March, since the Baha'i day begins at sunset. For the present, however, the celebration of Naw Ruz is fixed on 21 March. In the Baha'i calandar, Naw Ruz falls on the day of Baha of the month of Baha. The Festival of Naw Ruz marks the end of the month of fasting and is a joyous time of celebration. It is a Baha'i Holy Day on which work is to be suspended.
* Ridvan
First day - 21 April; Ninth day - 29 April; Twelfth (last) day - 2 May
The Ridvan (pronouced "riz-wan") festival commemorates the first public declaration by Baha'u'llah of His Station and mission (in 1863).
* Declaration of the Bab - 23 May
Commemorates the date in 1844 when the Bab first declared His mission.
* Ascension of Baha'u'llah - 29 May
Commemorates the date in 1892 when Baha'u'llah passed away.
* Martyrdom of the Bab - 9 July
Commemorates the date in 1850 when the Bab was executed by a 750-man firing squad in Tabriz, Ira.
* Birth of the Bab - 20 October
Commemorates the date in 1819 when the Bab was born in Shiraz, Iran
* Birth of Baha'u'llah - 12 November
Commemorates the date in 1817 when Baha'u'llah was born in Tihran, Iran
- Work does not have to cease on these Holy Days:
* Day of the Covenant - 26 November
This day is celebrated in lieu of the Birth of 'Abdu'l-Baha, which falls on the same day as the Declaration of the Bab.
* Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha - 28 November
Commemorates the day in 1921 when 'Abdu'l-Baha passed away.
* Ayyam-i-Ha - the Intercalary Days - 26 February - 1 March
The Baha'i calendar is made up of 19 months of 19 days each. The period of Ayyam-i-Ha adjusts the Baha'i year to the solar cycle. These days are set aside for hospitality, gift-giving, special acts of charity, and preparing for the Baha'i Fast.
* The Fast - 'Ala - Loftiness (month 19) / 2-20 March
Baha'is fast for 19 days from sunrise to sunset, setting aside time for prayer and meditation. Children under the age of 15, individuals who are ill, travelers, the elderly, pregnant women and nursing mothers are exempt from the fast.
Text taken from http://www.bahaindex.com/calendar.html
EXPORTED FUNCTIONS
to_bahai
# Return a string in scalar context.
$bahai_date = to_bahai();
$bahai_date = to_bahai(
epoch => time,
use_gmtime => $use_gmtime,
%args,
);
$bahai_date = to_bahai(
year => $year,
month => $month,
day => $day,
%args,
);
# Return a hash in array context.
%bahai_date = to_bahai();
%bahai_date = to_bahai(
epoch => time,
use_gmtime => $use_gmtime,
%args,
);
%bahai_date = to_bahai(
year => $year,
month => $month,
day => $day,
%args,
);This function returns either a string or a hash of the Baha'i date names and numbers from either epoch seconds or a year, month, day triple.
If using epoch seconds, this function can be forced to use gmtime instead of localtime. If neither a epoch or ymd triple are given, the system localtime (or gmtime) are used as a default.
The extra arguments are most handy, and used by the as_string function, detailed below.
In a scalar context, this function returns a string sentence with the numeric and/or named Baha'i date. In an array context, it returns a hash with the following keys:
kull_i_shay,
cycle, cycle_name, cycle_year,
year, year_name,
month, month_name,
day, day_name,
dow, dow_name,
timezone, and
holy_day, if there is one.from_bahai
# Return a y/m/d string in scalar context.
$date = from_bahai(
year => $bahai_year,
month => $bahai_month,
day => $bahai_day,
);
# Return a ymd triple in array context.
($year, $month, $day) = from_bahai(
year => $bahai_year,
month => $bahai_month,
day => $bahai_day,
);This function returns either a string or a list of the standard date from a year, month, day triple of the Baha'i date.
* Currently, this only supports the Baha'i year, month and day. The Baha'i cycle and Kull-i-Shay are coming soon, to a theatre near you...
as_string
$date = as_string(
\%bahai_date,
size => $size,
alpha => $alpha,
numeric => $numeric,
timezone => $timezone,
);Return the Baha'i date as a friendly string.
This function takes a Baha'i date hash and Boolean arguments that determine the format of the output.
The "size" argument toggles between short and long representations. The "timezone" argument toggles the display of the time zone offset. As the names imply, the "alpha" and "numeric" flags turn the alphanumeric representations on or off. The defaults are as follows:
size => 1
alpha => 1
numeric => 0
timezone => 0Thus, "long non-numeric alpha without the timezone" is the default representation.
Here are some handy examples (newlines added for readability):
short numeric:
1/1/159
short numeric with TZ:
1/1/159, -6
long numeric:
7th day of the week, 1st day of the 1st month, year 159,
7th year of the 9th vahid of the 1st kull-i-shay, holy day: Naw Ruz
long numeric with TZ:
7th day of the week, 1st day of the 1st month, year 159,
7th year of the 9th vahid of the 1st kull-i-shay, TZ -6h,
holy day: Naw Ruz
short alpha:
Istiqlal, Baha of Baha, Abad of Baha
short alpha with TZ:
Istiqlal, Baha of Baha, Abad of Baha, TZ -6h
long alpha:
week day Istiqlal, day Baha of month Baha,
year one hundred fifty nine of year Abad of the vahid Baha of the
1st kull-i-shay, holy day: Naw Ruz
long alpha with TZ:
week day Istiqlal, day Baha of month Baha,
year one hundred fifty nine of year Abad of the vahid Baha of the
1st kull-i-shay, with timezone offset of negative six hours,
holy day: Naw Ruz
short alpha-numeric:
Istiqlal (7), Baha (1) of Baha (1), year 159, Abad (7) of Baha (9)
short alpha-numeric with TZ:
Istiqlal (7), Baha (1) of Baha (1), year 159, Abad (7) of Baha (9),
TZ -6h
long alpha-numeric:
7th week day Istiqlal, 1st day Baha of the 1st month Baha,
year one hundred fifty nine (159), 7th year Abad of the
9th vahid Baha of the 1st kull-i-shay, holy day: Naw Ruz
long alpha-numeric with TZ:
7th week day Istiqlal, 1st day Baha of the 1st month Baha,
year one hundred fifty nine (159), 7th year Abad of the
9th vahid Baha of the 1st kull-i-shay,
with timezone offset of negative six hours, holy day: Naw Ruznext_holy_day
$holy_day = next_holy_day();
$holy_day = next_holy_day($year, $month, $day);This function returns the name of the first holy day after the provided date triple.
cycles
@cycles = cycles();This function returns the 19 cycle names as an array.
years
@years = years();This function returns the 19 year names as an array.
months
@months = months();This function returns the 19 month names as an array, along with the intercalary days (Ayyam-i-Ha) as the last element.
days
@days = days();This function returns the 19 day names as an array.
days_of_the_week
@days = days_of_the_week();This function returns the 7 day-of-the-week names as an array.
holy_days
%days = holy_days();This function returns the holy days as a hash, where the keys are the holy day names and the values are array references. These array references are composed of two or three elements, where the first is the month, the second is the day, and the third is the (optional) number of days observed. These dates are saved in standard (non-Baha'i) format.
SEE ALSO
http://www.projectpluto.com/calendar.htm#bahai (Very interesting)
The following are partially quoted above:
http://www.planetbahai.org/articles/2003/ar032103a.html
http://www.bahaindex.com/calendar.html
http://www.moonwise.co.uk/year/160bahai.htm
TO DO
Base the date computation on the time of day (the Baha'i day begins at Sunset) and the location longitude/latitude.
Overload localtime and gmtime, just to be cool?
DEDICATION
Hi Kirsten :-)
AUTHOR
Gene Boggs <gene@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright 2003 by Gene Boggs
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
CVS
$Id: i.pm,v 1.8 2004/02/26 22:59:02 gene Exp $