We have enjoined obligatory prayer upon you, with nine
rak’áhs, [1] to be offered at noon and in the morning and the evening unto God,
the Revealer of Verses. We have relieved you of a greater number, as a command
in the Book of God. He, verily, is the Ordainer, the Omnipotent, the
Unrestrained. When ye desire to perform this prayer, turn ye towards the Court
of My Most Holy Presence, this Hallowed Spot that God hath made the Centre
round which circle the Concourse on High, and which He hath decreed to be the
Point of Adoration for the denizens of the Cities of Eternity, and the Source
of Command unto all that are in heaven and on earth; and when the Sun of Truth
and Utterance shall set, turn your faces towards the Spot that We have ordained
for you. He, verily, is Almighty and Omniscient.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The
Kitab-i-Aqdas)
[1] The Obligatory Prayer … referred to in this verse [of
the Kitab-i-Aqdas] has been superseded by the three Obligatory Prayers later
revealed by Bahá’u’lláh…
A rak’áh is the recitation of specifically revealed verses
accompanied by a prescribed set of genuflections and other movements.
The Obligatory Prayer originally enjoined by Bahá’u’lláh
upon His followers consisted of nine rak’áhs. The precise nature of this prayer
and the specific instructions for its recitation are unknown, as the prayer has
been lost…
The original Obligatory Prayer had “for reasons of wisdom”
been revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in a separate Tablet... It was not released to the
believers in His lifetime, having been superseded by the three Obligatory
Prayers now in use.
Shortly after the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, the text of this
prayer, along with a number of other Tablets, was stolen by Muhammad-‘Alí, the
Arch-breaker of His Covenant.
(From the
“Notes” section of the ‘Kitab-i-Aqdas’, prepared by the Research department of
the Universal House of Justice)
