This page records the Bahá'í practice of repeating Alláh-u-Abhá 95 times each day and the prayers Bahá'ís say, following the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Bahá'í Reference Library on bahai.org. The library's Bahá'í shrine follows what is written below: a string of 19 beads is counted five times round, and 95 repetitions make one visit. The shrine has no candles and no incense.
IHow Many Repetitions
Only one number is fixed by law: 95. So the library's shrine has a single level.
Counting 19 beads five times is one way of reaching 95, not a law. The Research Department memorandum the library read prescribes no method of counting. Some people use a full string of 95 beads, some count on their fingers. The library does not offer 9 or 19 repetitions, because no source was found that treats those numbers as a separate level.
At the library's Bahá'í shrine, completing 95 repetitions counts as one sincere visit. Ninety-five is the number of repetitions, not 95 visits.
IIPreparing And Repeating, By The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
IIINine Prayers And Where Each Icon Comes From
The nine lines below are the openings of nine real prayers, taken from the page A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers on bahai.org. The English is the authorised translation, copied word for word. Bahá'ís use no objects in prayer, so most of the icons here are the library's own drawings after the wording of the prayers themselves.
The nine-pointed star. A prayer of Bahá'u'lláh, in the selection on bahai.org. The nine-pointed star is commonly used in Bahá'í contexts but is not an official symbol of the Faith. According to Bahaipedia, Shoghi Effendi wrote that the nine-pointed star is only used as an emblem representing 9, and that 9 is associated with perfection, unity and Bahá. Strictly speaking the symbol of the Faith is the five-pointed star.
A commonly used Bahá'í emblem, not an official symbol. Pairing it with this prayer is the library's choice · Source: bahai.org, A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers. Bahaipedia, Nine-pointed star. Wikipedia, Bahá'í symbolsA bowl and a sprig. The short healing prayer of Bahá'u'lláh. The text calls the Name of God the healing and remembrance of Him the remedy. Bahá'ís use no object when saying it. The bowl and sprig are the library's own drawing after the word remedy in the text.
Drawn by the library after the wording of the prayer, not a ritual object · Source: bahai.org, A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers. Bahá'í Reference Library, Bahá'í Prayers (section Healing)A loosened knot. A very short prayer of the Báb, usually known by its opening words, Remover of Difficulties. The page gives it whole because it is under thirty words. The loosened knot is the library's own drawing for a difficulty being removed.
Drawn by the library, not a ritual object · Source: bahai.org, A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers. Bahá'í Reference Library, Bahá'í Prayers (section Tests and Difficulties)A summit in light. A prayer of ʿAbdu'l-Bahá for those who have died. It closes by asking that they behold the splendours of God on the loftiest mount. The icon follows those words. The Prayer for the Dead used at funerals is a different text, and by paragraph 12 of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas it is the only prayer said in congregation. The library's shrine does not use it.
Drawn by the library after the wording of the prayer · Source: bahai.org, A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers. Kitáb-i-Aqdas, paragraph 12, bahai.orgA young plant. A prayer of ʿAbdu'l-Bahá. The text calls children the plants of God's orchard, the flowers of His meadow, the roses of His garden. The young plant follows those words.
Drawn by the library after the wording of the prayer · Source: bahai.org, A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers. Bahá'í Reference Library, Bahá'í Prayers (section Children)The home. A prayer of ʿAbdu'l-Bahá in which children pray on behalf of their parents. In the book Bahá'í Prayers the section Families has a subsection Parents. The text attaches no object. The home is the library's own drawing for the family.
Drawn by the library, not a ritual object · Source: bahai.org, A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers. Bahá'í Reference Library, Bahá'í Prayers (section Families)Sunrise. A morning prayer of Bahá'u'lláh. It closes with the image of the morning light of God's favor. The sunrise follows those words.
Drawn by the library after the wording of the prayer · Source: bahai.org, A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers. Bahá'í Reference Library, Bahá'í Prayers (section Morning)The rose. A prayer of praise by Bahá'u'lláh. The rose belongs to Riḍván, the festival recalling the twelve days Bahá'u'lláh spent in a garden by the Tigris in 1863. Shoghi Effendi's God Passes By quotes the chronicler Nabíl: every day, before dawn, the gardeners would pick the roses lining the four avenues of the garden and pile them in the centre of the floor of His tent. Pairing the rose with this prayer is the library's choice.
An image from Bahá'í history (Riḍván). Pairing it with this prayer is the library's choice · Source: bahai.org, A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, paragraph về vườn Riḍván, bahai.orgA string of 19 beads. A prayer of ʿAbdu'l-Bahá asking God to befriend the one who prays in loneliness. The icon shows the beads many Bahá'ís use to count the 95 repetitions of Alláh-u-Abhá: 19 beads on the loop with 5 smaller beads to count the rounds, or a full 95. Beads are optional. The law fixes the number 95, not the way of counting.
An optional aid of the person praying, not a sacred object · Source: bahai.org, A Selection of Bahá'í Prayers. Wikipedia, Prayer beads. Kitáb-i-Aqdas, paragraph 18, bahai.orgThe library does not draw the Greatest Name (the calligraphy of Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá), the ringstone symbol, or any portrait as a button. Lights of Guidance records the guidance that the Greatest Name should not be placed on objects of everyday use.
IVAfter The Repetitions
So at the Bahá'í shrine, once the beads have gone five times round, the library invites you to say the prayer you chose, in silence or aloud. That invitation is the library's own. Following the Báb's words on brevity, the shrine shows only the opening of each prayer. To read a prayer in full, please open the book Bahá'í Prayers in the Bahá'í Reference Library.
VWhat The Library Is Not Sure Of
Are you a Bahá'í and see something wrong? Please send a correction with its source to thayungkhiem@gmail.com. The library will fix it and credit you.
VISources
Sources read on 5 October 2026. Van Dao Duong describes. It does not replace real prayer and does not represent any Spiritual Assembly or Bahá'í institution.
Go to the Bahá'í shrine to repeat Alláh-u-Abhá
?Quick Questions
How many times a day do Bahá'ís repeat Alláh-u-Abhá
Ninety-five. Paragraph 18 of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas ordains that each day, having washed the hands and then the face, the believer sits and, turning unto God, repeats Alláh-u-Abhá ninety-five times.
What does Alláh-u-Abhá mean
According to note 33 of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Alláh-u-Abhá means God the All-Glorious and is a form of the Greatest Name.
Are prayer beads required
No. The law fixes the number 95, not the way of counting. Nineteen beads counted five times, a full string of 95, or the fingers are all just ways of counting.
Do Bahá'ís light candles or incense when praying
The sources the library read do not mention candles or incense. The preparation recorded is washing the hands and the face. So the library's shrine has only the beads.
Do 95 repetitions count as 95 visits at the shrine
No. Completing 95 repetitions is one sincere visit by one person.