Morning Prayer

The Baha'i Faith includes three obligatory prayers, although a Baha'i is only required to perform one of them in any 24-hour period. There should be no pressure to select any particular prayer, nor should one prayer be seen as superior to the others. Baha'is should therefore pray as they feel moved to pray.

History

In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh prescribed the Bahá'í law of a daily obligatory prayer which is to be said individually (though not necessarily in private)[1]; he wrote that the specific obligatory prayer was recorded in a separate tablet or writing. Bahá'u'lláh wrote the text mentioned, but never released it in order to avoid provoking conflict with the surrounding Muslims. Instead, sometime before the writing of the supplement to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Questions and Answers, Bahá'u'lláh wrote a set of three obligatory prayers which are the ones used by Bahá'ís today. The original obligatory prayer involved nine cycles of movement (rak'ah) and was to be said in the morning, noon and in the afternoon, probably three cycles at a time

The Prayer

I have awakened in Thy shelter, O my God, and it becometh him that seeketh that shelter to abide within the sanctuary of Thy protection and the Stronghold of Thy defence. Illumine my inner being, O my Lord, with the splendours of the Day-Spring of Thy Revelation, even as Thou didst illumine my outer being with the morning light of Thy favour.

I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth.
There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.