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The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
Notes
(¶137) and confirmed by Him in the above-noted verse. He has also indicated that facing in the direction of the Qiblih is a “fixed requirement for the recitation of obligatory prayer” (Q and A 14 and 67). However, for other prayers and devotions the individual may face in any direction.
8.and when the Sun of Truth and Utterance shall set, turn your faces towards the Spot that We have ordained for you ¶6
Bahá’u’lláh ordains His resting-place as the Qiblih after His passing. The Most Holy Tomb is at Bahjí, ‘Akká. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes that Spot as the “luminous Shrine”, “the place around which circumambulate the Concourse on High”.
In a letter written on his behalf, Shoghi Effendi uses the analogy of the plant turning in the direction of the sun to explain the spiritual significance of turning towards the Qiblih:
...just as the plant stretches out to the sunlight—from which it receives life and growth—so we turn our hearts to the Manifestation of God, Bahá’u’lláh, when we pray; ... we turn our faces ... to where His dust lies on this earth as a symbol of the inner act.
9.We have set forth the details of obligatory prayer in another Tablet. ¶8
The original Obligatory Prayer had “for reasons of wisdom” been revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in a separate Tablet (Q and A 63). It was not released to the believers in His lifetime, having been superseded by the three Obligatory Prayers now in use.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 Muḥammad-‘Alí, the Arch-breaker of His Covenant.
10.the Prayer for the Dead ¶8
The Prayer for the Dead (see Some Texts Supplementary to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas) is the only Bahá’í obligatory prayer
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