138. All Feasts have attained their consummation in the two Most Great Festivals, and in the two other Festivals that fall on the twin days # 110This passage establishes four great festivals of the Baha'i year. The two designated by Baha'u'llah as "the two Most Great Festivals" are, first, the Festival of Ridvan, which commemorates Baha'u'llah's Declaration of His Prophetic Mission in the Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad during twelve days in April/May 1863 and is referred to by Him as "the King of Festivals" and, second, the Bab's Declaration, which occurred in May 1844 in Shiraz. The first, ninth and twelfth days of the Festival of Ridvan are Holy Days (Q and A 1), as is the day of the Declaration of the Bab.
The "two other Festivals" are the anniversaries of the births of Baha'u'llah and the Bab. In the Muslim lunar calendar these fall on consecutive days, the birth of Baha'u'llah on the second day of the month of Muharram 1233 A.H. (12 November 1817), and the birth of the Bab on the first day of the same month 1235 A.H. (20 October 1819), respectively. They are thus referred to as the "Twin Birthdays" and Baha'u'llah states that these two days are accounted as one in the sight of God (Q and A 2). He states that, should they fall within the month of fasting, the command to fast shall not apply on those days (Q and A 36). Given that the Baha'i calendar (see notes 26 and 147) is a solar calendar, it remains for the Universal House of Justice to determine whether the Twin Holy Birthdays are to be celebrated on a solar or lunar basis.
The second great festival commemorates the appearance of the first Point, the Bab, which took place on the fifth day of Jamadi Aval, 1269, Mohammedan era, corresponding to May 23rd, 1844.
2. This is the day when the Bab in Shiraz made his claim to be the Gate (al-Bab) to the knowledge of the Hidden Imam (see Introduction). The date was the fifth of Jamadi Awwal A.H. 1260, or 23rd May, 1844. Notice that Baha'u'llah refers to al-Bab not as a major manifestation (zuhur) as the Babis had considered him to be, but as a Teller-of-Good- News about the coming of Baha'u'llah. "We sent him," says Baha'u'llah.
3. The word translated "assembled" is often used in Muslim teaching for the gathering at the last day, when after the Resurrection men are gathered before God for judgement. The Baha'i teaching is that by his coming to earth and by his teaching, Baha'u'llah has brought the long-expected resurrection of the dead.
4. Supposedly the two feasts mentioned here are the birthdays of the Bab and Baha'u'llah on the first and second days of the Muslim month of Muharram, which are kept as one feast.