divorce, thus:--

The friends (Baha'is) must strictly refrain from divorce unless
something arises which compels them to separate because of their
aversion for each other; in that case, with the knowledge of the
Spiritual Assembly, they may decide to separate. They must then be
patient and wait one complete year. If during this year harmony is
not reestablished between them, then their divorce may be
realized.... The foundation of the Kingdom of God is based upon
harmony and love, oneness, relationship and union, not upon
differences, especially between husband and wife. If one of these
two become the cause of divorce, that one will unquestionably fall
into great difficulties, will become the victim of formidable
calamities and experience deep remorse. (Tablet to the Baha'is of
America).

In the matter of divorce, as in other matters, Baha'is will, of course, be
bound not only by the Baha'i teaching, but also by the laws of the country
in which they live.

The Baha'i Calendar

Among different peoples and at different times many different methods have
been adopted for the measurement of time and fixing of dates, and several
different calendars are still in daily use, e.g., the Gregorian in Western
Europe, the Julian in many countries of Eastern Europe, the Hebrew among
the Jews, and the Muhammadan in Muslim communities.

The Bab signalized the importance of the dispensation which He came to
herald, by inaugurating a new calendar. In this, as in the Gregorian
Calendar, the lunar month is abandoned and the solar year is adopted.

The Baha'i year consists of 19 months of 19 days each (i.e. 361 days),
with the addition of certain "Intercalary Days" (four in ordinary and five
in leap years) between the eighteenth and nineteenth months in order to
adjust the calendar to the solar year. The Bab named the months after the
attributes of God. The Baha'i New Year, like the ancient Persian New Year,
is astronomically fixed, commencing at the March equinox (usually March
21), and the Baha'i era commences with the year of the Bab's declaration
(i.e. 1844 A.D., 1260 A.H.).

In the not far distant future it will be necessary that all peoples in the
world agree on a common calendar.

It seems, therefore, fitting that the new age of unity should have a new
calendar free from the objections and associations which make each of the
older calendar unacceptable to large