The Universal House of Justice
The Bahá'í World Centre
Department of the Secretariat
1 July 2001

To all National Spiritual Assemblies and Bahá'í Publishing Trusts

Dear Bahá'í Friends,

A number of friends have raised questions about the correct manner in which the repeated verses in the Prayer for the Dead are to be recited, since the wording of the English translation of the prayer as published in "Prayers and Meditations", number CLXVII, and among the supplementary texts included in "The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book", is ambiguous. The Universal House of Justice had hoped that note ii in that book would have clarified the matter, but there still seems to be some lack of understanding.

The House of Justice has, therefore, decided that, in future, when this prayer is published in a Bahá'í prayer book, it should be printed exactly as it appears in "Prayers and Meditations" but with the following footnote, if this is felt to be necessary:

*In other words, the six repetitions proceed as follows: "Allah-u-Abha" [once] "We all, verily, worship God" [19 times], "All [once] "We all, verily, bow down before God" [19 times] and so on.

With loving Bahá'í greetings,
Department of the Secretariat
cc: International Teaching Centre
Continental Boards of Counsellors