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The Greatest Name displayed here in the Portland Oregon, Bahá'í Center is pronounced  "Yá Baha'u'l-Abhá."  This design is often placed in Bahá'í homes on the wall that faces the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, the Qiblih of the Bahá'í Faith (B-52).

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The Greatest Name designed on the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, Israel.  This form is worn honorably on rings and necklaces.

When designing Bahá'í architecture, architects first consider the guidelines given in the Sacred Writings and pray that their designs will serve God and the people who will use them.  These guidelines allow for architecture to reflect the many cultures in which they are built.  Thus, Bahá'í architecture will look very different from region to region.

Some features, such as the display of a group of diverse religious symbols together, are commonly included in Bahá'í architecture.  Bahá'ís believe that humanity continually receives guidance from Divine Teachers sent from the same God such as:  Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá'u'lláh (F-1).  Also, multiples of nine are common because nine is a sacred number.  Nine can be symbolic of fulfillment and completeness (T-52).

Perhaps the most common features are the calligraphic forms of Arabic word "Baha," which means "Glory".  These are called the  Greatest Name.  One of the two main forms, (top left) is the invocation "Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá," which translates to "O glory of the all-Glorious (T-52)."   Another form (bottom left) is also symbolic in shape.  The letters that make up three parallel lines can represent the three levels of reality: God, the Divine Teachers, and Man, and the line through all three can represent the Holy Spirit.  The two stars symbolize the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh,  the Divine Teachers of the Bahá'í Faith.  Bahá'ís believe They are the most recent of God's Divine Teachers.

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