THE FAST
Members of the Baha'i Faith around the world begin a season of fasting, The period of the Fast is the last month of the Baha'i year and lasts from March 2 to March 20. The fasting period ends with the joyous Naw Ruz (New Year) festival, which begins at sunset on March 20.
During the fast, Baha'is abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset. It is considered to be a time for deep reflection and spiritual renewal.
Each day of the Fast, around the world as the dawn sun illumines the globe, Baha'is will rise and many will say this prayer revealed by Baha'u'llah:
This is, O my God, the first of the days on which Thou hast bidden Thy loved ones to observe the Fast. I ask Thee by Thy Self and by him who hath fasted out of love for Thee and for Thy good pleasure and not our of self and desire, nor out of fear of Thy wrath and by Thy most excellent names and august attributes, to purify Thy servants from the love of aught except Thee and to draw them nigh unto the Dawning Place of the lights of Thy countenance and the Seat of the throne of Thy oneness. Illumine their hearts, O my God, with the light of Thy knowledge and brighten their faces with the rays of the daystar that shineth from the horizon of Thy will. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. No God is there but Thee, the All-Glorious, Whose help is implored by all men.
Assist them, O my God, to render Thee victorious and to exalt Thy Word.
Suffer the to become as hands of Thy Cause amongst Thy servants and make them to be revealers of Thy religion and Thy signs amongst mankind, in such ways that the whole world may be filled with Thy remembrance and praise and with Thy proofs and evidences, Thou art, verily the All Bounteous, the Most Exalted, the Powerful, the Mighty, and the Merciful.
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