O Pen of the Most High! Say: O people of the world! We have
enjoined upon you fasting during a brief
period, and at its close have designated for you Naw-Ruz as a feast. Thus hath
the Day-Star of Utterance shone forth above the horizon of the Book as decreed
by Him Who is the Lord of the beginning and the end. Let the days in excess of
the months be placed before the month of fasting. We have ordained that these,
amid all nights and days, shall be the manifestations of the letter Ha, and
thus they have not been bounded by the limits of the year and its months. It
behoveth the people of Baha, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for
themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy
and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify
His Name; and when they end - these days of giving that precede the season of
restraint - let them enter upon the Fast. Thus hath it been ordained by Him Who
is the Lord of all mankind. The traveller, the ailing, those who are with child
or giving suck, are not bound by the Fast; they have been exempted by God as a
token of His grace. He, verily, is the Almighty, the Most Generous.
- Baha'u'llah (The Kitab-i-Aqdas)
