Bahai Fast Mar 2nd to mar 20th

Fasting and obligatory prayer are as two wings to man's life.

Blessed be the one who soareth with their aid

in the heaven of the love of God,

the Lord of all worlds.

Bahá’u’lláh

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These are the days of the Fast. Blessed is the one who through the heat generated by the Fast increaseth his love, and who, with joy and radiance, ariseth to perform worthy deeds. Bahá’u’lláh

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Verily, I say, fasting is the supreme remedy and the most great healing for the disease of self and passion. Bahá’u’lláh

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Fasting is the cause of the elevation of one's spiritual station. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Baha'i Fast Mar 2 to Mar 20

In clear cases of weakness, illness, or injury the law of the Fast is not binding. This injunction is in conformity with the precepts of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. Well is it with them who act accordingly. Bahá’u’lláh

Verily, I say, fasting is the supreme remedy and the most great healing for the disease of self and passion. Bahá’u’lláh

"O God! as I am fasting from the appetites of the body and not occupied with eating and drinking, even so purify and make holy my heart and my life from aught else save Thy Love… Thus may the spirit associate with the Fragrances of Holiness and fast from everything else save Thy mention." Abdu’l-Bahá

Well is it with you, as you have followed the Law of God and arisen to observe the Fast during these blessed days, for this physical fast is a symbol of the spiritual fast. This Fast leadeth to the cleansing of the soul from all selfish desires, the acquisition of spiritual attributes, attraction to the breezes of the All-Merciful, and enkindlement with the fire of divine love. Abdu’l-Bahá

Fasting is the cause of the elevation of one's spiritual station. Abdu’l-Bahá

Beautiful Poem for the Fast

The Fast

O My loving companions on the path
Think ye that the fast is a burden?
Even should you waste into nothingness,
This would be a joy beyond compare.
For those that enjoy this mystic meal,
The True Fast begins at sunset.

If it be that thy stomach groans
And thy tongue is a desert,
Eat and drink thoughts of thy Beloved
Whose sweet fresh water cleanses
And heavenly food strengthens.

And as thy body empties itself, so too
Empty the cup of the heart of self and passion.
And in thy growing weakness
Feel thy humility before God and thy fellows.
And as the dreary hours pass along,
Think of what store of patience
Ye may gather for the coming year.

And as thy body begins to lighten,
Let thy soul float like a kite
In the breezes of the spirit
Though still attached to the form
Which is fulfilling its daily duties.

And when you desire something,
Think of the One Desired,
Who has created all of what thou hast ever desired.
And as your hunger grows,
Think of those less fortunate souls
Who cannot replenish their flesh
During the sleeping of the sun.

And when you break bread,
Think of thy fellow Baha'is all around the world
In unity with your actions.

Stephen Newbegin,
first published in the California Regional Newsletter,
June 1975

Baha'is Fast from Mar 2nd till Mar 20th

Fasting and obligatory prayer are as two wings to man's life. Blessed be the one who soareth with their aid in the heaven of the love of God, the Lord of all worlds. [Baha'u'llah]

Fasting is the cause of the elevation of one's spiritual station.[Abdu'l-Baha]

The fasting period, which lasts nineteen days starting as a rule from the second of March every year and ending on the twentieth of the same month, involves complete abstention from food and drink from sunrise till sunset. It is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in his soul. Its significance and purpose are, therefore, fundamentally spiritual in character. Fasting is symbolic, and a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desires. [Letter of behalf of Shoghi Effendi]