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Right now is a special time for Bahá’ís. The Bahá’í calendar, known as the Badí calendar, consists of 19 months of 19 days, with 4 intercalary days (5 in a leap year) from February 26th to March 1st, known as Ayyám-I-Há. These days are for preparing for the fast, rejoicing, charity and gift-giving. This year we get 5, WOOH! I’m certainly enjoying my Ayyám-I-Há. :)

“It behoveth the people of Bahá, 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.” - Bahá’u'lláh

Following Ayyám-I-Há is the month of ‘Alá’, or “loftiness”, which is the month of fasting. From March 2nd to 20th, those between 15 and 70 years old (with exemptions for people who are ill, travelling, nursing, doing manual labour etc.) do not eat or drink between sunrise and sunset.

“…this material fast is an outer token of the spiritual fast; it is a symbol of self-restraint, the withholding of oneself from all appetites of the self, taking on the characteristics of the spirit, being carried away by the breathings of heaven and catching fire from the love of God.” - `Abdu’l-Bahá

I fasted last year, before I became a Bahá’í, but I now have a much greater understanding of its significance, so I’m hoping to get a great deal more out of it this year. My first *real* fast.

“Thou hast endowed every hour of these days with a special virtue, inscrutable to all except Thee, Whose knowledge embraceth all created things. Thou hast, also, assigned unto every soul a portion of this virtue in accordance with the Tablet of Thy decree and the Scriptures of Thine irrevocable judgment. Every leaf of these Books and Scriptures Thou hast, moreover, allotted to each one of the peoples and kindreds of the earth.

For Thine ardent lovers Thou hast, according to Thy decree, reserved, at each daybreak, the cup of Thy remembrance, O Thou Who art the Ruler of rulers! These are they who have been so inebriated with the wine of Thy manifold wisdom that they forsake their couches in their longing to celebrate Thy praise and extol Thy virtues, and flee from sleep in their eagerness to approach Thy presence and partake of Thy bounty. Their eyes have, at all times, been bent upon the Day-Spring of Thy loving-kindness, and their faces set towards the Fountain-Head of Thine inspiration. Rain down, then, upon us and upon them from the clouds of Thy mercy what beseemeth the heaven of Thy bounteousness and grace.” - Bahá’u'lláh

And after the fast is Naw-Rúz, on March 21st, which is both the Bahá’í and Persian new year. It’s a time for celebration.

While I was in Linfen, my friend gave me Discovering the Sun by Jacqueline Mehrabi, to read. It’s about a 15-year-old girl from Orkney experiencing her first fast, as well as coping with life away from home on her island, staying in the hostel as she attends Kirkwall Grammar School on the Orkney mainland. It’s meant for younger people than myself, but I enjoyed it and came away with a greater understanding of the significance of Ayyám-I-Há and the fast. It’s also set where I grew up, at the same school, in fact, so it really hit home. The title comes from the following quote:

“Verily, the religion of God is like unto heaven; fasting is its sun, and obligatory prayer is its moon.” - Bahá’u'lláh

Thanks to Rory for the first quote. (I swear I was looking for it before I saw he used it!! :p) He’s also written an excellent blog entry about Ayyám-i-Há.