# Naw-Ruz: The Baha'i New Year

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: John Walbridge, Naw-Ruz: The Baha'i New Year, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Naw-Rúz: The Bahá'í New Year
> 
> John Walbridge
> published in Sacred Acts, Sacred Space, Sacred Time: Bahá'í Studies volume 1
> 
> Oxford: George Ronald, 1996
> 
> Naw-Ruz (`New Day') is the Bahá'í and Iranian new year, which occurs on the
> date of the vernal equinox, about 21 March. It is one of the nine Bahá'í holy
> days on which work is suspended.
> 
> The Iranian Naw-Ruz
> Naw-Ruz is the first day of Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian solar
> year. Since ancient times it has been the great national holiday of Iran, the
> only holiday celebrated by more than one religious group.
> 
> The origins of Naw-Ruz are unknown but it obviously began as a pastoral
> fertility festival. Legend attributes its foundation to the mythical
> antediluvian king Jamshid. Naw-Ruz and Mihrajan, the corresponding festival of
> the autumnal equinox in September, are the two great annual festivals of
> Zoroastrianism. Originally a sombre festival dedicated to the spirits of the
> dead was held for five days ten days before Naw-Ruz, followed by a further
> five days corresponding to the Bahá'í Ayyam-i-Ha. Later Naw-Ruz gradually
> became a secular holiday and as such it continued to be observed even after
> the triumph of Islam in Iran. Muslim kings in Iran, like their Zoroastrian
> predecessors, celebrated Naw-Ruz with great magnificence. As late as the
> nineteenth century Naw-Ruz was the only day the Shah would dine with other
> people.
> 
> Shi`i traditions attributed to the Imams endorsed the observance of Naw-Ruz,
> which was, it was said, the day of many events of great religious
> significance, among them God's first covenant with mankind, the first rising
> of the sun, the grounding of Noah's ark on Ararat, Gabriel's first appearance
> to Muhammad, the destruction of the idols in the Ka`bih by `Ali, Muhammad's
> appointment of `Ali as His successor, the appearance of the Qa'im, and the
> final triumph of the Qa'im over the Antichrist. Such traditions echoed similar
> accounts of Naw-Ruz found in Zoroastrian literature.
> 
> Naw-Ruz is celebrated rather like the Christian Easter, with many symbols
> indicating spring and renewal. A week or so before the holiday lentils are
> placed in a dish to sprout into a mass of green blades. On the day of Naw-Ruz
> the family gathers in new or freshly cleaned clothes. The table is decorated
> with fruit, cakes, coloured eggs and other treats, as well as symbolic objects
> such as a holy book and a mirror. Among the best known customs of Naw-Ruz is
> the haft-sin -- the `seven S's'. These are seven objects beginning -- in
> Persian -- with the letter `S', such as hyacinths, apples, lilies, silver
> coins, garlic, vinegar and rue, decoratively arranged on a table. A great deal
> of time is spent exchanging visits with friends and relations. The
> celebrations end on the thirteenth day of Naw-Ruz with a picnic in the
> country. The sprouted lentils are thrown into running water, carrying away the
> bad luck of the previous year.
> 
> Naw-Ruz is observed wherever Iranian culture has penetrated, notably among the
> Zoroastrians of India and in the emigré Iranian communities around the world.
> `Naw-Ruz' is occasionally used as a personal name in Iran.
> 
> The Babi and Bahá'í Naw-Ruz
> In the Badi` calendar of the Bab, Naw-Ruz is the day of Baha of the month of
> Baha, a day called by the Bab `the Day of God' (yawmu'llah). It was also the
> `Day of the Point' (yawm-i-nuqtih) -- i.e. the day of the Bab. Finally, it
> was a day associated with Him Whom God shall make manifest, the Promised One
> of the Bab. The remaining eighteen days of the month were associated with the
> eighteen Letters of the Living, an indication that the Bab envisioned the
> Naw-Ruz festivities encompassing the nineteen days of the month of Baha, just
> as the traditional Iranian Naw-Ruz festivities last thirteen days. During
> Naw-Ruz the Bab permitted the use of musical instruments and other luxuries
> prohibited at other times. During the night of Naw-Ruz each believer was to
> recite 361 times the verse `God beareth witness that there is no God but Him,
> the Ineffable, the Self-Subsistent'; and during the day, `God beareth witness
> that there is no God but Him, the Precious, the Beloved'. Fasting was
> prohibited during the whole month of Baha. During the six years of His
> mission, the Bab and His followers observed Naw-Ruz, although it is difficult
> to say how much this represents a distinctively Babi holy day. Bahá'u'lláh
> adopted the Babi holy day of Naw-Ruz as the feast day following the fast and
> stressed that it is associated with the Most Great Name, bearing as it does
> Bahá'u'lláh's own name. `Abdu'l-Bahá explained the significance of Naw-Ruz in
> terms of the symbolism of the new life of spring. Bahá'u'lláh defines Naw-Ruz
> as the Bahá'í day on which the vernal equinox occurs. Thus, even if the
> equinox should occur just before sunset, that day -- which in the Bahá'í
> calendar began at the moment of sunset on the previous day -- is Naw-Ruz. At
> present, however, Naw-Ruz is fixed as 21 March for Bahá'ís in all countries
> outside the Middle East, regardless of exactly when the equinox occurs.
> 
> Naw-Ruz is one of the nine Bahá'í holy days on which work is to be suspended.
> It is generally observed with a meeting for prayer and celebration -- often
> combined with a dinner since the sunset on which Naw-Ruz begins ends the last
> day of the Bahá'í fast. As with all Bahá'í holy days, there are few fixed
> rules for observing Naw-Ruz, although Iranian Bahá'ís often follow Iranian
> traditions. Many Bahá'ís use Naw-Ruz as a day of gift-giving. Bahá'ís do not
> usually observe Naw-Ruz for longer than one day. Since Naw-Ruz is the first
> day of a Bahá'í month, it is also the day of a nineteen day feast. It is not
> permitted to combine this feast with the observance of the holy day.
> 
> METADATA
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> Views76163 views since posted 1999; last edit 2025-07-19 02:33 UTC;
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> previous at archive.org.../walbridge_encyclopedia_nawruz;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/444
> Citation: ris/444
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> — *Naw-Ruz: The Baha'i New Year (Used by permission of the curator)*