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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
15 stories on this theme.
The essential joyousness of the Bahá’í religion finds expression in numerous feasts and holidays throughout the year.
On the eve of the Báb's arrival at Káshán in 1847, Hájí Mírzá Jání dreamed that the Báb would be his Guest for three nights. The next day the dream came true, and the escort agreed to leave the Báb in his care over Naw-Rúz.
At a school club's lunch meeting near Naw-Rúz, children of many faiths compare the spring holy days they celebrate, share Naw-Rúz cookies, and decide to make a library display so everyone can learn about them.
In 1912, on the Feast of Naw-Rúz in Alexandria, Egypt, 'Abdu'l-Bahá explained the meaning of the blessed days appointed in every dispensation — days for rejoicing together, for unity, and for leaving "tangible philanthropic or ideal traces" reaching all mankind.
At Naw-Rúz in Alexandria in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that a holy day should bring people together and leave behind something good that reaches everyone, not only Bahá'ís.
On Naw-Rúz 1909, after the Báb's remains had been hidden and moved for decades, 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid them with His own hands in the Shrine He had built on Mount Carmel, and wept so that all who were present wept with Him.
During the First World War 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself cooked the Naw-Rúz feast for the friends at Bahjí. On feast days He gathered the poor children of 'Akká for sweets and sharbat.
The Báb gave His followers a new calendar of nineteen months of nineteen days, each month named after an attribute of God, with Naw-Rúz as its first day. Bahá'u'lláh confirmed it in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and fixed the place of the extra days before the Fast.
On 13 April 1912, three weeks after Naw-Rúz, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at a New York home about the seasons. The coming of each Manifestation of God, He said, is a divine springtime, and Bahá'u'lláh has renewed that springtime.
In Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, J. E. Esslemont describes the close of the Bahá'í year: the intercalary days of hospitality and giving, the nineteen-day Fast, and then Naw-Rúz at the March equinox.
In November 1849, grieving for the martyrs of Shaykh Ṭabarsí, the Báb sent His attendant Sayyáh from Chihríq to visit their resting-place, asking him to return before Naw-Rúz, "the only one I probably shall ever see again."
At Naw-Rúz 1863 Bahá'u'lláh camped with His companions in a field outside Baghdád. On the fifth day He revealed the Tablet of the Holy Mariner, then had the tents folded; a month later He entered the Garden of Riḍván.
In two Tablets, one written in 1906 to American believers who had sent Him a New Year's greeting, 'Abdu'l-Bahá described a new cycle and a spiritual springtime, and hoped the believers would become "a new people."
The Báb inaugurated a new calendar of nineteen months, named after the attributes of God. In the Bayán He made the last month the month of fasting, set Naw-Rúz at its close, and designated Naw-Rúz the Day of God.
In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh confirmed the Báb's calendar of nineteen months and made Naw-Rúz the feast that closes the Fast. He later explained that it falls on the day the sun enters Aries.