NAW-RUZ

20th March 2025

Baha’i

Naw-Ruz is the Baha’i New Year’s Day and coincides with the spring equinox. It is an ancient Persian festival celebrating the ‘New Day’ and it marks the end of the annual nineteen day fast that concludes the old year. Celebrations start at sunset on the day before the festival, often with gatherings for prayer, followed by a festive meal. For this 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’, namely hyacinths, apples, lilies, silver coins, garlic, vinegar and rue, all 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. Lentils that have sprouted 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. It is one of only two festivals mentioned by Zoroaster in the Avesta, the holy Zoroastrian scriptures written by Zoroaster himself. It is celebrated as a holy day by these two religions: Zoroastrianism and the Baha’i Faith.

This is one of the nine Baha’i holy days on which work should be suspended, and is generally observed with a gathering for prayer and celebration – often combined with a dinner, since the sunset on which Naw-Ruz begins ends the last day of the Baha’i fast. As with all Baha’i holy days, there are few fixed rules for observing Naw-Ruz, although Iranian Baha’is often follow Iranian traditions. Many Baha’is use Naw-Ruz as a day when gifts are given.

At its most basic, Naw-Ruz is a celebration of renewal and the coming of spring, as is common for festivals at this time of year. Some believe that their actions on Naw-Ruz will affect their lives throughout the rest of the coming year. Baha’is see it (and the fast that precedes it) as a time of renewal, meant to focus believers on their spiritual development. It is also a time for physical ‘spring cleaning’, clearing the home of old and unneeded items to make room for items that are new.