Enjoy the blessings of the Fast
This year the month of fasting begins on 1 March and ends at sunset on 19 March. Here are some resources to assist in enjoying its blessings — selected quotations, links for looking up sunrise and sunset times, and a downloadable compilation on prayer and fasting.
Quotations
A prayer by Bahá’u’lláh
In the Name of Him Who hath been promised in the Books of God, the All-Knowing the All-Informed! The days of fasting have arrived wherein those servants who circle round Thy throne and have attained Thy presence have fasted. Say: O God of names and Creator of heaven and earth! I beg of Thee by Thy Name, the All-Glorious, to accept the fast of those who have fasted for love of Thee and for the sake of Thy good-pleasure and have carried out what Thou hast bidden them in Thy Books and Tablets. I beseech Thee by them to assist me in the promotion of Thy Cause and to make me steadfast in Thy love, that my footsteps may not slip on account of the clamour of Thy creatures. Verily, Thou art powerful over whatsoever Thou willest. No God is there but Thee, the Quickener, the All-Powerful, the Most Bountiful, the Ancient of Days.
(By Bahá’u’lláh, published in “The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting”, section 3, number II)
Inspiration and guidance
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. Verily, He guideth whomsoever He willeth to the straight path.
(From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, published in “The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting”, section 1, number XV)
We have commanded you to pray and fast from the beginning of maturity; this is ordained by God, your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers. He hath exempted from this those who are weak from illness or age, as a bounty from His Presence, and He is the Forgiving, the Generous.
(Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, paragraph 10)
Even though outwardly the Fast is difficult and toilsome, yet inwardly it is bounty and tranquillity. Purification and training are conditioned and dependent only on such rigorous exercises as are in accord with the Book of God and sanctioned by Divine law, not those which the deluded have inflicted upon the people. Whatsoever God hath revealed is beloved of the soul. We beseech Him that He may graciously assist us to do that which is pleasing and acceptable unto Him.
(From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, published in “The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting”, section 1, number XVI)
The laws of God, such as fasting, obligatory prayer and the like, as well as His counsels regarding virtues, good deeds and proper conduct, must be carried out everywhere to the extent possible, unless some insurmountable obstacle or some great danger presents itself or it runneth counter to the dictates of wisdom. For indolence and laxity hinder the outpourings of love from the clouds of divine mercy, and people will thus remain deprived.
(From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, published in “The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting”, section 2, number IV)
It is often difficult for us to do things because they are so very different from what we are used to, not because the thing itself is particularly difficult. With you, and indeed most Bahá’ís, who are now, as adults, accepting this glorious Faith, no doubt some of the ordinances, like fasting and daily prayer, are hard to understand and obey at first. But we must always think that these things are given to all men for a thousand years to come. For Bahá’í children who see these things practised in the home, they will be as natural and necessary a thing as going to church on Sunday was to the more pious generation of Christians. Bahá’u’lláh would not have given us these things if they would not greatly benefit us, and, like children who are sensible enough to realize their father is wise and does what is good for them, we must accept to obey these ordinances even though at first we may not see any need for them. As we obey them we will gradually come to see in ourselves the benefits they confer.
(From a letter dated 16 March 1949 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)
The obligation of the friends to follow such ordinances as that of fasting is a purely spiritual one, a matter of individual conscience. However, in one of His Tablets, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states that the ordinance about the Obligatory Prayers and the one about fasting are among the mightiest obligations of the friends, and no one has the right to neglect these injunctions or interpret them in a manner to lessen their binding effect. They constitute the pillars of the spiritual life of the individual.
(From a letter dated 2 August 1992 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)
Note: a summary of the law of Fasting, and exemptions, can be found in A Synopsis and Codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas at this link: https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-aqdas/11#559095161
Sunrise and sunset times
For keeping track of sunrise and sunset times, some information sources on the web are:
Badi-calendar.com — https://www.badi-calendar.com/calculator.php
Find sunrises and sunsets for the Fasting month at https://www.badi-calendar.com/calculator.php
To use this site, type your city or address into the field near the top of the page, as in the pictured example. Click on the tab labelled “Fast Sunrise & Sunset”. A list of sunrise and sunset times in your locality, for the month of ‘Alá’, will then appear in a space lower down the page.
Timeanddate.com — https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/
Type your location in a field near the top of the page and further down you will see a table of sunrises and sunsets for the current month — in this case the Gregorian month.
Another resource is your smartphone weather app which may show the sunrise and sunset times for the current day.
