Navroz Mubarak

March 21

Navroz has been celebrated over the centuries in Persia and other parts of the world on the first day of Spring which coincides with the spring equinox. At the time of the equinox, the sun is observed to be directly over the equator, and the north and south poles of the Earth lie along the solar terminator; sunlight is evenly divided between the north and south hemispheres. Navroz means new day and the celebration is not only for the physical signs of rebirth upon the arrival of spring after the long winter months but also a spiritual renewal is celebrated. Families and Jamat get together to make new resolutions for the coming year as reminders abound to seek to improve the material and spiritual life of every individual.

"Once again, I say to you all on Navroz, 'Navroz Mubarak', and I want you, at the beginning of this New Year, to try to think a bit ahead in your future. Each Navroz, say to yourselves, 'Have we done our work?' If you have then I will be very happy indeed. I say Eid Mubarak to all of you and I give you most affectionate blessings. Khanavadan, Khanavadan." - Mowlana Hazar Imam

The soul of the universe

is the sovereign of time,

for God has raised up

the body through the soul.

When the auspicious Jupiter

saw his face, it became

the source of munificence,

the mine of good fortune.

As long as the clouds

of Navroz wash all quarters

of the garden with

showers of lustrous pearls;

and the nightingale laments

the rose at the break of dawn,

like a grieving soul

separated from its lover:

may the authority of

the sovereign of time

prevail over space and time

and the denizens of the world!

-Nasir Khusraw

- Translated by Faquir Hunzai

(Source: Shimmering Light)