"As regards fasting, it constitutes, together with the obligatory prayers, the two pillars that sustain the revealed Law of God. They act as stimulants to the soul, strengthen, revive and purify it, and thus insure its steady development."
"The ordinance of fasting is, as is the case with these
three prayers (obligatory) a spiritual and vital obligation
enjoined by
"And in another passage He says: `We have enjoined upon
you fasting during a brief period, and at its close have designated
for you
"Also in the `Questions and Answers' that form an appendix
to the Aqdas,
`Know verily that the essence of justice and the source
thereof are both embodied in the ordinance prescribed by Him
Who is the Manifestation of the Self of God amongst men, if
ye be of them that recognize this truth. He doth verily incarnate
the highest, the infallible standard of justice unto all creation.
Were His law to be such as to strike terror in the
hearts of all that are in heaven and on earth, that law is naught
but manifest justice. The fears and agitation which the revelation
of this law provoke in men's hearts should indeed be
likened to the cries of the suckling babe weaned from his
mother's milk, if ye be of them that perceive...'
"The fasting period, which lasts nineteen days starting as a rule from the second of March every year and ending on the twentieth of the same month, involves complete abstention from food and drink from sunrise till sunset. It is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in his soul. Its significance and purpose are, therefore, fundamentally spiritual in character. Fasting is symbolic, and a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desires."