Congratulations on a joyous Nowrouz

In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

“Have they not regarded how Allah originates the creation? Then He will bring it back. That is indeed easy for Allah. Say, ‘Travel over the land and then observe how He has originated the creation.’ Then Allah shall bring about the genesis of the Hereafter. Indeed Allah has power over all things.”

What you heard were ayahs 19 and 20 of Surah Ankabout of the holy Qur’an where the Lord Most High Speaks of the wonders of creation, and how He will raise the dead to life on the Day of Resurrection. For those with an iota of intellect the annual advent of spring after the frosty cold of winter and how the earth is revived with green sprouts after the trees had gradually been denuded of their leaves with the start of autumn, is a sign in this regard. Congratulations everybody. Today, Thursday, March 21 marks the start of the New Year in the Islamic Republic of Iran and several other neighbouring countries. Today at exactly at 01:28:27 sharp, that is, 21:58:27 GMT, the year 1398 solar hijri started with prayers and supplications to the Lord Most High.

The blessed moment, called in Persian Tahwil-e Saal (Turn of the Year), is greeted with hands raised in supplication to the Almighty by millions of faithful that usually assemble at this hour at holy shrines of the Prophet’s venerable descendants, especially the grand mausoleums in Mashhad and Qom respectively, of his 8^th Infallible Successor, Imam Reza (AS) and the latter’s sister, Hazrat Fatema al-Ma’soumah (peace upon her).

Indeed, it is a pleasant sound to the ears to hear from the ardent lips of such huge gatherings – as well as on the TV and the Radios for those who are at home, are travelling, or are watching and eagerly listening from other countries – the following Arabic supplication, which speaks volumes of the faith in Islam of the Iranian Muslims, who immediately after this recitation, before greeting each other, beseech God Almighty to hasten the reappearance of the Saviour:

      “Ya Moqallab al-qoloub wa’l-absar,

       Ya Modabbar al-layl wa’n-nahar

      Ya Mohawwal al-howl wa’l-ahwal

      Hawwil halana ila ahsan il-haal,

Translated into English, this popular supplication reads:    

    (O Rotator of hearts and eyes.

     O Regulator of the day and night,

     O Transformer of state and situations

     Turn our state into the best of conditions)”

Over the past four decades, without the least doubt, the Islamic Republic, despite the sanctions and threats of military attack by its dastardly enemies, has made spectacular progress in almost all areas, including nuclear energy, aerospace industry, stem cell technology, missile power, agriculture, petrochemicals, health, medical fields, etc. As a result, the message of Islamic Iran is ringing loud and clear in the region. It  is also reverberating in the West, where the 99 percent European and American masses are struggling to reclaim their denied rights from the oppressive regimes that represent the mere one percent rich exploiters – mostly controlled by the despicable Zionists. It is thus obvious why the US has come up with all devilish tricks up its sleeve to try to force countries which kowtow to the Great Satan and its surrogate Israel, to boycott Iranian oil and cut off all internationally accepted trade transactions.

This is indeed a blessing in disguise for Iran. These plots are bound to backfire upon their perpetrators, since Nowrouz is not just the resurrection of nature, but, as indicated by the ayahs of the heavenly scripture at the beginning of this column, a sign of the Omnipotent Creator, the Source of all life, Who has made this world as a place of trial and tribulation to sift truth from falsehood. A glance at the history of the world and the civilizations reveals that the tyrants despite their threats, sanctions, raving and ranting, are a vanishing breed, and a humiliating end awaits them and their clients. In other words, Uncle Sam is a fool if it thinks that its diabolical policies will bring Iran to its knees or that the hypocrisy of the man in the White House to beam a Nowrouz Message of his own on the Spring Equinox would deceive the Iranian Muslim masses and undermine the Islamic Republic System. These are the lessons we learn from Nowrouz, which is as old as nature and the creation of Father Adam. It is not a mythical festival of a particular nation or any outdated creed, as some try to portray it. It is an Islamic occasion that starts with a day of fasting, accompanied by prayers, supplications, and greetings for reaffirming allegiance to the legacy of the Messengers of God, in particular that of Prophet Muhammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) and his divinely-designated vicegerent, Imam Ali (AS), who has been eulogized in the Nowrouznamehs that are devotionally chanted this day from Kashmir in the east to the Balkans in the west on the Spring Equinox.

There are narrations in Islamic texts about this day. For instance, there are hadith that refer to the resting of Prophet Noah’s (AS) Ark on Mount Joudi after the great flood and the parting of the seawaters for Prophet Moses (AS) on the Spring Equinox. It is said that the peaceful surrender of Mecca to Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) coincided with the Spring Equinox. There is also a narration that says it will be the Spring Equinox when the Saviour of mankind, Imam Mahdi (AS), will reappear to rid the earth of all vestiges of vices and oppression and to fill it with the global government of peace and justice.  No wonder, with the advent of Islam in Iran, all the ancient traditions naturally faded away except for Nowrouz. As a matter of fact, Iranian Muslim scientists during the heyday of Islamic civilization, such as al-Khwarezmi, al-Berouni, and Omar Khayyam Neishabouri, perfectly computed the solar calendar, fixing it, like the lunar hijri calendar, according to the auspicious migration of the Almighty's Last and Greatest Messenger, from Mecca to Medina. In view of these wonderful facts, isn’t it advisable for the Islamic world – in addition to the religiously indispensable lunar hijri calendar – to adopt the precisely calculated solar hijri calendar year in Iran for keeping tract of the season and running the bureaucracy, instead of following the alien and a bit imperfect Gregorian calendar that has been imposed by the colonialists and is based on an illusion, which the Holy Qur’an rejects, saying Prophet Jesus (AS) was not crucified?

For the information of our listeners, the New Year in Iran begins every year with purity and cleanliness. The well-liked and good-natured of "Khane Takani" and the cleansing of homes and public streets begins in the middle of the last Iranian month Esfand so that with the start of the New Year, homes and working environment are clean. Iranians have long since been concerned about the cleanliness of their environment and have made it a lasting tradition in their lives.

Coordination and unity in the cleaning and decorating of homes before the New Year is really impressive. House glasses are cleaned. Usually used carpets and curtains of the home are washed and the house-garden are decorated with the planting of spring flowers. Every year, the home will be stripped of worn-out and non-consumable items, and replaced with new furniture in proportion to the financial means of the family.

Preparation of special Nowruz dishes and sweets is another custom that prevails in many regions of Iran. In some parts of Iran, women cooperate with each other for cooking various types of sweets for the New Year. Usually home-cooked dishes that are made with a special skill are of high quality and are decorated with a special taste. It is worth mentioning that in the final days of the year, in all parts of Iran, we witness the cooking of various types of food according to the climate of the region and the spring season. Cooking of bread, halvah and safflower with spring crop plants are common in different regions of Iran.

The night before the New Year has its own specialty and usually a special meal is provided in each area for that night. Vegetable rice with Fish, Coco Vegetables, Fillet rice, Types of Chicken, Rice and Stewed Vegetables, and a variety of dumplings are among the Common foods on New Year's Eve.

That was the end of the first part; please tune in tomorrow for the second part.

AS/SS