How are the two celebrations, Nawruz and Ramadan, similar? As strange as it may seem, they resemble each other. Not in external form, but in their meaning and in their spiritual aspect.

Both Nawruz and Ramadan are celebrations of something external - the arrival of spring and the practice of fasting. But at the same time the true spirit of both is internal: spring, which is the renewal of nature and the return of life, so to speak, symbolizes the spiritual growth within each of us and acts as a reminder that although our spiritual life is sometimes “asleep” (as nature seems to be during winter) we always have the possibility of reviving it.

Likewise, Ramadan is also a symbol of the intellectual and spiritual effort within us; it is a reminder of spiritual life and the need to abstain (after all, “fasting” means abstaining) from negative things either in act, in word, in thought, or in feelings. It is clear that this internal fast is not limited to a particular month but extends to our entire existence.

In our Ismaili Tariqa we are offered the possibility of observing the practice of these celebrations both in their material aspect and in their spiritual aspect, without letting them become empty rituals that must be followed out of obligation, with blind faith, but rather as beautiful opportunities that are given to us to explore our growth, both mentally and spiritually.