Ramadan

A name that holds a place of honor in souls, and a love in hearts. It is mentioned, and with it are recalled memories of the past and shadows of the present. As for the memories of the past, they are what those who welcomed it once showed of honoring it and celebrating it, receiving it with a dear and generous reception; for they knew of old that it is the month of open-handedness and the month of true resolve — because it is the month of fasting, of denying the soul some of what it has grown used to, of withholding from it a little of what it is familiar with, and of standing in its way when it would break loose from resolve to commit something the fast has forbidden, reminding it that fasting, over and above being a denial of the soul, is also a restraining of the body's members from committing what they have grown accustomed to. And since fasting strengthens precious resolve and awakens the sense of watchfulness before God who ordained it, what it calls for — and it is not complete without it — is that the one who fasts hold back his tongue from evil and from harshness with it, his soul from dwelling on a grievance or persisting in it, his eye from straying toward what God has forbidden, and his hand from injuring people... and all these are kinds of fasting for these members. This restraint extends through the length of Ramadan, a full month, from which the faster emerges with his soul grown familiar with what Ramadan has trained it to — not to speak of what it accustoms him to of giving to the needy and generosity toward the man too proud to beg. Throughout it we see nothing but a strengthening of the human brotherhood to which the deprivation imposed upon all has awakened the soul: the man of means passes through a deprivation he has never been used to, and his soul inclines toward those whose emblem deprivation has become, whose voices have grown faint in the tumult of life, so that they never reached the hearing of the pampered and the rich, who never felt that among their brothers in humanity are some in need of the leavings of their tables and the surplus of their food.

These are the memories of Ramadan, pictured to the mind at the mention of its name, which I have known in the history of our fathers and forefathers of old... As for the shadows of the present, they are a faded picture of the Ramadan of the past. Few are the people who welcome it glad of it and content with it; and many feel nothing of its coming — or if they do feel it, in people's talk and in the memories of the past, it is the feeling of one who turns away from it or is oppressed by it. Yes, oppressed by it — for luxury has accustomed him to what it has accustomed him, and how then should he submit to the rulings of Ramadan, the deprivation of Ramadan, the dominion of Ramadan?.. What has he to do with this stern worship that keeps him, through its daytime, from the delights of life and the pleasures of the world? What has he — upon whom fortune has been lavish — to do with sharing with others for whom life has grown too narrow, or who have grown too weary for life?.. Yes, what has he to do with these, who have grown used to the cruelty of time and the cruelty of men? Let us leave them as they are, though souls be indignant at them and hearts filled with wrath, and rage be plain to see; there is no way that relief should come to them.. And the bond of humanity, in the eyes of such people, is not a bond that bends hearts or softens feeling; it is rather a bond of despotism and servitude — whatever that has dragged down upon the nation and upon mankind.

And now: is it not for us to welcome Ramadan as it deserves to be welcomed, and to honor it, as one, for the training of souls in goodness — bearing them toward it firmly, accustoming them to it thoroughly, and making them feel the grace of the fast in all their deeds and dealings? If we did that, we should win from souls all the good — the whole of it — in Ramadan and after Ramadan: good for themselves, and good for all mankind.