Among the ancient Persians this day [Naw-Ruz] was looked
upon as the holy day of the year - a day when hospitals and charitable
institutions were founded, collections for the poor were made and every effort
put forth that it might not be allowed to pass without leaving some divine
trace and throughout Persia one sees these historical traces.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of
‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk given on 21 March 1913, Paris; Star of the West, vol.
5, no. 1, March 21, 1914)
