The purpose of the fast is to practice abstinence from carnal desires, rejuvenate one's inner spiritual life, and bring to mind the deprivation experienced by prophets.
The fast concludes at the festival of Naw Ruz, on the vernal equinox (20–21 March, depending on the year).
The Báb also stated that the continuation of the fast was contingent on the approval of a messianic figure, Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest.
[4] Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, who claimed to be the one foretold by the Báb, accepted the fast but altered many of its details and regulations.
In contrast, Muslims fast during a lunar month, whose specific Gregorian dates vary yearly.
[5] Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Baháʼí Faith in the first half of the 20th century, explains that the fast "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.
Regarding those engaged in heavy labour, Baha'u'llah has stated, "[I]t is most commendable and fitting to eat with frugality and in private.