Persian boys begin to fast at twelve years old, but the girls have to begin at nine. Sometimes they begin sooner if they want to store up merit early. But even little four-year-old Ibrahim, who is considered too young to join in the fast, shares it to a certain degree. For no one is going to cook anything for him or make him his usual cup of tea when they may not share it. He gets a bit of dry bread and a drink of water when he wants it, but little more all through the day.
“It makes me hungry to see him eating,” his mother said.
The name of the fast-month is Ramazān, and through Ramazān it is often difficult to get eggs, because the sweetmakers buy them up to make sweets. It is a great month for sweets, and there are several kinds that are only made in Ramazān; and, so far from having “self-denial boxes,” as many Christians do in Lent, the more devout Muhammadan servants ask for an advance of wages to buy better food in Ramazān.
This all seems strange in a fast-month, but a Muhammadan fast only lasts from dawn to dark. At night people may eat what they like, and they take full advantage of the permission and have nightly feasts, ending up with a great feast on the last night.
Boys and girls are not late for supper in Ramazān. They gather round the tablecloth as the time draws near, ready to start directly the signal is given that it is dark. In towns there is generally a gun fired, and at the sound of the gun the meal is begun in every house.
One day such a party was waiting round the supper, listening for the gun, and they got hungrier and hungrier, but they heard no gun and waited on. At last they realised that the wind had carried the sound away from them, and they had fasted far longer than they need have done. This was bad enough, but another family fared worse, for they overslept themselves in the morning, and woke to find they had missed their breakfast and must eat nothing till night.
People might differ as to when it was dark, so a test has been appointed—as long as you can distinguish a black thread from a white one it is light, and you must fast.
It does not sound a very difficult fast, and in winter, when the days are short, it is not so bad, but on a long summer day it is very hard. No food, no drink, and a blazing sun all day. It takes a plucky boy or girl to get through it without complaining. It is no wonder that in Ramazān “bed-time” is forgotten and all the children sit up half the night and sleep half the day—the longer they can sleep in the day the better, poor little things. Towards evening tempers are apt not to be very good, but everyone enjoys the night.
No one wants to work in Ramazān; they do not want to get more hungry than they need; and, of course, the schools are all closed.
The dispensaries and hospitals are nearly empty, for the taking of medicine, or the use of drops for the eyes or ears, would be a breaking of the fast, and there was a great discussion once as to whether having a tooth out would have the same effect. It seems curious to have to tell the people to take their medicine twice a night instead of twice a day.