Although Noruz is not an Islamic feast and is celebrated by Iranians of every religion, its celebration has been fused in the Iranian psyche with the worship of the one God and Islam, so most Iranian Muslims also place the Holy Quran on the New Year spread too and read a special supplication (Duaye Sal-e No) in Arabic. On the first day of the new year younger people visit the elders of the family, starting with the parents and grandparents and then the aunts and uncles. It is customary for the elders to give children and newly married brides an eidi, a present of money in the form of newly minted banknotes that have been kept between the Quran leaves. This need not be a large sum, its significance being the blessing bestowed by the old upon the young. Hossein’s grandmother, who was a descendant of the Holy Prophet (sadat), always had a pad of new banknotes stamped with her name. She gave one to everyone who visited her on New Year and on Eid Ghadir, the feast of the Prophet’s descendants, and told them that if they kept their banknote in their wallet, it would bring them luck and prosperity, and their wallet would never be empty. Over the years I’ve collected a fair number of such notes, some of which I have sent to my parents and sister in Greece, friends in England and Greece, and my editor in Boston, thereby expanding the circle of blessings (Source: Among Iranians).
Zoroastrian Origin of Nowruz: Ancient Custom and Modern Persia
