O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, as that you may guard (against evil).

~ The Qur’an 2:183

They who turn (to Allah), who serve (Him), who praise (Him), who fast, who bow down, who prostrate themselves, who enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil and who keep the limits of Allah; and give good news to the believers.

~ The Qur’an 9:112

The end goal of Ramadan, the sacred month of fasting, is to attain taqwa. Taqwa is a word with deeper meanings and the range of meanings associated with this multidimensional word are: God consciousness, being mindful of God, piety, reverence and awe of God and also guarding against evil of the ego self (nafs) and the world of appearance (dunya). On the very basic level, the journey of illumination must begin with guarding against the lower tendencies inherent within the human-self or the nafs (ego self). All our spirituality and talking and thinking about God kind of lose meaning if we loose the battle with our nafs and become worshiper of selfish inclinations and follow whatever our ego-self may command us.

Spiritually supercharged times like Ramadan offers us an opportunity to work upon the shadows of our self. Thus preparation of Ramadan has a lot to do with recognizing such shadows and giving them the spiritual treatment they deserves, and inshaAllah by the help of Allah we may come out a better person as we swim through Ramadan.

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Rumi on Fasting Month of Ramadan

Celebrate!
The month of Ramadan has come.
Pleasant journey to the one
Who is the company of the fasting.
I climbed the roof to see the Moon,
Because I really missed fasting
By heart and soul.
I lost my hat while looking at the Moon.
the Sultan of Ramadan made me drunk.
O Muslims, I have been drunk
since that day I lost my mind.
What a beautiful fortune Ramadan has.
What a wonderful glory.
There is another secret moon
Besides this one.
He is hiding in the tent of Ramadan
Like a Turk.
Anyone who comes
To the harvest of fasting in this month
Finds the way to this Moon.
Whoever makes his face
Resemble pale satin
Wears the silk clothes of fasting.
Prayers will be accepted in this month.
Sighs of the one fasting pierce the sky.
The person who sits patiently
At the bottom of Ramadan’s well
Owns the love of Egypt, like Joseph.
O the word which eats the Sahur Meal,
Be silent so that anyone
Who knows Ramadan will enjoy fasting.

When you fast,
good habits gather like friends who want to help.
Fasting is Solomon’s ring. Don’t give it
to some illusions and lose your power,
but even if you’ve lost all will and control,
they come back when you fast,
like soldiers appearing out of the ground,
pennants flying above them.
A table descends to your tents,
like Jesus’ Table.
Expect to see it, when you fast,
this Table spread with other food,
better than the broth of cabbages.
There’s hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness.
We are lutes, no more, no less.When you’re full of food and drink, Satan sits
where your spirit should,
an ugly metal statue in place of the Kaaba.
If the brain and belly are burning clean with fasting,
every moment a new song comes out of the fire.
The fog clears, and new energy makes you
run up the steps in front of you.
Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.
Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen.
Rumi.