to Mu'alla b. Khunays when he came to visit him for Nayruz, 'Do you know what this day is?' to which he replied, may I be your ransom, this is a day to which the Persians attach great importance and in which they give each other gifts.' So Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, 'By the Ancient House in Makkah! That is only because of a much older reason which I will explain to you so that you may understand ... O Mu'alla, verily the day of Nayruz is the day when Allah took the servants' covenants from them that they would worship Him and that they would not associate anything with Him, and that they would believe in His prophets and His divine proofs, and that they would believe in the Imams (AS). This is also the day when the sun rose for the first time ... Every day of Nayruz is a day when we await the Relief [the coming of the Awaited Saviour], for verily it is one of our special days and one of the days of our shi'a. The Persians have kept its significance whereas you have lost it...This is the first day of the Persians' new year, and they have managed to stay alive since having been only thirty thousand in number. The pouring of water on the day of Nayruz has become a practice...'