(CNN) -- For Christians, the wild celebrations of Mardi Gras come before the solemnity of Lent, a last chance to celebrate before the abstinence marking the 40 days to Good Friday and Easter. Muslims do it the other way around. First comes the month of daytime fasting during Ramadan, then the eruption of joy called Eid al-Fitr, marked with gift-giving, new clothes, donations to the poor, feasting and festivities. But as the sighting of a crescent moon officially marked the beginning of Eid on Tuesday, feelings are decidedly mixed for many Muslims. There's joy tempered with concern on Tahrir Square in Egypt, which saw a successful revolution topple President Hosni Mubarak this year. And there's optimism in Libya, where 42 years of rule by Moammar Gadhafi seem to be coming to an end.
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Tuesday marks the first Eid al-Fitr since the Arab Spring
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Egyptians put a revolutionary twist on the traditional Eid greeting, marking the toppling of Hosni Mubarak
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Many in Libya celebrate the festival as never before and hope the rest of the Arab world will follow suit
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Syrians and Pakistanis are much more pessimistic in the face of violence and disasters
While Libyans mourned those who died battling the regime of @placeholder, a sense of hope permeated throughout.