Yalda: the longest night

Yalda is the night of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. In Iran it is also called Shab-e Chelleh, “the night of forty”, because it begins a forty-day period of winter. Families gather at the home of an elder and stay up late.

What happens

The table is full of things that are red or sweet or that keep well through winter. Pomegranates and watermelon are the most typical, along with nuts, dried fruit and sweets. The red colour is often said to stand for dawn and for life, though the explanations vary.

After dinner, the evening is for stories and poetry. Many families take down a copy of the poems of Hafez, make a wish, open the book at random and read the poem they find, a custom called fal-e Hafez. It is treated as a game and a tradition rather than as serious prediction.

Origins

The idea that the longest night, with the sun at its weakest, needs a vigil until the light returns is widespread in the world. Many authors connect Yalda with older Iranian practice around the solstice.

The word yalda itself is said to come from a Syriac word for “birth”, and the name may have entered Persian through contact with Christian communities in the Sasanian period. This is one of the points on which specialists disagree.

A night for company

What families describe about Yalda is the gathering itself: people of several generations in one room, with food, laughter and verse. For Iranians living far from home, it is one of the most important days of the year for being together.