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Shab in farsi means night, and yaldā meaning birth or renewal refers to the longest night of the year- the winter solstice, which occurs on December 21st. It is the longest, darkest night and many cultures have various types of celebrations on this night.
According to historians, the Persians adopted this annual renewal festival from Babylonians and incorporated it into the rituals of Zoroastrian, the Persian religion of the time.
The last day of the month “Azar”, or the 9th month of Persian calendar, is the longest night of the year, after which days become longer and nights shorter.
In ancient Persia, this change symbolized the victory of sun, or light over the darkness.
The tradition of the Yalda Night celebration, or in Persian, Shab-e Chelleh, is shared by many Central Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan as well as some Caucasian states such as Azerbaijan and Armenia.
This cherished Persian tradition symbolizes hope and renewal—a reminder that even the darkest nights give way to light.
People gather with family and friends, to eat, and to express joy in an act of defiance to the darkness and the cold.
Shab-e Yalda, in the Persian culture is a celebration of hope over despair, light over darkness, joy over sadness. People do that, for example in Iran, by eating delicious foods, especially pomegranate – anar, by listening to music, poetry and telling stories.
On Shab-e Yalda, the most common foods to serve are pomegranates, nuts and dried fruits, watermelon, āsh and fesenjoon, āsh being a thick, hearty soup. Fesenjoon is a Persian stew made with pomegranate seeds and pomegranate juice and walnuts.
Watermelon and pomegranate represent the color of dawn, or the beginning of the end of night and darkness.
Another central part of the yalda celebration is the reading out loud of poetry- specifically doing ‘fāl-é hāfez‘. This is a tradition in which one “reads” her or his fortune by randomly choosing a poem from a book of Hafez poetry. Whichever poem one chooses, determines one’s fate for the time to come.
more on shabe yalda here https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/dining/yalda-winter-solstice-pomegranate.html
Carmen Gavrila is a senior correspondent for the Romanian Public Radio focusing on Middle East and the EU
