Persia, a Museum of Materials · Hall 12 · Mirrors & Words · Yalda
Stay up through the longest night
On Yalda, the last night of autumn in the Iranian calendar, families stay up together through the longest night of the year, with pomegranates, watermelon and the poems of Hafez. In 2026 Yalda falls on Monday 21 December. See how long your night will be, then make a wish and open the Divan.
Tehran
14 h 16 minof night
Sunset 16:55Sunrise 07:10
The longest night of the year here
21 Dec 2026 · Yalda
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Make a wish in silence, then press the button.
Open the Divan of Hafez
On Yalda many families take out the Divan of Hafez, the poet of Shiraz who died in 1390. Someone makes a silent wish, the book is opened at random, and the ghazal that appears is read aloud as an answer. It is called a fal.
Make a wish in silence, then press the button.
A fal is a custom, not a forecast. The couplets are from the Divan of Hafez as given on Ganjoor (after the Ghazvini–Ghani edition); the English is our own plain rendering. Your browser picks one of fifteen ghazals at random.
Why “Yalda”?
Yalda is a Syriac word meaning “birth”. Iranians are thought to have taken it from Syriac-speaking Christians who lived in Parthian and Sasanian Iran, for whom it named the birth of Christ. For Iranians it became the birth of the sun: after this night the days start to grow longer.
The night of Chelleh
Yalda is also called Shab-e Chelleh, the night of the fortieth. Chelleh is the first forty days of the three months of winter, and this night opens it. The two names have long been used for the same night.
Red fruit and a warm korsi
Families gather at the house of the eldest, often round a korsi, a low heated table covered with a quilt. Pomegranates and watermelon are served, their red said to stand for the glow of dawn, with nuts and dried fruit, stories and Hafez, until after midnight.
Special · just before the finale
Still alive today
Many families still open the Divan of Hafez for a fal on Yalda night, and outside his tomb in Shiraz you may find a lovebird that will pick a poem for you from a pile of envelopes.
Seal of YaldaCollected
Questions people ask
When is Yalda 2026?
On the evening of Monday 21 December 2026, the night between 30 Azar and 1 Dey 1405 in the Iranian calendar. The winter solstice itself falls at about 20:50 UTC that evening, just after midnight in Iran.
Why is it the longest night?
The Earth’s axis is tilted. Around 21 December the northern half leans furthest from the sun, so the sun rises late, stays low and sets early. The further north you are, the longer the night.
Is it the longest night everywhere?
Only north of the equator. In the southern hemisphere it is the shortest night of the year; their longest comes in June. North of the Arctic Circle the sun does not rise at all.
What is a fal-e Hafez?
A way of asking the Divan of Hafez a question: you make a wish, open the book at random and read the ghazal on that page as an answer. It is done on Yalda, at Nowruz, and on ordinary days too.
Is Yalda on the UNESCO list?
Yes. In December 2022 UNESCO inscribed Yalda on its lists of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, as a tradition shared by Iran and Afghanistan.
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Sources: Wikipedia, “Yalda Night” and “Hafez”; UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage lists (2022); the Divan of Hafez on Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), after the edition of Ghazvini and Ghani.
Sunrise and sunset: a standard solar-position formula, computed in your browser. English renderings of Hafez: Bridge Labs.
Bridge Labs is a project of Bridge HQ Ltd. © 2026 Bridge HQ Ltd.