From longest night to quiet observance: how the winter solstice is marked across the MENA region

The winter solstice fell across the Middle East on 21 December, marking the shortest day of the year.

The New Arab Staff
21 December, 2025

From this point on, daylight hours gradually begin to lengthen again, leading towards the spring equinox in March [Getty]

Across the Middle East and North Africa, Sunday 21 December marked the winter solstice, the astronomical moment when the Northern Hemisphere experiences its shortest day and longest night of the year.

The phenomenon marks the official start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, as the Earth's axis tilts away from the sun and sunlight falls directly on the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees south latitude.

From this point on, daylight hours gradually begin to lengthen again, leading towards the spring equinox in March.
Longest night across the Arab world

In much of the Arab world, the solstice is noted primarily as a scientific and seasonal milestone rather than a cultural one. Media outlets and meteorological or astronomical bodies across the Gulf and wider region highlighted Sunday as the day of the shortest daylight hours and the longest night of the year.
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In Qatar, the Qatar Calendar House announced that the winter solstice occurred at 6:04 pm local time, coinciding with the sun's apparent alignment over the Tropic of Capricorn.

Astronomical experts said the day had marked the shortest daylight hours of the year in the country, with the sun appearing at its lowest noon elevation and casting the longest shadows.

Similar explanations were shared in Saudi Arabia, where climate expert Abdullah Al Misnad said winter officially began in the evening hours, lasting around 89 days. He noted that all locations north of the equator experience their shortest day at this time, regardless of temperature fluctuations, which are governed by atmospheric conditions rather than astronomy.

In Egypt, astronomers described the solstice as the peak of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, with daylight lasting around 10 hours compared to roughly 14 hours of night. The sun’s low arc across the sky means shadows reach their greatest length at midday.
Cultural silence in the Gulf

Despite this widespread astronomical awareness, Gulf countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE do not traditionally mark the winter solstice with festivals or rituals.

Cultural calendars in the Gulf are centred on Islamic lunar events such as Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, as well as national days. Pre-Islamic seasonal observances linked to solar cycles were largely replaced after the spread of Islam, leaving the solstice without deep cultural roots in Arab or Bedouin traditions.

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Any modern acknowledgement tends to be educational rather than celebratory, appearing in science columns, weather apps or social media posts by observatories and astronomy enthusiasts.

In cities such as Dubai or Doha, hotels or expat communities may occasionally reference the solstice, but it is not marked as a shared public or family tradition.
Yalda night and the Persian cultural sphere

Further east, however, the longest night carries powerful cultural meaning. In Iran and across parts of the wider Persian cultural world, the winter solstice is marked by Shab-e Yalda, an ancient celebration dating back more than two thousand years.

Yalda, whose name is derived from a Syriac word meaning "birth", symbolises the rebirth of the sun and the victory of light over darkness as days begin to lengthen.

Families gather on the solstice night to stay awake together, sharing food, poetry and stories until after midnight or dawn.

The celebration is deeply rooted in pre-Islamic Iranian traditions, including Zoroastrian and Mithraic beliefs, and remains a central cultural event in Iran today.

Rituals often include reading poetry by Hafez, storytelling from classical texts such as the Shahnameh, and eating symbolic red fruits such as pomegranates and watermelon, representing life, warmth and the promise of brighter days.

hab-e Yalda is also observed in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, parts of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, and among Kurdish communities, reflecting the reach of Persianate culture across the region.