What is on the haft-sin table?

Seven symbolic items beginning with the Persian letter sin — sprouts for rebirth, garlic for health, apple for beauty, sumac, vinegar, sweet samanu for strength and senjed — usually alongside a mirror, candles, painted eggs and often a goldfish.

Uncle Nowruz, the white-bearded elder of Persian folklore who arrives with the spring bringing gifts to children. In the tale he is bound to Nane Sarma, Grandmother Frost, who always falls asleep just before he arrives.

Nowruz Letter for Kids from Amu Nowruz

Q: What is Nowruz?

The Persian new year, falling at the March equinox, celebrated for more than three thousand years across Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Kurdish regions and the diaspora. It is cultural rather than religious and is kept by people of many faiths.

The story

Amu Nowruz — Uncle Nowruz — is a white-bearded elder who appears once a year at the turn of spring, bringing gifts to children. In the folk tale he is bound to Nane Sarma, Grandmother Frost, who waits for him all year and always falls asleep just before he arrives, so the two never quite meet. It is a gentle, melancholy story that Iranian children know well.

Where it actually comes from

Nowruz — “new day” — marks the March equinox and has been celebrated for over three thousand years, with roots in Zoroastrian Persia. It is observed across Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Kurdish regions and the wider diaspora, by people of many faiths and none, and was inscribed by UNESCO on its list of intangible cultural heritage. The year turns at the precise astronomical moment of the equinox, and families gather at that minute. The haft-sin table holds seven items beginning with the Persian letter sin, each symbolic: sabzeh (sprouts, rebirth), samanu (sweet pudding, strength), senjed, seer (garlic, health), seeb (apple, beauty), somāq and serkeh. Chaharshanbe Suri, the fire-jumping festival, precedes it; Sizdah Bedar, a day outdoors, closes the thirteen-day celebration.

What it does for a child

Nowruz gives children a new year they can actually feel, because it is tied to something observable — the light changing, the ground thawing — rather than to a number on a calendar in midwinter. The haft-sin is also unusually good for small children: every object on the table means one thing, which makes the whole festival learnable by touch. And the sabzeh, grown over weeks on a windowsill, is a patient, visible demonstration of care given long before it is noticed.

The Visitor Who Comes With Spring

A story to read aloud · about 4 minutes

Far away, in the land of Iran, people tell a story on the longest night of winter. It is the story of two old friends who have never quite met.

The first is Nane Sarma. Her name means something like Granny Frost. She is the winter. She wears a shawl as white as snow, and wherever she walks, the ponds freeze and the branches glitter with ice.

The second is Amu Nowruz, Uncle New Day. He has a long white beard, a tall felt hat and a coat the color of new leaves. He walks with a cane made from a branch of blossoms. And wherever he goes, spring follows behind him.

Every year, as winter grows old, Nane Sarma begins to get ready for his visit. She sweeps every corner of her little house. She shakes out the rugs and washes the windows until they shine. And then she sets the most beautiful table in the world. It is called the haft-sin, the table of seven things, and each one has a meaning.

She sets out a dish of green sprouts, sabzeh, for new growth. She sets out samanu, a sweet wheat pudding, for strength. She adds dried senjed berries for love, garlic for good health and a red apple for beauty. She adds a sprinkle of sumac, the color of sunrise, and a little vinegar, for patience. Then she puts out a mirror, colored eggs, a candle, and a bowl of water with a tiny goldfish swimming round and round.

When everything is ready, Nane Sarma sits down beside the table to wait.

She waits, and she waits. The fire crackles. The candle flickers. The goldfish swims. The house is so warm and so peaceful, and she has worked so hard. Slowly, slowly, her eyes grow heavy. Her head nods. And just before Amu Nowruz arrives, Nane Sarma falls fast asleep.

The door opens, very softly. In comes Amu Nowruz, with the smell of rain and blossoms on his coat. He sees the beautiful table. He sees his friend asleep in her chair, and he smiles. He does not have the heart to wake her.

So he pours himself a little cup of tea. He warms his hands by the fire. And before he goes, he tucks a bunch of violets gently into her sleeping hands.

When Nane Sarma wakes up, the room smells of spring. The ice outside is melting. The birds are singing. And in her hands are fresh purple violets. She knows he has come and gone again. So she wraps her white shawl around her and walks away, smiling, to rest until next year. And spring fills the whole land.

People say this is the story of the New Day, Nowruz. It comes on the very first day of spring. Long ago, the old poet Ferdowsi told that a king named Jamshid rose up into the sky on a shining throne, and the people were so amazed that they called that day the New Day, and they have celebrated it ever since.

Today, families in Iran and in many countries around the world still set out a haft-sin table for Nowruz. They clean their houses, put on new clothes, and visit everyone they love. And children listen hard on the night before, hoping to hear the soft tap of a blossom cane at the door.

So when spring comes, look for the first violets. They mean Amu Nowruz has passed by, and a brand-new year has begun.

Nowruz mobarak! Happy New Day!

An original Keepers story, grounded in recorded folk custom.