On Sunday, 21/12/2025, the winter solstice occurs, marking the birth of the winter season and the onset of the shortest day of the year, with ten hours and three minutes of daytime and the longest night of the year.
However, according to folk traditions, the period known as "Almurabba'aniyyah of winter" has a fixed date, starting every year on December 23 and ending on January 31, lasting forty days: Nine days of December and thirty-one days of January.
The winter season is divided into two parts:
Almurabba’aniyyah: Its name indicates the number of its days, namely forty days.
Alkhamaseeniyyah: Its duration can also be inferred from its name, i.e., fifty days, and is also known as the period of "Sahuat."
The Difference Between Solstice and Equinox
Solstice: Occurs in both winter and summer, where the length of the night differs from the daytime.
Equinox: Occurs in spring and fall, where the duration of night equals the daytime.
In equatorial countries, night and day are equal throughout the year regardless of the season, which is why it is named the equator.
Almurabba'aniyyah in Folk Tradition
From our folk sayings and ancestors' tales in the Levant about Almurabba'aniyyah, it was stated:
"Either it settles or messes up."
"Either the sun burns or the rain floods."
And they said: "Lord, save us from the illness of Almurabba’aniyyah."
The Almurabba'aniyyah of winter is considered the coldest of the year, marking the beginning of the rainfall and snowfall season, with its rains accounting for about 30% of the seasonal rainfall average.
The Colder Months in Folk Tradition
The colder months (December and January) are symbols of harsh cold in folk traditions, and many proverbs and wisdoms related to preparing for the winter season revolve around them.
December (Kanoon al-Awwal) is popularly known as “the barren month,” when trees shed their leaves. It is the twelfth month of the year according to Syriac names used in the Eastern Arab world.
January (Kanoon al-Thaney): Known as “the deaf,” describing the severity of its cold that “deafens ears.” It is the first month of the year and December was sometimes referred to as “Little Kanoon,” and January as “Big Kanoon.”
The Origin of Names, Linguistic Origin and Meaning:
"Kin" meaning to settle:
Researchers suggest the name is derived from the root “kin,” meaning stable and settled. The months were named so because people would stay in their homes, avoiding work in the fields due to the severe cold.
"Kanoon" (the stove):
The word “kanoon” in Syriac means the stove or heater, referred to as such to denote the peak need for heating in the heart of winter. In December, one stove is used, while in January, two stoves are necessary due to the extreme cold.
Kanoon as a traditional tool:
The traditional kanoon is made from clay or stone in rural areas and from metal in urban areas, using wood or coal for fuel, and the name “kanoon” is still alive in some Arab regions to describe traditional cooking and barbecue stoves.
The Farmers in the Levant:
Meteorology is a modern science not older than 150 years, but the folk traditions of the ancestors span hundreds of years.
Due to the climatic and environmental conditions in the Levant, farmers divided the agricultural year into seasons and periods based on the movement of the sun, moon, and the appearance of stars.
The Levant was where the first human civilizations emerged, releasing the first alphabet into the ancient world. It was also where the annual calendar linked to Earth's motion around the sun and the moon was established, also linked to the appearance of stars and helping humans devise a time calendar beneficial for knowing agricultural times. The Syriac calendar established in the Levant is considered the world's oldest calendar.
The proliferation of knowledge, writing, and arithmetic in the Levant played a significant role in establishing precise seasonal divisions, determined by date and time to the extent that astronomers were consulted from the East when setting the ancient Roman calendar.
It is noteworthy that seasonal climate change affects various aspects of our lives, from food and clothing to health and mood.
Al-Azhari said:
The year is four seasons, each season comprising three months: spring (March, April, May), summer (June, July, August), autumn (September, October, November), winter (December, January, February).
Agricultural Season Divisions:
The farmers in the Levant divided the year into six seasons:
- Tilling and planting grains – November
- Rainy season – The colder months
- Spring planting – March, April, May
- Wheat and barley harvest – June, July
- Picking grapes and figs – August, September
- Olive season – October and November
Folk Proverbs and Tales of The Colder Months:
Amon the proverbs of the colder months:
"A cloud in December frightens a fool"
"Nothing is clearer than a moon in October, nor darker than a cloud in December"
"In December, stay home, stock up on wood and oil"
"Between the colder months and February, don't stay at your neighbor's"
"The cold of the colder months is harsher than the cuts of knives"
"A cloud in December frightens a fool"
And they said "Fools wed in the colder months"
"The sun in December is like the plague"
"In December, stay put and pity the camel"
December as a Family Gathering:
December in folk tradition is the “winter gathering,” where the family comes together around the stove seeking warmth, and hearts attune to the warmth of conversation and discourse before the ears do.
There, tales are told, stories and narratives are revisited, and December is linked to the rituals of coffee and tea, breakfasts of bread with oil and Za'atar, roasted chestnuts, corn, and potatoes.
The father was the pulsating radio of the house, everyone stretched their hands to the stove and listened to the leader's words, and the tea on the stove from the mother's hand was a history of unforgettable tenderness.
December was not just a heating stove; it was a heritage of love that gathered the family around one hearth. We did not know that a day would come when we would wish for that warm gathering to come together again new through the stories of December.
21 / 12 / 2025
✍️By: Saad Bukhari
References:
Folk traditions in the Levant
Previous articles – Saad Bukhari
Aspects of folk tales – A. Mahmoud Hussein Al-Shureida, a researcher at the Ajloun Encyclopedia
Arab Weather Site – A. Muhammad Al-Shaker
Director of Meteorology Department – A. Raed Al-Khattab
President of the Jordanian Astronomical Society – Dr. Ammar Al-Sakaji
#By_Saad_Bukhari #Kanoon #Almurabba'aniyyah #Winter #Forty_days_of_winter #Folk_Tradition #Levant #Jordan #Weather
