What it means
سیزدهبهدر (sizdah-be-dar) is a compound of three native Persian words: سیزده (sizdah, “thirteen”), به (be, “toward”), and در (dar, “door, outdoors, or valley”). The Dehkhoda dictionary defines در here as “valley and plain,” giving the phrase the sense of “heading outdoors on the thirteenth.” The festival falls on the 13th of Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian calendar, which is the 13th day after Nowruz and the last official day of the Persian New Year holiday period. It is officially called روز طبیعت (ruz-e tabi’at), Nature Day, in the Iranian public calendar.
How to use it
- سیزدهبهدر کجا میری؟ (sizdah-be-dar kojâ miri?) “Where are you going for Sizdah Bedar?”
- سبزهرو توی رودخونه انداختیم. (sabze ro tuye rudkhune andâkhtim.) “We threw the sprouts into the river.”
- سیزدهبهدر خونه موندن نحسه. (sizdah-be-dar khune mundan nahse.) “Staying home on Sizdah Bedar is bad luck.”
- سبزهام رو گره زدم که شوهر پیدا کنم. (sabze-am ro gere zadam ke showhar peydâ konam.) “I tied a knot in my sprouts to wish for a husband.”
Cultural note
On Sizdah Bedar, Iranians leave their homes for parks, riversides, and green spaces because staying indoors on the 13th is considered unlucky. The centerpiece tradition is tying the stems of the Haft-Sin sabze (sprouted wheat or lentils) into a knot and throwing it into flowing water, a gesture that symbolizes releasing misfortune and, for young unmarried women, wishing for a partner before next Nowruz. According to scholars, documented celebrations of the 13th of Farvardin do not appear in historical records before the Qajar era, though popular belief holds the custom to be ancient. The day is a national public holiday in Iran.