SAFAR –RABI‘ I december SAFAR –RABI‘ I december

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9 29 10 30 11 31 1232 13 33 14 34 15 35 9 29 10 30 11 31 1232 13 33 14 34 15 35 SWEETS 2015 GREGORIAN AND 1436 – 1437 HIJRI CALENDARS aramcoworld.com SWEETS PATTERNS OF MOON, Written by Rachel Laudan PATTERNS OF SUN

The love of sweetness goes back deep into the mists of history. Humans found sweetness Written by Pa ul Lunde in the saps that ran in plants, in fruits such as the dates prized by the desert Arabs, and The Hijri calendar above all in honey. In Antiquity, doctors from the Mediterranean to praised golden In 638 CE, six years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, ’s second caliph, honey as a panacea. It neither soured nor putrefied, and it conveyed this magic to other ‘Umar, recognized the necessity of a calendar to govern the affairs of Muslims. This was foodstuffs, preserving even perishable fruits from rotting. They described it as warm and first of all a practical matter. Correspondence with military and civilian officials in the moist, a perfect match for the temperament of the human body in the humoral physi- newly conquered lands had to be dated. But ology that ruled from Antiquity until the 17th century. Used in salves, medications and Persia used a different calendar from , sweet confections, honey was both food and medicine. Over the centuries, imperial cooks where the caliphate was based; Egypt used “It is he who made the in Babylonia, Rome and the successive Persian Empires created sweets—honey and but- sun to be a shining glory, yet another. Each of these calendars had a ter mixed with toasted flours, fruits, seeds or nuts; leavened doughs drenched in syrup; and the moon to be a different starting point, or epoch. The Sasa- smooth, starch-thickened puddings—all of which were gastronomic triumphs, aids to light (of beauty), and nids, the ruling dynasty of Persia, used June moral and physical well-being, and status symbols for the powerful. measured out stages for 16, 632 CE, the date of the accession of the Heirs to this early partiality to sweetness, her, that ye might know last Sasanid monarch, Yazdagird III. Syria, Muslim courts, cooks and chemists of the ninth, the number of years and “Eat of the good which until the Muslim conquest was part the count (of time).” 10th and 11th centuries took the sweet tradition things that We have of the Byzantine Empire, used a form of the to an entirely new level, in large part due to a —Qur‘an 10:5 (English by Yusuf Ali) provided for you, and Roman “Julian” calendar, with an epoch of be grateful to God, if new mastery of sugar refining and confectionery. October 1, 312 BCE. Egypt used the Coptic it is Him ye worship.” Processed from the sap of the sugarcane, a tall, calendar, with an epoch of August 29, 284 CE. Although all were solar calendars, and tough grass native to Indonesia, sugar had been —Qur‘an 2:172 (English by Yusuf Ali) hence geared to the seasons and containing 365 days, each also had a different system for prepared in India as early as the third century periodically adding days to compensate for the fact that the true length of the solar year is BCE and exported to Rome as a precious spice. In not 365 but 365.2422 days. Islamic times, sugarcane was grown in Persia and Central Asia, then in Egypt, and then In pre-Islamic Arabia, various other systems of measuring time had been used. In South as far afield as al-Andalus (southern Iberia) and Zanzibar—wherever the climate permit- Arabia, some calendars apparently were lunar, while others were lunisolar, using months ted. The processes from sugar refining to confectionery were among the most advanced based on the phases of the moon but intercalating days outside the lunar cycle to synchro- technologies of the day, requiring abundant energy, elaborate equipment and great skill. nize the calendar with the seasons. On the eve of Islam, the Himyarites appear to have The cane was crushed by millstones and pressed, the viscous green sap was concentrated used a calendar based on the Julian form, but with an epoch of 110 BCE. In central Arabia, by boiling, and the crystallizing syrup was poured into conical pots where hard sugar the course of the year was charted by the position of the stars relative to the horizon at formed as the moisture dripped out. sunset or sunrise, dividing the ecliptic into 28 equal parts corresponding to the location Of the several grades, crystalline white sugar was the finest, and the most expensive. of the moon on each successive night of the month. The names of the months in that cal- Rock candy sparkled like diamonds; smaller crystals glinted in the light when sprinkled endar have continued in the Islamic calendar to this day and would seem to indicate that, over food. Unlike honey, sugar added neither aroma nor color, and thus preserves of before Islam, some sort of lunisolar calendar was in use, though it is not known to have fruit retained their flavor, fruit sherbets took on tints of rose, green or orange, and sweet had an epoch other than memorable local events. drinks of starch or ground nuts stayed dazzling white. All could be scented with rose pet- There were two other reasons ‘Umar rejected existing solar calendars. The Qur’an, in als and orange blossoms. Confectioners discovered that when boiled for varying lengths Chapter 10, Verse 5, states that time should be reckoned by the moon. Not only that, cal- of time and then cooled, sugar became successively clear and pliable, then transparent endars used by the Persians, Syrians and Egyptians were identified with other religions and and hard, and then brown aromatic caramel, opening a myriad of culinary possibilities. cultures. He therefore decided to create a calendar specifically for the Muslim community. The Kitab-al-Tabikh (Book of Dishes), compiled by Ibn Sayyan al-Warraq at the end It would be lunar, and it would have 12 months, each with 29 or 30 days. of the 10th century as a record of the of the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad and his This gives the lunar year 354 days, 11 days fewer than the solar year. ‘Umar chose as the courtiers, gave 90 recipes for sweets, including pulled sugar, a precursor of , epoch for the new Muslim calendar the hijra, the emigration of the Prophet Muhammad and syrup-soaked pastry fritters, pancakes filled with nuts and clotted cream, and a pudding 70 Muslims from Makkah to Madinah, where Muslims first attained religious and political enriched with the drippings that fell from a roasting chicken. autonomy. The hijra thus occurred on 1 Muharram of the year 1 according to the Islamic cal- Sweets, far beyond the reach of ordinary people, were emulated in palaces and mansions endar, which was named “hijri” after its epoch. (This date corresponds to July 16, 622 CE, on in the Central Asian cities of Samarkand, and Merv. They were enjoyed in the Indian sultanates, and the miniatures in the early 16th-century Book of Delights, commis- the Gregorian calendar.) Today in the West, it is customary, when writing hijri dates, to use the sioned by the ruler of the Islamic state of Malwa in central India, showed women preparing abbreviation AH, which stands for the Latin anno hegirae, “year of the hijra.” sherbets, halvah and rosewater. They were prepared in Islamic states in southern Italy, Sicily, Because the Islamic lunar calendar is 11 days shorter than the solar, it is therefore not Spain and Portugal (al-Andalus), whence they passed to Catholic nuns and confectioners’ synchronized to the seasons. Its festivals, which fall on the same days of the same lunar guilds that in the 16th and 17th centuries transferred the techniques through their networks in months each year, make the round of the seasons every 33 solar years. This 11-day differ- Europe and the Americas as well as east to Goa, Macao, Manila and even Japan. ence between the lunar and the solar year accounts for the difficulty of converting dates A second creative burst in Islamic sweet-making came in the 16th through the 18th from one system to the other. centuries with the Mughal, the Safavid and particularly the Ottoman Empires. Paper-thin crackling pastries were soaked in syrup or honey. Brightly colored sugar-candy figures of The Gregorian calendar exotic animals, such as giraffes and elephants, or structures such as castles and fountains The early calendar of the Roman Empire was lunisolar, containing 355 days divided into were carried by bearers or by wheeled carts on public occasions as tangible symbols of 12 months beginning on January 1. To keep it more or less in accord with the actual solar the vast wealth commanded by the sultan. In cafés in Istanbul and Cairo, men sipped year, a month was added every two years. The system for doing so was complex, and sweetened coffee, from whence the practice spread to Vienna and to the rest of Europe. cumulative errors gradually misaligned it with the seasons. By 46 BCE, it was some three Ice cream and were added to the list of delicacies in the 18th century. Emi- months out of alignment, and Julius Caesar oversaw its reform. Consulting Greek astron- grants who left the region in the 19th and 20th centuries now prepare in Mexico omers in Alexandria, he created a solar calendar in which one day was added to February City, Berlin and London, and Turkish delight in San Francisco and Melbourne. every fourth year, effectively compensating for the solar year’s length of 365.2422 days. In the meantime, northern European sweets had taken a different direction. North- This Julian calendar was used throughout Europe until 1582 CE. ern Europeans who had got wind of these delicious, healthful luxuries from travelers In the Middle Ages, the Christian liturgical calendar was grafted onto the Julian one, and established sugar plantations, first in Cyprus in the Middle Ages, and then in the Atlantic the computation of lunar festivals like Easter, which falls on the first Sunday after the first full Islands and the Caribbean in the 16th and 17th centuries. They learned the tricks of pre- moon after the spring equinox, exercised some of the best minds in Christendom. The use of paring jams, jellies, marzipan and fritters from Portuguese and Spanish cooks and from the epoch 1 CE dates from the sixth century, but did not become common until the 10th. the confectionery manuals published from the mid-16th century on. Between the 16th The Julian year was nonetheless 11 minutes and 14 seconds too long. By the early 16th and the 19th centuries, sugar production soared as Europeans opened new plantations, century, due to the accumulated error, the spring equinox was falling on March 11 rather introduced mass-production machinery and then learned how to extract sugar from a than where it should, on March 21. Copernicus, Christophorus Clavius and the physician new source: beets. For the first time, sugar became widely affordable. What were once Aloysius Lilius provided the calculations, and in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII ordered that exotic confections became snacks and everyday candies for children. Sweetness was dif- Thursday, October 4, 1582, would be followed by Friday, October 15, 1582. Most Cath- fused through cakes instead of concentrated in jolts of deliciousness, and by the late 20th olic countries accepted the new “Gregorian” calendar, but it was not adopted in England century, far from praising sugar, doctors condemned it, so it was gradually demoted to a and the Americas until the 18th century. Its use is now almost universal worldwide. The mere bearer of empty calories. Gregorian year is nonetheless 25.96 seconds ahead of the solar year, which by the year Yet in Islamic lands sweets continue to be a source of enchantment and social ritual, served 4909 will add up to an extra day. at birth, marriage and death, as well as at the great events of the religious year, the holy month of Ramadan, ‘Id al-Fitr and ‘Id al-Adha. As a sign of hospitality, a touchstone of culture, a Paul Lunde ([email protected]) is a senior research associate with the Civilizations in path to well-being and a product of a long and proud tradition, sweets are cherished. Contact Project at Cambridge University. His most recent publication, with co-author Caroline Stone, is Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North (Penguin, 2012). He lives in Seville and Cambridge, England. Rachel Laudan ([email protected]) is a visiting scholar in the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History (University of California Press, 2013). CONVERTING DATES

The following equations convert roughly from Gregorian to hijri and vice versa. On the cover: Mamoul (karabij or kurabiye in Turkey; klaysha However, the results can be slightly misleading: They tell you only the year in in Iraq) are date- or nut-stuffed pastries in a shortbread dough which the other calendar’s year begins. For example, 2015 Gregorian begins in

aramcoworld.com of wheat flour, sugar and fat (now usually butter). Descriptions Rabi al-Awwal, the third month of hijri 1436, and ends in that same month hijri 1437. date back to cookbooks of the Middle Ages, and mamoul are among the traditional sweet offerings for the Ramadan iftar Gregorian year = Hijri year = (nighttime meal) in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula. Made at home or commercially, they are decorated by hand or, here, by [(32 x Hijri year) ÷ 33] + 622 [(Gregorian year – 622) x 33] ÷ 32 SWEETS pressing into an incised wooden mold. Photo by Sawsan Abu Farha 2015 GREGORIAN AND 1436 – 1437 HIJRI CALENDARS (chefindisguise.com). Paul Lunde(Online ([email protected])calculators are available at severalis a senior searchable research sources associate including with the Civilizations in Con- Credits: Captions by Rachel Laudan. Historical notes by Robert W. tact Projectwww.rabiah.com/convert/ at Cambridge University. and www.ori.unizh.ch/hegira.html.) His most recent publication, with co-author Caroline Stone, Lebling and Alva Robinson. Photo research and editing by Mary Kathyrn Flores. Edited by Richard is Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North (Penguin, 2012). He lives Doughty. Design by Graphic Engine. Printed by RRDonnelley/Wetmore. in Seville and Cambridge, England.

RABI‘ I 1436 – RABI‘ II – RABI‘ II JANUARY JUMADA I FEBRUARY

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India’s Mughal Geographer Ibn 8000-year-old cave Empire enters Jubayr leaves Indonesian author Sultanate of Brunei paintings found in classical age under Granada for Pramoedya Ananta independence 1983 Egypt 1971 Akbar 1556 Makkah 1183 Toer born 1925 13 4 14 5 15 6 16 7 17 8 18 9 19 10 19 8 20 9 21 10 22 11 23 12 24 13 25 14

Vasily Radlov, Egypt begins Chagatai poet Ali- Hadji Ali of US Army King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Tunisian cultural Ibn Saud declared Russian Turkologist, Aswan High Dam Shir Nava’I born in Camel Corps arrives meets Pres. pioneer Ali Douagi King of Hijaz 1926 born 1909 born 1837 construction 1960 Herat 1441 in Texas 1856 Roosevelt 1945 20 11 21 12 22 13 23 14 24 15 25 16 26 17 26 15 27 16 28 17 29 18 30 19 1 20 2 21

Bangladesh Language Cornerstone is laid ‘Abd al-’Aziz Al Sa’ud, ‘Abd al-Rahman III Existentialist Abdel First air crossing Al-Musta’sim, last Day celebrates at Washington, D.C., founder of Saudi becomes caliph of Rah-man Badawi over the Sahara Abbasid caliph, preservation of Bangla Islamic Center 1949 Arabia, born 1876 al-Andalus 929 born 1917 1920 dies 1258 (Bengali) 27 18 28 19 29 20 1 21 2 22 3 23 4 24 3 22 4 23 5 24 6 25 7 26 8 27 9 28

Afsharid Dynasty of Caliph ‘Umar Istiqlal Mosque Al-Shafi’i, Islamic Prophet Muhammad Traveler Ibn Battuta Khorasan founded introduces Islamic opens in Jakarta, jurist, born 820 born in Makkah 570 born in Tangier 1304 1736 calendar 638 Indonesia 1978

5 25 6 26 7 27 8 28 9 29 10 30 11 31 Notes:

C. R. Ali coins the country name “Pakistan” 1933

In this modern version of kanafah, an unctuous filling of sweet clotted cream or soft, fresh cheese is enclosed in crisp-fried vermicelli pastry and soaked in syrup. The pastry, which requires great skill, dates back six or eight centuries. The first known recipe was added to the translation of the greatest of medieval Arabic cookbooks into Turkish by the Ottoman court physician Sirvani. It is made by pouring a thin flour batter through a sieve, or a container punctured with tiny holes, into a pan of hot oil.

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71040araD10R1.indd 5 10/20/14 10:50 AM 71040araD10R1.indd 6 10/20/14 10:50 AM JUMADA I – JUMADA II – JUMADA II MARCH RAJAB APRIL

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10 1 11 2 12 3 13 4 14 5 15 6 16 7 Notes: 12 1 13 2 14 3 15 4

Willis (Sears) First commercial Louvre announces Tower engineer Arabian Nights flow of Saudi Abu Dhabi museum F. R. Khan translator Antoine Arabian oil 1938 2007 born 1929 Galland born 1646 17 8 18 9 19 10 20 11 21 12 22 13 23 14 16 5 17 6 18 7 19 8 20 9 21 10 22 11

British scholar Tatar intellectual Dutch settlement Heinrich Schliemann Muhammad Actor Omar Sharif Ismail Gaspirali on Java is named Easter begins to dig for Marmaduke born in Egypt 1932 born in Russia 1851 Batavia 1619 Pickthall born 1875 ancient Troy 1870 24 15 25 16 26 17 27 18 28 19 29 20 1 21 23 12 24 13 25 14 26 15 27 16 28 17 29 18

Moroccan Egyptian musician Caliph Abu Bakr Tunisian Nowruz—“Spring New Philosopher Ibn Olympian Nawal Sayed Darwish unifies Arabian independence Year”—from Eastern Rushd born in El Moutawakel born 1892 Peninsula 633 1956 Europe to Central Asia Córdoba 1126 born 1962 2 22 3 23 4 24 5 25 6 26 7 27 8 28 30 19 1 20 2 21 3 22 4 23 5 24 6 25

Dinara Safina and Marat Safin Ulugh Beg, ruler Pakistan become first Kareem Abdul-Jabar Arab woman Ground broken for and top astronomer, independence brother-sister top plays his last LA poet Wallada bint Suez Canal 1859 born 1394 1956 al-Mustakfi dies 1091 tennis pair 2009 Laker game 1989

9 29 10 30 11 31 Notes: 7 26 8 27 9 28 10 29 11 30

Maimonides born Tatar literary icon Babur begins reign in Córdoba 1135 Gabdulla Tuqay as first Mughal Khan born in Kazan 1886 of India 1526

By the height of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries, and probably long before that in the major cities of the Islamic lands, confectioners’ guilds specialized in making particular kinds of sweets. In the 19th century, stylish and fashionable shops appeared, catering to upscale clientele. In this marble-lined shop in Syria, towering mountains of halvah- based and stuffed phyllo-dough pastries soar above boxes of stuffed dates and filled cookies.

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71040araD10R1.indd 7 10/20/14 10:51 AM 71040araD10R1.indd 8 10/20/14 10:51 AM RAJAB – SHA‘ABAN – SHA‘ABAN may RAMADAN JUNE

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Astronomer Ali ibn Ridwan Filmmaker Satyajit Mamluk Sultanate First Arab World sees Lupus Ray born in founded in Environment Day, supernova 1006 Calcutta 1921 Egypt 1250 Beirut 2003 14 3 15 4 16 5 17 6 18 7 19 8 20 9 20 7 21 8 22 9 23 10 24 11 25 12 26 13

Pope John Paul II Treaty of Tripoli Süleymaniye Mosque visits Damascus takes effect in cornerstone laid 1550 Mosque 2001 US 1797 21 10 22 11 23 12 24 13 25 14 26 15 27 16 27 14 28 15 29 16 30 17 1 18 2 19 3 20

Achmed Abdullah, Assyrians record Mumtaz Mahal American writer, solar eclipse dies, inspiring born 1881 763 BCE Taj Mahal 1631 28 17 29 18 1 19 2 20 3 21 4 22 5 23 4 21 5 22 6 23 7 24 8 25 9 26 10 27

Timur Bekmambetov, Heyerdahl departs Magtymguly Pyragy, director of Abraham Unification of Indonesian artist Ibn Fadlan departs for Morocco in papyrus Turkmen poet-hero, Lincoln: Vampire Yemen 1990 Affandi dies 1990 Volga Bulgaria 921 boat 1970 born 1724 Hunter, born 1961 6 24 7 25 8 26 9 27 10 28 11 29 12 30 11 28 12 29 13 30 Notes:

13 31 Al-Azhar University completed in Washington Irving Sociology founder Cairo 972 begins Alhambra Ibn Khaldun born residence 1829 in Tunis 1332

Marzipan, a mixture half of ground almonds and half of sugar, is one branch of the halvah family of confections, and it achieved particular popularity in al-Andalus, where both sugar and almonds were grown, and from where it spread to Europe and the New World. It lends itself to molding into elaborate forms, which have included animals, castles, flowers or this elaborately curved confection made in Toledo, Spain, which was the center of the finest marzipan of al-Andalus. It is decorated with figs and other fruits candied in sugar—a form of sweet that dates back even farther than marzipan itself.

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71040araD10R1.indd 9 10/20/14 10:51 AM 71040araD10R1.indd 10 10/20/14 10:51 AM RAMADAN – SHAWWAL – SHAWWAL JULY DHU AL-QA‘DAH AUGUST

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Notes: 14 1 15 2 16 3 17 4 Notes: 16 1

Optics pioneer Saudi King Abdullah Ibn al-Haytham begins reign 2005 born 965 18 5 19 6 20 7 21 8 22 9 23 10 24 11 17 2 18 3 19 4 20 5 21 6 22 7 23 8

Erden Eruç Vasco de Gama sets begins human- Admiral Zheng He Malaysian freedom Algerian sail on first direct powered global leads fleet on China’s literary association Teri Yaad, first post- independence 1962 European voyage circumnavigation first “Treasure Asas ’50 formed independence film to India 1497 2007 Voyage” 1405 1950 from Pakistan 1948 25 12 26 13 27 14 28 15 29 16 1 17 2 18 24 9 25 10 26 11 27 12 28 13 29 14 30 15

Mathematician Tunisian Husainid Queen Cleopatra Maryam Mirzakhani Poet/theologian ‘Abd al-Rahman I Dynasty founded dies by her own is first female Fields Jami born in Jam, ‘Id al-Fitr lands in Iberia 755 1705 hand 30 BCE medalist 2014 1414 3 19 4 20 5 21 6 22 7 23 8 24 9 25 1 16 2 17 3 18 4 19 5 20 6 21 7 22

Moroccan ambassador ‘Abd el-Ouahed Austrian, Venetian Mystic philosopher Muslim US Revolution Hadith compiler Great Fire of ben Messaoud peace with Ibn Al-‘Arabi born in soldier Peter Salem Al-Bukhari born 810 Istanbul 1660 meets with Queen Ottomans 1718 Seville 1165 dies 1816 Elizabeth 1600 10 26 11 27 12 28 13 29 14 30 15 31 8 23 9 24 10 25 11 26 12 27 13 28 14 29

15 30 16 31 Premiere of Wadjda, Indonesian poet Pediatrics pioneer first commercial Sitar virtuoso Vilayat Chairil Anwar Jurist Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn feature film by a Khan born 1928 born 1922 Hanbal dies 855 Zakariya born 854 Saudi woman 2012

In hot desert lands, ice, harvested from distant mountains and preserved in ingenious icehouses, was highly prized from the Middle Ages on, used to chill lightly sweetened fruit drinks (sherbets). A dizzying variety of these sherbets, often aromatized with spices or essences, have been enjoyed in the ever since, from where they spread to al-Andalus and the New World. Mexicans continue to drink homemade aguas frescas with their meals and to buy them from street vendors when out for a stroll. Here, clockwise from top left, are Rangpur lime, pomegranate with mint, lime, sour cherry, lemon, tamarind, rose petal and, in the center, sekanjebin (sugar and vinegar).

Photo by Eric Hansen. aramcoworld.com

71040araD10R1.indd 11 10/20/14 10:51 AM 71040araD10R1.indd 12 10/20/14 10:51 AM DHU AL-QA‘DAH – DHU AL-HIJJAH – DHU AL-HIJJAH september MUHARRAM 1437 october

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17 1 18 2 19 3 20 4 21 5 Notes: 18 1 19 2 20 3

Qatar independence Jurist Abu Hanifah 1971 born in Kufa 699 22 6 23 7 24 8 25 9 26 10 27 11 28 12 21 4 22 5 23 6 24 7 25 8 26 9 27 10

Abdul Ahad Mohmand, first Afghan astronaut, returns from Prophet Writer, dramatist Russian Mir space Muhammad Tawfiq al-Hakim station 1988 begins Hijra 622 born 1898 29 13 1 14 2 15 3 16 4 17 5 18 6 19 28 11 29 12 30 13 1 14 2 15 3 16 4 17

Arab-American House of Wisdom Albanian language Mughal ruler Ilkhanate founder filmmaker Nabil patron Al-Ma’mun society founded Akbar the Great Hulagu Khan Abou-Harb born 1984 born 786 1879 born 1542 born 1218 7 20 8 21 9 22 10 23 11 24 12 25 13 26 5 18 6 19 7 20 8 21 9 22 10 23 11 24

Kingdom of Minor planet named US actress Melora Russia and Persia ‘Id al-Adha Saudi Arabia is for astronomer Nasir Walters born in sign Treaty of proclaimed 1932 al-Din al-Tusi 1979 Dhahran 1959 Gulistan 1813

14 27 15 28 16 29 17 30 Notes: 12 25 13 26 14 27 15 28 16 29 17 30 18 31

Rimsky-Korsakov’s Marrakech Elif Shafak, Turkish Scheherazade Mutawakkilite International Film novelist, born 1971 premiers in St. Kingdom of Yemen Festival opens 2001 Petersburg 1888 founded 1918

The earliest recipes for nougat, the French name for Turkish koz helvası, a confection made by whitening sugar syrup with egg white (or sometimes with the dried halvah root, Gypsofilia), date back to medieval Arabic cookbooks. Often embedded with pistachios, almonds or walnuts, nougat may be soft and chewy or so hard that it verges on nut brittle. From the 16th century, Europeans adopted nougat with enthusiasm, and different cities developed their own special versions.

Photo by Eric Hansen. aramcoworld.com

71040araD10R1.indd 13 10/20/14 10:51 AM 71040araD10R1.indd 14 10/20/14 10:51 AM MUHARRAM – SAFAR – SAFAR november RABI‘ I december

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Bollywood star India launches Sultan Suleiman Comparative religion United Arab Shah Rukh Khan its first Mars (“The Magnificent”) pioneer Ibn Hazm Emirates declared born 1965 orbiter 2013 born 1494 born 994 1971 26 8 27 9 28 10 29 11 30 12 1 13 2 14 24 6 25 7 26 8 27 9 28 10 29 11 1 12

Discovery of 1513 world map Lebanese-American Poet Rumi meets US Pres. Jefferson Kyrgyz author Chingiz by Ottoman chemist E. J. Corey mentor Shams-e hosts iftar for Aitmatov born in cartographer accepts Nobel Prize Tabrizi 1244 Tunisian guest 1805 Sheker 1928 Piri Reis 1929 1990 3 15 4 16 5 17 6 18 7 19 8 20 9 21 2 13 3 14 4 15 5 16 6 17 7 18 8 19

Ibn al-Nafis, Top scientist and Polymath Ibn Omani Sultan Tatar poet and Lebanese superstar discoverer of blood’s historian Al-Biruni al-Khatib born Qaboos bin Said activist Mehmet singer Fairouz born pulmonary circulation, dies 1048 in Fez 1313 born in Salalah 1940 Niyazi dies 1931 1935 dies 1288 10 22 11 23 12 24 13 25 14 26 15 27 16 28 9 20 10 21 11 22 12 23 13 24 14 25 15 26

Rock star Frank Morocco becomes first Zenobia, queen of Writer Ameen Rihani Carter and Carnarvon Zappa, son of a country to recognize US Palmyra, born in born on Mount open King Tut’s Greek-Arab Sicilian, Christmas independence 1777 Syria 1245 Lebanon 1876 tomb 1922 born 1940 17 29 18 30 Notes: 16 27 17 28 18 29 19 30 20 31 Notes:

Bangladesh artist All-India Muslim Zainul Abedin League is founded born 1914 1906

Gulab jamun, deep-fried balls that have been soaked in rosewater-flavored syrup, are a standard in Indian restaurants worldwide. The tradition to which they belong dates back to Antiquity, when balls of wheat flour dough were deep-fried and drenched in honey. As with other older forms of confectionery, Muslim cooks refined these in the Middle Ages and were probably responsible for introducing them, from the 12th century on, to the subcontinent. There, a paste of boiled-down milk was substituted for wheat flour. This was replaced by dried milk when it became available in the 20th century. In the West, the wheat-flour form continued, giving rise to the buñuelos of Mexico and the donuts of northern Europe.

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71040araD10R1.indd 15 10/20/14 10:51 AM SAFAR –RABI‘ I SAFAR –RABI‘ I A larger, 12-month edition of this

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