Iran’s official civil calendar is the تقویم هجری خورشیدی “Solar Hijri calendar,” commonly shortened to تقویم شمسی in everyday speech. In a date written with a month name, Iranian Persian normally orders the information day + month + year: بیست و سوم مهر ۱۴۰۵ “23 Mehr 1405.”
This page teaches the language of dates: month names, the position of سال, day numbers, calendar labels, and numeric notation. It does not attempt a full cultural history of the calendar. One structural warning matters from the outset: running-text dates and all-numeric form fields do not necessarily place their components in the same order.
The calendar’s name and year boundary
هجری خورشیدی is the precise standard term (formal/neutral). هجری شمسی is also widely understood, and shortened شمسی is routine in conversation. The epoch is Hijri, while the year is solar; do not translate the name as though it were the lunar Hijri calendar.
The year begins on اول فروردین, at Nowruz near the March equinox. Consequently, a Solar Hijri year spans parts of two Gregorian years. A bare year such as ۱۴۰۵ in an Iranian administrative context often defaults to Solar Hijri, but add هجری خورشیدی or میلادی whenever the calendar could be ambiguous.
سال ۱۴۰۵ در تقویم هجری خورشیدی از فروردین آغاز میشود.
sâl-e hezâr-o-chahârsad-o-panj dar taqvim-e hejri-ye khorshidi az Farvardin âghâz mi-shavad.
The year 1405 in the Solar Hijri calendar begins in Farvardin. (formal-neutral terminology)
لطفا مشخص کنید تاریخ شمسی است یا میلادی.
lotfan moshakhkhas konid târikh shamsi ast yâ milâdi.
Please specify whether the date is Solar Hijri or Gregorian. (neutral instruction)
The twelve Persian months
The month names are proper calendar vocabulary. They do not take English month translations in an Iranian Solar Hijri date.
| Month | Persian | Pronunciation | Usual length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | فروردین | farvardin | 31 days |
| 2 | اردیبهشت | ordibehesht | 31 days |
| 3 | خرداد | khordâd | 31 days |
| 4 | تیر | tir | 31 days |
| 5 | مرداد | mordâd | 31 days |
| 6 | شهریور | shahrivar | 31 days |
| 7 | مهر | mehr | 30 days |
| 8 | آبان | âbân | 30 days |
| 9 | آذر | âzar | 30 days |
| 10 | دی | dey | 30 days |
| 11 | بهمن | bahman | 30 days |
| 12 | اسفند | esfand | 29 days, or 30 in a leap year |
نمایشگاه از دهم تا پانزدهم اردیبهشت باز است.
namâyeshgâh az dahom tâ pânzdahom-e Ordibehesht bâz ast.
The exhibition is open from the tenth through the fifteenth of Ordibehesht. (formal-neutral schedule)
امسال تعطیلاتمان را برای اواخر شهریور گذاشتهایم.
emsâl ta'tilât-emân râ barâ-ye avâkher-e Shahrivar gozâshte-im.
This year we have scheduled our vacation for late Shahrivar. (neutral conversation)
The first six months have 31 days, the next five have 30, and Esfand normally has 29, with 30 in a leap year. This fact explains valid day ranges; it does not change the grammar of a date phrase.
Day + month + year in running text
With a month name, the ordinary order is day + month + optional year. The day may be written with Persian digits or spelled out. The year is a cardinal and follows the month.
| Information supplied | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| day and month | day + month | ۱۲ آبان |
| full named date | day + month + year | ۱۲ آبان ۱۴۰۵ |
| year alone | سال
| سال ۱۴۰۵ |
| explicit calendar | date + calendar label | سال ۱۴۰۵ هجری خورشیدی |
مهلت ارسال مدارک بیست و هفتم آبان ۱۴۰۵ است.
mohlat-e ersâl-e madârek bist-o-haftom-e Âbân hezâr-o-chahârsad-o-panj ast.
The deadline for submitting the documents is 27 Aban 1405. (formal; ordinal day reading)
قرار بعدی ما هشتم دی است.
qarâr-e ba'di-ye mâ hashtom-e Dey ast.
Our next appointment is the eighth of Dey. (neutral; ordinal day with audible ezâfe)
The written digit does not show whether a speaker will add ordinal ـم. In dates, both cardinal-style بیست و هفت آبان and ordinal بیست و هفتم آبان occur. The ordinal is especially clear in full speech and careful announcements; compact headings and everyday scheduling readily use the cardinal. With an ordinal, ezâfe links the day to the month in pronunciation: هفتمِ آبان haftom-e Âbân, although the ezâfe after consonant-final هفتم is unwritten.
اول is the usual form for the first day: اول مهر. یکم مهر is also correct, particularly in systematic enumerations and dates, while نخست مهر sounds formal or literary rather than conversational.
ثبتنام حضوری از اول مهر آغاز خواهد شد.
sabt-nâm-e hozuri az avval-e Mehr âghâz khâhad shod.
In-person registration will begin on the first of Mehr. (formal announcement)
Fully numeric Iranian dates
Running text with a month name is day–month–year, but an all-numeric Iranian form commonly uses year/month/day: ۱۴۰۵/۰۸/۲۷. The slashes and fixed-width components make the administrative convention visible. Do not silently assume American month/day/year.
در فرم، تاریخ را به صورت ۱۴۰۵/۰۸/۲۷ وارد کنید.
dar form, târikh râ be surat-e hezâr-o-chahârsad-o-panj, hasht, bist-o-haft vâred konid.
Enter the date on the form as 1405/08/27. (formal administrative instruction; year/month/day)
The month field uses its calendar number: ۰۱ for Farvardin through ۱۲ for Esfand. Leading zeroes are normal in fixed form fields even though one says هشت rather than “zero eight.” The Persian Digits page explains their Unicode forms and bidirectional typing.
Gregorian dates in Persian
A Gregorian date takes the label میلادی when needed. Persian running text generally retains day–month–year order even with a Gregorian month name: یازده سپتامبر ۲۰۲۶, not the American English order “September 11, 2026.” The year is still read as a cardinal.
تاریخ میلادی کنفرانس یازده سپتامبر ۲۰۲۶ است.
târikh-e milâdi-ye konferâns yâzdah septâmber do hezâr-o-bist-o-shesh ast.
The Gregorian date of the conference is September 11, 2026. (formal-neutral; Persian day–month–year order)
این گواهی هم تاریخ خورشیدی دارد و هم تاریخ میلادی.
in gavâhi ham târikh-e khorshidi dârad va ham târikh-e milâdi.
This certificate has both a Solar Hijri date and a Gregorian date. (formal-neutral)
A calendar conversion is not accomplished by translating month names. مهر is a Solar Hijri month; سپتامبر is a Gregorian month. Converting requires recalculating the date, not replacing one label with another.
Dates inside sentences
A date phrase can occur directly as a time adjunct: جلسه دوازده آبان است. Formal prose may introduce it with در تاریخ “on the date of,” especially in legal or administrative writing. Everyday speech normally does not need that heavy frame.
نسخهی تازهی برنامه روز سوم خرداد منتشر میشود.
noskhe-ye tâze-ye barnâme ruz-e sevvom-e Khordâd montasher mi-shavad.
The new version of the program will be released on the third of Khordad. (neutral standard)
Here روز is optional; it makes the day function explicit. Date grammar does not require an equivalent of English on before every named date.
Common Mistakes
1. Copying American month–day order
❌ مهر دوازده ۱۴۰۵ جلسه داریم.
Incorrect ordinary Persian date order — place the day before the month name.
✅ جلسهی گروه دوازدهم مهر ۱۴۰۵ برگزار میشود.
jalase-ye goruh davâzdahom-e Mehr hezâr-o-chahârsad-o-panj bargozâr mi-shavad.
The group meeting will be held on 12 Mehr 1405.
2. Confusing named-date and numeric-form order
⚠️ در کادر سال اول عدد ۲۷ را بنویسید.
dar kâdr-e sâl-e avval adad-e bist-o-haft râ be-nevisid.
Grammatical, but it gives the wrong instruction for a year/month/day form: 27 is the day, not the year.
✅ در کادر نخست سال ۱۴۰۵ را بنویسید.
dar kâdr-e nakhost sâl-e hezâr-o-chahârsad-o-panj râ be-nevisid.
Write the year 1405 in the first field.
3. Leaving the calendar ambiguous
⚠️ مهلت تا سال ۱۴۰۵ است.
mohlat tâ sâl-e hezâr-o-chahârsad-o-panj ast.
Grammatical but potentially ambiguous: where two calendars are possible, the year needs a calendar label.
✅ این مهلت تا پایان سال ۱۴۰۵ هجری خورشیدی است.
in mohlat tâ pâyân-e sâl-e hezâr-o-chahârsad-o-panj-e hejri-ye khorshidi ast.
This deadline runs through the end of Solar Hijri year 1405.
4. Treating a month translation as a calendar conversion
⚠️ برای تبدیل تاریخ، فقط «مهر» را با «سپتامبر» عوض کنید.
barâ-ye tabdil-e târikh, faqat «Mehr» râ bâ «Septâmber» avaz konid.
Grammatical instruction, but an invalid conversion method: replacing a month name does not convert a date between calendars.
✅ پیش از انتشار، تاریخ خورشیدی را به تاریخ میلادی تبدیل کنید.
pish az enteshâr, târikh-e khorshidi râ be târikh-e milâdi tabdil konid.
Before publication, convert the Solar Hijri date to a Gregorian date.
5. Using ASCII digits in a Persian date
❌ تاریخ تحویل 1405/08/27 است.
Incorrect Iranian Persian typography — an Iranian date uses Persian digit shapes.
✅ تاریخ تحویل در قرارداد ۱۴۰۵/۰۸/۲۷ است.
târikh-e tahvil dar qarârdâd hezâr-o-chahârsad-o-panj, hasht, bist-o-haft ast.
The delivery date in the contract is 1405/08/27.
Key Takeaways
- Call Iran’s civil calendar تقویم هجری خورشیدی; shortened تقویم شمسی is common in conversation.
- Use day–month–year with a month name, but expect year/month/day in Iranian all-numeric forms.
- Learn the twelve Persian month names as calendar-specific vocabulary.
- Both cardinal and ordinal day readings occur; careful full speech often favors the ordinal plus audible ezâfe.
- Add هجری خورشیدی or میلادی whenever the year or month system could be ambiguous.
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