Mehr — month 7 of the Persian year

The month at a glance

Month number

7

In Iranian usage

Mehr

In Afghan usage

Mizan, or borj 7

Length

30 days

Gregorian window

September 22 to October 23

This month shares its Afghan name with a zodiac sign. What the tradition carries for the sign is on the sign's own page; this page is about the month.

Read about Libra, the sign

Mehr and Mizan: one month, two naming systems

Month 7 of the Solar Hijri calendar is called Mehr in Iranian usage and Mizan in Afghan usage. These are two names for the same month in the same calendar. Neither is the real name and neither is a variant of the other; they are two naming systems that run in parallel over one calendar.

In Afghan usage the traditional borj names are the month names, and each of them is shared with the name of a zodiac sign. Alongside the name, a month is commonly referred to by its number in everyday speech and in writing, so this one is borj 7. A reader asking which month borj 7 is, is asking about this month: Mizan, which is Mehr.

Only the names differ. The month boundaries, the day counts and the leap rule are identical whether the month is called Mehr or Mizan, so a date written in one system converts to the other by name alone. Nothing else about the month changes.

Where the month sits in the year

Mehr, or Mizan, opens the autumn stretch of the Solar Hijri year. The month before it is Shahrivar, called Sunbula in Afghan usage. The month after it is Aban, called Aqrab.

It runs 30 days, every year. Its length never varies: the leap day of this calendar belongs to Esfand, called Hut, at the far end of the year, so a leap year leaves this month untouched. Whatever the year, Mehr and Mizan cover the same 30 days between Shahrivar and Aban.

Why the Gregorian dates move

The Solar Hijri year does not start on a fixed Gregorian day. It starts at the vernal equinox, an astronomical moment that falls at a slightly different point against the Gregorian calendar from one year to the next. The month lengths are set by the calendar's own rule, but the start of the year is determined by the equinox, and every month downstream of that start, including this one, inherits the shift.

So the Gregorian date this month begins on is determined rather than chosen, and it moves within a narrow window. Across the documented range — Persian years 1329 to 1429, which for this month means the Gregorian years 1950 to 2050 — the month has begun between 22 and 24 September and ended between 21 and 23 October. Those beginnings fall on 3 distinct dates in all.

That is why a printed calendar that gives one fixed Gregorian range for Mehr is right in most years and wrong in the rest. The range is not an approximation of a fixed date; it is the spread that the equinox produces.

When Mehr began

The month lengths are set by the calendar's own rule, but the year starts at the spring equinox — so the Gregorian day this month begins on is not the same every year.

Across the 101 years below, Mehr began on 3 different Gregorian dates. A calendar printed with one fixed range is right for most of them and wrong for the rest.

From 1950-09-23 to 2050-10-22.

1. September 22

   20 yearsEnded October 21.

   1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, 2029, 2032, 2033, 2036, 2037, 2040, 2041, 2044, 2045, 2048, 2049

2. September 23

   78 yearsEnded October 22.

   1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2030, 2031, 2034, 2035, 2038, 2039, 2042, 2043, 2046, 2047, 2050

3. September 24

   3 yearsEnded October 23.

   1951, 1955, 1959

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