Sidna Ramdan: a poem about Ramadan in Morocco

For Ramadan, we asked a young Moroccan poet, Nour, to write a few lines about this month of kindness and contemplation. With tenderness and humour, her poem describes a Moroccan family waiting for “Sidna Ramdan”: the house being made ready, the fragrant kitchens, the impatient children, the good resolutions… and a question that lingers once Eid is over. She wrote it in French; below is a verse translation that keeps its images and its rhythm, followed by a short glossary of the Moroccan words.

The poem

No more guessing at the date, no more watching for the moon:
On the walls the calendars count the nights that come so soon.
After the cha‘banas, their pastries and their tea,
The hands in flowered henna, the evenings full of glee,
Sidna Ramdan is coming, drawing nearer on his way…
Yes, one more year down here has quietly slipped away.

The women, long beforehand, have organised it all:
The houses shine, the stores are stacked against the wall,
The kitchens overflow with sweet things and with spice,
And all the harira needs is waiting, measured twice:
Tomatoes and coriander, chickpeas and lentils too,
And dates, of course. Well done, mothers and daughters, to you!
The chebakia is dripping with sesame and honey,
And almond, queen of pastries, smells of heaven, sweet and sunny;
In tightly sealed tins the treats are biding their time,
The suhoor menus have long been planned, line by line.
How lovely to linger in those kitchens bright with colour,
Where cinnamon and aniseed drift on the air together!
The children prowl around the treats tucked out of sight,
Proud to have fasted more than once from dawn to night,
And whisper a promise to hold out longer than last year,
Till evening, like the grown-ups, with the sunset drawing near.

The invitations to iftar have already gone out,
The cards for ronda and rummy are ready to pass about;
Djellabas, gandouras and pretty scarves are checked with care,
Tradition is brought out of the wardrobes, back into the air.
The sporty ones plan long walks and marathons,
And dare each other to hold out till the sunset cannon.

At work, the office hours have all been rearranged,
And Ramadan’s slow pace leaves the bosses feeling strained:
Every year they wonder if it’s better just to close!
The staff will spend their days in daydreams, heaven knows,
Starting heated debates about nothing much at all,
Describing menus so delicious they enthral,
Then one by one they’ll slip off early, out of sight,
To take a nap, or pray, before the fading light.

How many of us promise ourselves that we will change,
And make, as at New Year, a thousand resolutions?
To give up smoking, eat better, rearrange
Our lives, and find at last for our worries some solutions…
One means to start, or start again, to pray,
Another swears to give more in charity each day.
So much warmth, so much compassion, so much piety,
So many good thoughts gathered into a single month!

What a lovely atmosphere, my friends! And yet,
Why does it come only once a year? Must we forget?
Is it really so hard to keep, our whole life through,
The spirit of Ramadan, its gentleness so true?
Come on, let’s try once more: he’s here, Sidna…
Ramdan.

Nour – Washington

Glossary

Sidna Ramdan: “our lord Ramadan”. In Morocco, people welcome the month in these words, like an honoured guest. Sidna (“our master”) is a title of respect, like sidi or lalla, not a sign of worship.
Cha‘bana: a family or neighbourhood party held during the month of Sha‘ban, before Ramadan, with tea, pastries, music and henna.
Harira: the emblematic soup of the Moroccan iftar, made with tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, celery and fresh herbs (coriander, parsley), often with a little meat, and thickened with flour.
Chebakia: a flower-shaped pastry flavoured with aniseed and cinnamon, fried, then dipped in honey and covered with sesame seeds.
Sellou (or sfouf): a mixture of toasted flour, almonds and sesame bound with butter and honey. It is made in advance and kept in tightly closed tins: the “sealed tins” of the poem.
Iftar (ftour in Morocco): the meal that breaks the fast at sunset. Suhoor (s’hour): the meal eaten before dawn.
Ronda and rummy: card games that are very popular in Morocco, played with family or friends during Ramadan evenings.
Djellaba: a long hooded robe worn by both men and women. Gandoura: a long, light tunic without a hood.
The cannon: in some towns, a cannon shot, or nowadays a siren, announces the time of iftar.

Ramadan in Morocco: a few traditions

Nour’s poem evokes customs that Moroccan families know well. The month makes itself felt from Sha‘ban onwards, with the cha‘banas and the great preparations: a top-to-bottom clean of the house, provisions, pastries made weeks in advance. The start of the fast depends on the sighting of the crescent moon, announced each year by the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs; our forecasts are on the page about the start of Ramadan in Morocco.

At iftar, the table often brings together dates, milk, harira, chebakia and hard-boiled eggs, followed later by a fuller meal. You will find some of these specialities in our Ramadan recipes. Evenings are given over to visits, family gatherings and the tarawih prayers, for which many people put on their djellaba. In some medinas, the neffar still walks the narrow streets before dawn, blowing his long trumpet to wake people for suhoor. And in many families the 27th night, which many hope is Laylat al-Qadr, is the occasion to celebrate the children who have fasted for the first time.

Keeping the spirit of Ramadan

The poem ends with a question: why so much warmth, prayer and generosity only once a year? The Muslim tradition answers with simple advice: “The deed most beloved to Allah is the most regular, even if it is small” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6464). Rather than dropping everything after Eid, you can keep one habit born during the month: a more attentive prayer, a page of the Quran, regular charity. To make the most of the month and what follows, read also our advice on earning hasanat during Ramadan and our complete guide to Ramadan.