SimplyAbuDhabi XLIII

I n 2011, Michel Parmigiani created the Hijri Calendar Table Clock after he was inspired by the restoration of a pocket watch that featured an Arabic calendar. This remarkable achievement was made even more im- pressive when it was miniaturized in wristwatch form as the Hijri Perpetual Calendar, which won the 2020 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) Innovation Prize. In 2023, Parmigiani Fleurier released the Tonda PF Hijri Perpetual Calendar in a platinum case with a fresh design language and simpler dial. Most recently, Parmigiani Fleurier has introduced a new Tonda PF Hijri Perpetual Calendar in a stainless steel case with a vivid Viridian green dial. The Tonda PF Hijri Perpetual Calendar is a horological expression of the Tabular Islamic calendar, which was developed by Muslim scholars and as- tronomers in the 8th century. This system makes it possible for historians to convert Islamic dates to Gregorian dates and also makes the Hijri Perpetual Calendar possible. The first year of the Hijri calendar corresponds to the year 622 CE and is marked by the Prophet Muhammad’s Hijrah (Arabic for “migration”) from Mecca to Medina in modern-day Saudi Arabia. The lunar Hijri calendar is based on the cycles of the moon in comparison to the solar Gregorian calendar and lunisolar Chinese Xiali calendar. This makes for a 30-year cycle with each year consisting of 12 months that are 29 or 30 days long. In each 30-year cycle, there are 19 common years consisting of 354 days and 11 abundant years consisting of 355 days. The sacredness of time (Colin – give me a shout if you can’t arrange these Arabic characters, I will edit them out) There are four sacred months of the year, three of which occur consecutively beginning with the 11th month of the year Dhul-Qa’dah (denoted by ١١ on the month sub-dial) followed by Dhul-Hijjah (denoted by ١٢(, and then the first month of the new year which is Muharram (denoted by ١(. These three sacred months being consecutive makes sense when one considers that Dhul-Hijjah is when the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca occurs, with the months before and after ensuring peaceful journeys to Mecca and to return home. Finally there is Rajab (denoted by ٧(, which is the seventh month of the year. Landing right in the middle of the year, Rajab is also a time for peace and reflection in the lead-up to Ramadan as well as a time for the voluntary pilgrimage to Mecca known as an Umrah. Denoted by ٩ in red is the month of Ramadan during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown for either 29 or 30 days. The month culminates with Eid al-Fitr which is the first of two major Islamic holidays, the second of which being Eid Al-Adha which always lands on the tenth day of the last month of the year. Simply Abu Dhabi | 209