Memories of a Syrian Ramadan

A Holy Month spent in the City of Jasmine

Flowers adorn the entrance to this house in Damascus — the same ones that give the city its nickname

The month of Ramadan — following, as it does, the lunar calendar — is a wandering month, coming earlier and earlier with each passing year. Ten years ago, before it coincided with spring, it came during the middle of summer. And so it was that my family and I, having spent every summer in Syria, had the pleasure of observing Ramadan in Damascus.

A Ramadan spent in a Muslim country is hard to describe. The days are unremarkable, except for a slight edge of agitation caused by the fast. But just before sundown, the streets are emptied and abandoned — only to explode once again into a nighttime bustle, as people reconvene to celebrate a day of patience and pious vigilance.

Here are some assorted memories and reflections from the summer of 2009, which I spent fasting and celebrating in Damascus, the City of Jasmine.

Mr. Drummer-Man

Strictly speaking, observing Ramadan is a form of jihad: a struggle, not against a military or political target, but against the physical impulses of hunger and thirst. In preparation for this inner conflict, we wake up for suhoor, a pre-dawn meal which holds us over until dusk.

And a key ally in this struggle of the spirit can be found in Abu Tableh: roughly…