Bard al-ʿAjūz (‘old woman’s cold’), or ayyām al-ʿajūz (‘old woman’s days’) is a traditional term used to describe a period of five or seven days towards the end of the cold of winter (Saʿdī, 101; Muḥammad Pādishāh, 1/659). This period is also referred to as rūzgār-i ʿajūz (‘old woman’s days’) or sarmā-yi pīr-zan (‘old woman’s chill’) (al-Bīrūnī, al-Tafhīm, 262–263) in both Persian culture and literature. Bard al-ʿajūz begins on the 26th day of the month of Sebat (the second winter month and the fifth Syriac month): three of the days occur in Sebat and four in …