Qibla · Tehran Province

Qibla direction in Pardīs

To face the Kaaba in Pardīs, turn to 219.4° measured clockwise from true north, which is south-west (39.4° west of south). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 1,973 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Pardīs should follow.

Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 219.4°, the Qibla of Pardīs. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 219° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.

Find the Qibla with your phone

How to face the Qibla in Pardīs

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 39.4° towards west: the result is the bearing of 219.4°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Pardīs.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Pardīs, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Pardīs is a handy reference, because the prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Pardīs to Mecca points to 216.2° (south-west), 3.2° away from the correct 219.4°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is not the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

How is the figure of 219.4° obtained? From the coordinates of Pardīs (35.7469° N, 51.8122° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from Pardīs to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,973 km from Pardīs as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,715 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 49 min, although most pilgrims from Pardīs connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Pardīs run 0.5 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Pardīs rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Pardīs

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Pardīs while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 14:48 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Pardīs during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Sun in the Qibla direction in Pardīs, 2027 (local time, 24-hour clock). — means it does not happen that day.
DateSun in the Qibla direction (face the sun)Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla)
1 January 202714:48—
15 January 202714:48—
1 February 202714:41—
15 February 202714:30—
1 March 202714:16—
15 March 202713:59—
1 April 202713:38—
15 April 202713:22—
1 May 202713:05—
15 May 202712:54—
1 June 202712:47—
15 June 202712:46—
1 July 202712:50—
15 July 202712:56—
1 August 202713:07—
15 August 202713:15—
1 September 202713:25—
15 September 202713:33—
1 October 202713:43—
15 October 202713:52—
1 November 202714:04—
15 November 202714:16—
1 December 202714:30—
15 December 202714:40—

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Pardīs: at 12:48 and 12:57 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Pardīs compared with other cities

Compared with Tehran, 36 km away, the Qibla in Pardīs is turned 0.9° further clockwise (219.4° against 218.5°), and Mecca is 27 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Tehran (36 km), prays towards 218.5°, a difference of 0.9°.

Across the 90 cities in Iran on this site, the Qibla ranges from 195.9° in Khoy to 257.6° in Iranshahr, a spread of 61.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Iran.

Qibla in cities near Pardīs

Qibla in Pardīs: questions and answers

What is the Qibla direction in Pardīs?

It is 219.4° from true north, which is south-west: 39.4° west of south.

How far is Pardīs from Mecca?

1,973 km in a straight line over the globe, and 1,715 km to Medina.

When does the sun show the Qibla in Pardīs?

On 365 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.

Why is the Qibla in Pardīs not the direction shown on a map?

Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 216.2°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Pardīs at 219.4°, and that is the Qibla.

Does the Qibla change during the year?

No. The direction of 219.4° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.

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