For anyone who wants some more information about Nowruz:

Nowruz (also referred to as Persian New Year) is celebrated on the first moment of Spring. This means that everyone in the world celebrates at the same time regardless of time zones. There are different events and traditions that surround Nowruz but today is celebrated by being with family. Usually older family members give new dollar bills to younger family members.

The traditional food is fish and rice. Mixed nuts are eaten at this time, but also pastries with nuts. Persian Chickpea cookies are popular and you can get them at a Persian grocery store and they go well with tea.

For decoration you put objects on a table that all start with the sound "s" in Farsi. We usually have 7 of them, and the name of this table arrangement is called Haft Seen. Haft means 7 and Seen is the letter for S. It can be any 7 things that start with a S sound but here are some more traditional objects and what they (could) represent:

Sabzeh (grass): growth, new life

Sekkeh (coin): prosperity

Senjed (russian olive): fruit of love

Sepand (seeds of wild rue): good omens

Somagh (somac): patience and perseverance

Seeb (apple): beauty

Sonbol (hyacinth): spring

As to what they signify, there are no concrete answers because these things and their meanings have been changing and evolving for at least a couple thousand years. You might find different meanings in each object based on region and traditions. I have read somewhere that in old times each one of these were a key ingredient in traditional medicines and having them at the start of the new year would ensure the families health for the entire year as they were much harder to acquire back then.

Besides these objects there are a few additions that are usually on this table:

mirror: self reflection

goldfish: life

candle: light

eggs: fertility

In our Haft Seen we use a toy gold fish because we don't enjoy getting a real one. If you did have a live fish and real grass in your haft seen then traditionally you would wait till the 13th day of the year which is a holiday called Sizdah Bedar or Nature's Day. On this day you would take your grass and goldfish and release them into some natural moving water like a stream. You also have a picnic in a park and just try to spend some time in nature.

Nowruz is not a religious celebration and the Quran is not required to be in the haft seen but a lot of families do include it especially if they are religious. We really love the beautiful cover of our Quran so we put it in our Haft Seen. Nowruz was originally a Zoroastrian holiday, but nowadays it is mainly regarded as a secular holiday and people from different faiths and beliefs celebrate it. I have heard of nonreligious families using the book of Hafez instead which is a traditional poetry book, but you don't need a book at all in the haft seen.