What it means
آرزو (ârezu) means wish, longing, or desire. It is one of the few everyday abstract nouns with a genuinely native Persian origin, traceable to Middle Persian, not a borrowing from Arabic. It covers everything from a child wishing for a toy to a poet longing for a lost homeland. A close synonym is خواسته (khâste), which leans more toward a concrete request, whereas ârezu carries a softer, more emotional longing. The verb form آرزو کردن (ârezu kardan) means to wish or to yearn.
How to use it
- آرزوی موفقیتت رو دارم. (ârezuye movaffaghiyyate ro dâram.) “I wish you success.”
- این آرزوی منه که یه روز ایران رو ببینم. (in ârezuye mane ke ye ruz Irân ro bebinam.) “It is my wish to see Iran one day.”
- آرزوهات برآورده بشه. (ârezuhât barâvarde beshe.) “May your wishes come true.”
- از بچگی آرزوم این بود که پزشک بشم. (az bachegi ârezum in bud ke pezeshk besham.) “From childhood my wish was to become a doctor.”
Cultural note
In Persian literature and everyday speech, ârezu holds a central emotional weight. Poets from Hafez to Rumi use it to express the soul’s longing for beauty, union, or the divine. In modern spoken Persian, the phrase “ârezut ro dâram” (I hold your wish) is a warm way to say you are rooting for someone. Birthday cards and New Year greetings almost always feature the word, making it one of the most emotionally charged words in the language.