بهشت

What it means

بهشت (behesht) means paradise or heaven. It is a pure Persian word that descends from Old Iranian and appears in the Avesta as vahistem, a superlative form related to the concept of the best or most excellent place. The word predates Islam in Persian and was absorbed seamlessly into Islamic religious vocabulary in Iran because it mapped naturally onto the Quranic concept of paradise. In everyday speech بهشت is used both literally, to refer to the afterlife reward, and figuratively for any place or state of extraordinary beauty or happiness. Its adjective بهشتی (beheshti) means heavenly or blessed and is also used as a term of endearment or to describe the deceased.

How to use it

• بهشت رفتن (behesht raftan) “to go to paradise”, used to say someone has passed away
• این جا مثل بهشته (injâ mesl-e beheshte) “This place is like paradise.”
• بهشتی باشه (beheshti bâshe) “May he/she be in paradise.” (said of the deceased)
• باغ بهشت (bâgh-e behesht) “the garden of paradise”, a common poetic phrase

Cultural note

بهشت‌زهرا (Behesht-e Zahrâ) is the name of Tehran’s main public cemetery, located south of the city. Its name means Zahra’s paradise, Zahra being one of the names of Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Mohammad. The cemetery became internationally known after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, when Ayatollah Khomeini gave his first speech to crowds on his return to Iran at a podium set up there. For Iranians, بهشت‌زهرا is a byword for loss, mourning, and national memory.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab