What it means
بیقرار (bi-gharâr) describes a person who cannot settle, rest, or find peace inside themselves. The word is a compound: بی (bi) is a native Persian privative prefix meaning “without,” and قرار (gharâr) is an Arabic-origin noun meaning “stillness, stability, resolution.” Together they produce “without stillness.” The feeling is not simply restlessness in the physical sense: it covers longing-driven agitation, the pacing before news arrives, the sleeplessness of someone waiting for a loved one to call. A close synonym is ناآرام (nâ-ârâm), which is more purely Persian and slightly more formal; بیقرار tends to carry more emotional charge and appears frequently in song lyrics and poetry.
How to use it
- دلم بیقراره. (delam bi-gharâre.) “My heart is restless.”
- شب تا صبح بیقرار بودم و خوابم نبرد. (shab tâ sobh bi-gharâr budam o khâbam nabord.) “I was restless all night and couldn’t sleep.”
- بچهام خیلی بیقراره، حتما دندون درمیاره. (bachche-am khyli bi-gharâre, hatman dandun dar-miyâre.) “My baby is really unsettled, must be teething.”
- وقتی منتظر نتیجهام، بیقرارم میشه. (vaqti montazer-e natijeh-am, bi-gharâram mishe.) “When I’m waiting for a result, I get restless.”
Cultural note
بیقرار is deeply woven into Persian lyric tradition. Classical poets such as Hafez and Rumi use قرار and بیقرار to describe the soul’s inability to rest without union with the Beloved, whether divine or earthly. The word appears in dozens of well-known Persian pop songs and is one of the most searched Farsi emotion words by diaspora learners. Its emotional register is broad: a mother waiting for a soldier son, a lover unable to sleep, a child in a hospital waiting room. All are بیقرار, and all native speakers immediately understand the weight the word carries.