استدعا

What it means

استدعا (estedâ) means a humble request, a plea, or a formal petition. It comes from Arabic استدعاء (istidâ’), derived from the root د-ع-و (d-‘-w) meaning to call or to summon, with the prefix ista- adding the sense of seeking or drawing toward oneself. In Persian the word is used when the speaker wants to convey deference and sincerity, making it more formal and more deferential than درخواست (darkhâst), which is the neutral, everyday word for request. استدعا is common in formal letters, official complaints, and any context where the speaker positions themselves as a supplicant before an authority. The phrase استدعا دارم (estedâ dâram, I humbly request) is a fixed opener in bureaucratic and legal correspondence.

How to use it

• استدعا دارم این موضوع رو بررسی کنید (estedâ dâram in mowzu ro baresi konid) “I humbly request that you look into this matter.”
• استدعا کردن (estedâ kardan) “to petition / to submit a formal request”
• تقاضا و استدعای من اینه که… (taghâzâ va estedâ-ye man ine ke…) “My appeal and humble request is that…”
• با کمال احترام استدعا دارم (bâ kamâl-e ehtarâm estedâ dâram) “With the utmost respect I humbly request…”

Cultural note

The deferential register of استدعا reflects a broader feature of formal Persian: the language has a layered system for expressing requests, ranging from neutral درخواست to deferential استدعا to deeply submissive forms using التماس or زاری. Choosing the right word signals not only what you want but how you see the power relationship between yourself and the addressee. In modern Iran, استدعا appears most in written form, in letters to government offices, courts, and university administrations, where the formal tone is expected and its absence might mark the writer as insufficiently respectful.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab