What it means
قیم (qayyem) is the formal Persian term for legal guardian, a person appointed by a court to act on behalf of someone who cannot manage their own affairs, typically a minor child without parents, or an adult deemed legally incapacitated. The word comes directly from Arabic قَيِّم, meaning one who stands up for or oversees something, related to the root ق-و-م (q-w-m) conveying standing and management. In Persian legal language قیم is distinct from ولی (vali), which is the natural guardian by family relation (father or paternal grandfather under civil law). قیم is court-appointed; ولی is a status conferred by family law automatically.
How to use it
- دادگاه یه قیم برای بچه تعیین کرد. (dâdgâh ye qayyem barâ-ye bache ta’yin kard.) “The court appointed a guardian for the child.”
- قیم قانونی اون بچه عموشه. (qayyem-e qânuni-ye un bache ammush-e.) “The legal guardian of that child is his paternal uncle.”
- وظیفه قیم حفاظت از داراییهای یتیمه. (vazife-ye qayyem hefâzat az dârâyi-hâ-ye yatim-e.) “The guardian’s duty is to protect the orphan’s assets.”
- قیم باید هر سال به دادگاه گزارش بده. (qayyem bâyad har sâl be dâdgâh gozâresh bede.) “The guardian must report to the court every year.”
Cultural note
Under the Iranian Civil Code, the institution of قیم is governed by detailed rules about who may be appointed, what supervision the court exercises, and how the guardian accounts for the ward’s property. When a child loses both parents and has no living paternal grandfather, the court appoints a قیم, who is then subject to periodic judicial oversight. The term also appears in Islamic jurisprudence, where it carries overlapping but not identical meanings, which is why legal documents in Iran tend to use it with precise statutory references rather than relying on its religious sense alone.