گناه

What it means

گناه (gonâh) means sin, fault, blame, or moral transgression. The word is inherited from Middle Persian gunâh, and its roots run deep in the pre-Islamic Persian moral vocabulary. In religious contexts it refers to an act that violates divine or ethical law. In everyday secular speech it can mean personal fault or blame: گناه اون نیست (gonâh-e un nist) means “it is not his fault.” The verb گناه کردن (gonâh kardan) means to sin or to commit a wrong. There is also a specifically colloquial use in the phrase گناه داره (gonâh dâre), which expresses pity or sympathy, something like “what a shame” or “poor thing.” If someone says گناه داره referring to a struggling child or an injured animal, they are expressing compassionate sorrow, not moral condemnation. A related word is گناهکار (gonâhkâr), meaning a sinner or a guilty person.

How to use it

• این گناه توئه. (in gonâh-e tost.) “This is your fault.”
• گناه کردم که بهش گفتم. (gonâh kardam ke behash goftam.) “I did wrong in telling him.”
• نگاهش کن، بیچاره، گناه داره. (negâhash kon, bichâre, gonâh dâre.) “Look at him, poor thing, it is a shame.”
• گناه این بچه چیه؟ (gonâh-e in bache chiye?) “What is this child guilty of? / What did this child do to deserve this?”

Cultural note

گناه occupies a different emotional space than its Arabic-origin synonym معصیت (ma’siyat), which is more formal and strictly religious. گناه is the word Iranians reach for in daily life, and its range from theological sin down to everyday fault or bad luck gives it unusual emotional flexibility. The colloquial گناه داره is particularly revealing: it shows how a word rooted in moral wrongdoing can soften into an expression of pure tenderness, used for a stray cat in the rain as easily as for a person in distress.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab