What it means
هدهد (hodhod) is the hoopoe, a striking bird with a fan-shaped crest and bold black-and-white wings. The word comes from Arabic, where it is onomatopoeic, imitating the bird’s low, repeated call. In Arabic the bird is هُدهُد (hudhud), and the word entered Persian directly. The native Persian name for the same bird is شانهبهسر (shâne-be-sar), meaning “one with a comb on its head,” but هدهد is the form that dominates in literary and Quranic contexts. In the Quran, the hoopoe serves as a messenger for the Prophet Solomon.
How to use it
- هدهد در شعر عطار پیامرسان سیمرغه. (Hodhod dar she’r-e Attar payâmresân-e Simorghe.) “In Attar’s poetry, the hoopoe is the messenger of the Simorgh.”
- یه هدهد تو باغ دیدم. (Ye hodhod too bâgh didam.) “I saw a hoopoe in the garden.”
- تاج هدهد خیلی قشنگه. (Tâj-e hodhod kheyli ghashangeh.) “The hoopoe’s crest is really beautiful.”
- هدهد نماد هدایت و حکمته. (Hodhod namâd-e hedâyat o hekmate.) “The hoopoe is a symbol of guidance and wisdom.”
Cultural note
The هدهد holds a unique place in Persian literary culture because of Farid ud-Din Attar’s 12th-century masterpiece Manteq ut-Tayr (Conference of the Birds). In that poem, the hoopoe leads thirty birds on a spiritual journey to find the mythical Simorgh, serving as a guide and teacher. This story made the hoopoe an enduring symbol of spiritual leadership and divine wisdom in the Persian Sufi tradition. The bird’s Quranic role as Solomon’s messenger added to its sacred status long before Attar wrote his poem.