What it means
خاکسپاری (khâksepâri) means burial, the act of placing and interring a body in the earth. It is built entirely from native Persian roots: خاک (khâk) meaning earth or soil, and سپاری (sepâri) from the verb سپردن (sepordan), meaning to entrust or commit something to someone’s care. The combined image is of entrusting the body to the earth. It is a neutral-register word used in both formal announcements and ordinary conversation. A more Arabic-rooted near-synonym is تدفین (tadfin), which carries a more formal and religious tone.
How to use it
- خاکسپاری در بهشت زهرا انجام شد. (Khâksepâri dar Behesht-e Zahrâ anjâm shod.) “The burial took place at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery.”
- مراسم خاکسپاری ساده بود. (Marâsem-e khâksepâri sâde bud.) “The burial ceremony was simple.”
- بعد از خاکسپاری همه رفتن خونهی عزادار. (Ba’d az khâksepâri hame raftan khune-ye azâdâr.) “After the burial everyone went to the house of mourning.”
- تاریخ خاکسپاری اعلام نشده. (Târikh-e khâksepâri e’lâm nashodeh.) “The date of burial has not been announced.”
Cultural note
Islamic law requires burial to be carried out without cremation, so خاکسپاری is the only sanctioned form of final disposition in Iran. Before خاکسپاری can take place, the body must be ritually washed (غسل, ghosl) and wrapped in a shroud (کفن, kafan) according to Islamic rites. Behesht-e Zahra in Tehran is the largest and most well-known cemetery in Iran, and its name is commonly used in death announcements to indicate where خاکسپاری will occur.