What it means
عقاب (oqâb) is the Persian word for eagle, borrowed directly from Arabic عقاب (uqâb). It refers to large raptors, most commonly the golden eagle, which nests in Iran’s mountain ranges. The native Persian word شاهباز (shâhbâz, literally “royal falcon”) sometimes overlaps in poetic usage, but عقاب specifically means eagle in both formal and everyday speech. In Persian, عقاب is almost always paired with images of height, power, and freedom.
How to use it
- عقاب از بالای کوه شکار میکنه. (Oqâb az bâlâ-ye kuh shekâr mi-kone.) “The eagle hunts from above the mountain.”
- عقاب طلایی در ایران زندگی میکنه. (Oqâb-e talâyi dar Irân zendegi mi-kone.) “The golden eagle lives in Iran.”
- پرواز عقاب خیلی باشکوهه. (Parvâz-e oqâb kheili bâshokuh-e.) “The eagle’s flight is very majestic.”
- عقاب توی آسمون دوری میزد. (Oqâb tu-ye âsemun duri mi-zad.) “The eagle was circling in the sky.”
Cultural note
عقاب holds a prestigious place in Persian literature and symbolism. Poets from Ferdowsi onward have used the eagle as a metaphor for the noble, free, and soaring human spirit. Note that Iqbal Lahori’s famous raptor symbol is شاهین (shâhin, the peregrine falcon), not عقاب, so the two should not be conflated. In modern Iranian culture, the eagle appears on sports emblems, military insignia, and in proverbs contrasting the high-flying عقاب with lesser birds. Iran’s Alborz and Zagros mountain ranges provide habitat for several eagle species, making the bird a genuine presence in the Iranian landscape as well as its imagination.