بخت
بخت (bakht) is fate or lot in life. Pure Persian. Different from shâns (chance): bakht is what was assigned to you at birth, shâns is what happens by accident on Tuesday.
Glossary
حساب
حساب (hesâb) is a workhorse word: bank account, arithmetic, the bill at a restaurant, and the calculation of taking someone’s feelings into account. One word, many ledgers.
امانت
امانت (amânat) is something entrusted: a deposit you hold for someone, a child God placed in your care, a secret a friend gave you. A foundational moral concept in Iranian ethics.
تنهایی
تنهایی (tanhâ’i) is loneliness, but also solitude. Pure Persian, the abstract noun from tanhâ (alone). A word that does heavy lifting in modern Persian poetry and Iranian fiction.
انقلاب
انقلاب (enqelâb) is revolution. In Iran the word without qualifier defaults to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Other revolutions have to be named: Constitutional, White, Green.
آزادی
آزادی (âzâdi) is freedom. Pure Persian. The third word in the 2022 protest slogan zan, zendegi, âzâdi (Woman, Life, Freedom). Loaded with political, personal, and poetic weight.
عدالت
عدالت (edâlat) means justice. In Iran the word is loaded with political, religious, and poetic weight. It is the third pillar of Shia theology and a recurring word in protest slogans.
محرک
محرک (moharrek) is the motivator, the cause behind an action. Used in psychology, criminology, and everyday questions like “what was your motive?” From the Arabic root for movement.
تسبیح
تسبیح (tasbih) is the string of 33, 99, or 100 beads used to count zekr (remembrance of God). Shia tasbih is often made from karbala-clay. Also a casual fidget object.
حوزه
حوزه (howze) is a Shia Islamic seminary. The major centers are Najaf in Iraq and Qom in Iran, where mojtaheds and ayatollahs are trained.