کفش
کفش (kafsh) means “shoe” in Persian. The word every guest hears the moment they reach the front door.
Glossary
شلوار
شلوار (shalvâr) means “trousers” in Persian. The word covers everything from loose pajama pants to formal office trousers.
عدد
عدد (adad): “number, unit.” Both a noun (“a number”) and a classifier (“three adad books” = three books). More formal than the everyday classifier تا.
آب نریخت کوزه
آب نریخت کوزه (âb narikht kuze): “the jug did not spill water.” Praise for someone careful and skilled. The kind of person who manages a household without waste.
دروغ حافظه ندارد
دروغ حافظه ندارد (dorugh hâfeze nadârad): “a lie has no memory.” Liars trip themselves up because they cannot remember the lies they told. Used as warning, used as accusation.
خیر اندر خانه
خیر اندر خانه (kheyr andar khâne): “goodness inside the home.” Real virtue lives at home, not at the mosque or the bazaar. A quiet Iranian rebuke to performative piety.
نوش و خار
نوش و خار (nush-o-khâr): “the sweet and the thorn.” The Persian image for the inseparability of pleasure and pain. Hafez and Sa’di country.
مرید
مرید (morid): the disciple, the follower of a Sufi master. In modern Persian also the casual word for a fan. The other side of the pir-morid relationship.
پیر
پیر (pir): the elder, the old one, the spiritual master. Both literal age and Sufi guidance. The figure who has walked the road and waits at the turning.
ساقی
ساقی (sâqi): the wine-bearer at the feast. In Sufi poetry, the divine beloved who serves the wine of mystical knowledge. Hafez addresses the saqi over and over.