آتش خانه به سایه
آتش خانه به سایه (âtash-e khâne be sâyegh): “the fire of the house warms the shade outside.” The proverb of generosity that overflows the household.
Glossary
مرغ همسایه غاز است
مرغ همسایه غاز است (morgh-e hamsâye ghâz ast): “the neighbor’s chicken is a goose.” The Persian way of saying the grass is always greener.
سحری
سحری (sahari) means “the pre-dawn meal” eaten before fasting begins during Ramadan. From Arabic سحر, the time just before dawn.
اربعین
اربعین (arba’in) means “40th day,” the Shia mourning ritual marking forty days after the death of Imam Hossein at Karbala in 680 CE.
تسلی
تسلی (tasalli) means “consolation, comfort” given to someone in grief or distress. Arabic loanword, central to Iranian condolence vocabulary.
احسان
احسان (ehsân) means “kindness, charity, doing good.” An Arabic-origin virtue concept central to Iranian moral and religious vocabulary, deeper than ordinary kindness.
استقبال
استقبال (esteghbâl) means “welcoming guests.” In Iranian culture it carries a specific weight: going outside the door to greet someone is honoring them, not just opening the door.
شبنشینی
شبنشینی (shab-neshini) means “evening visit,” literally “night-sitting.” A casual social gathering at someone’s house, the everyday scaffolding of Iranian friendship.
جهاز
جهاز (jahâz) means “dowry items,” the household goods a bride brings into a marriage. A traditional Iranian institution that still shapes wedding negotiations today.
نژاد
نژاد (nezhâd) means “race, lineage, stock.” A pure-Persian word that contemporary Iranians use carefully because of how 20th-century state nationalism wielded it.