قسمت

/ qesmat /

noun · fate, share

Meaning

معنی

From Arabic قسمة (qisma, "share, portion, fate"), root ق س م. قسمت is a softening philosophical reflex Iranians reach for when something works out, fails, or simply happens: "قسمت بود" smooths over disappointment ("it was destined") and amplifies celebration ("we were meant to meet"). Less heavy than the religious تقدیر (taqdir, "divine decree"), more poetic than the colloquial شانس (shâns, "luck"). The English "kismet" comes through Turkish from the same Arabic word.

How it's used

Qesmat as a fatalist explanation works across all Persian-speaking regions and crosses religious lines (Muslim, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Bahai Iranians all use it). In rural and traditional settings the word is invoked seriously, almost ritually. In urban Tehran among younger educated speakers, it is often deployed ironically (haha qesmat-am bud, "guess it was meant to be") even by people who do not believe in fate. In diaspora, qesmat survives in family conversation but is rarely used in writing.

In a sentence

مثال

قسمت بود

qesmat bud

It was meant to be

The company it keeps

هم‌نشین‌ها

You rarely meet a word alone — here it is, at work beside others.

قسمت کردن

qesmat kardan

to divide, to share

قسمتی

qesmati

a portion of

هر کس قسمت خود را دارد

har kas qesmat-e khod râ dârad

each has their own destiny

تقسیم

taqsim

division

In its constellation

در پیوند

No word stands alone. Follow a thread to the words it lives beside — hover to read one, click to open it.

See it in the whole constellation →

قسمتqesmat

بختbakht کسkos تقسیمtaqsim

قسمتqesmat

keeps company with ۳ words