قسمت (qesmat) means “fate, destiny, lot, share, portion.” Arabic loanword, A2 vocabulary. The everyday Iranian word for “it was meant to be”, both the philosophical and the casual sense. Same root gives English “kismet” via Turkish.
How to use it
قسمت بود (qesmat bud) “It was meant to be”
قسمت نشد (qesmat nashod) “It was not in the cards (it did not happen)”
قسمت من (qesmat-e man) “my share, my portion”
Common pairings
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” (same Arabic root)
Cultural note
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.
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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.
Roots & Connections
Arabicقِسْمَةqisma, share/portion/fate; root ق-س-م (q-s-m, to divide)
Ottoman Turkishkısmetintermediary that transmitted the word to English as kismet
Persianقسمتborrowed from Arabic; semantic shift toward fate/destiny
Regional notes
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.
