What it means
روح (ruh) means “soul, spirit.” Arabic loanword from a Semitic root meaning “breath, wind.” B1 vocabulary, woven into both religious discourse and everyday emotional speech. Distinct from جان (jân), جان is life-force, روح is the metaphysical soul.
How to use it
- روح شاد (ruh-e shâd) “joyful soul” (often said of the deceased)
- روحش در آرامش (ruhash dar ârâmesh) “may his/her soul be at peace”
- روح و جان (ruh-o-jân) “soul and spirit”
Common pairings
- روحانی (ruhâni) “spiritual; cleric”
- روحیه (ruhiye) “morale, spirit”
- بیروح (bi-ruh) “soulless, lifeless”
- روحالقدس (ruh-ol-qodos) “Holy Spirit” (Christian Trinity term)
Religious context
From Arabic روح (rūḥ), triliteral root ر و ح (“breath, wind, spirit”). The Quran (15:29, 21:91) describes God breathing روح into Adam and Mary, making روح a sacred metaphysical category in Islamic thought. Persian Sufi poets distinguish روح (the soul) from نفس (nafs, “ego, lower self”) and قلب (qalb, “heart”), each a stage of spiritual purification. The phrase روحش شاد (ruhash shâd, “may his soul be joyful”) is a common Iranian honorific for the dead.
References
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