What it means
ثواب (savâb) means religious merit, spiritual reward, or the divine credit earned by good deeds. The word is borrowed from Arabic ثَواب (thawâb), a verbal noun from the root ث-و-ب (th-w-b) carrying the sense of returning or repaying, hence the reward that God returns to a person for righteous action. In Persian the initial Arabic th sound shifts to s, giving savâb. The concept belongs to Islamic theology: acts of worship, charity, kindness, and piety accumulate savâb that will benefit the person in the afterlife. In everyday speech the phrase ثواب داره (savâb dâre, it carries religious merit) is used to encourage someone to do a good deed, and ثوابش رو ببر (savâbesh ro bebar, take its merit for yourself) is a blessing said to someone who has done something kind. The opposite of savâb is گناه (gonâh, sin).
How to use it
- به مریض عیادت کن، ثواب داره (be mariz ‘eyâdat kon, savâb dâre) “Visit the sick person, it carries religious merit.”
- برای ثواب کمک کردم (barâye savâb komak kardam) “I helped for the sake of God’s reward.”
- ثوابش رو ببر (savâbesh ro bebar) “May God reward you for it.”
- این کار ثواب نداره (in kâr savâb nadâre) “This act carries no merit.”
Cultural note
The logic of ثواب shapes many everyday charitable and social behaviors in Iranian culture. Feeding guests generously, helping a neighbor, visiting the sick, and giving to the poor are all framed through the language of savâb. Religious occasions such as Ramadan intensify this: giving iftar food to a fasting person is said to earn savâb equal to the fast itself. Even secular Iranians often use the term unselfconsciously, reflecting how deeply this framework of spiritual accounting has been woven into the cultural fabric.
References
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