What it means
شاهد احضار (shâhed-e ehzâr) means a witness who has been formally summoned or subpoenaed by a court. Both words are Arabic loanwords: شاهد (shâhed) comes from the Arabic root ش-ه-د (sh-h-d, to witness or testify), and احضار (ehzâr) comes from ح-ض-ر (h-d-r, to make someone present, to summon). A شاهد احضار is not simply a volunteer witness but one who has received an official notice, called احضاریه (ehzâriyye), requiring their appearance before a judge. Refusing to comply with an احضاریه can itself lead to legal consequences. In informal speech, people often say just احضار شده (ehzâr shode), meaning they were summoned.
How to use it
- شاهد احضار فردا باید در دادگاه حاضر باشه. (Shâhed-e ehzâr fardâ bâyad dar dâdgâh hâzer bâshe.) “The summoned witness must be present in court tomorrow.”
- برات احضاریه فرستادن. (Barât ehzâriyye ferestâdan.) “They sent you a summons.”
- شاهد از حضور در دادگاه امتناع کرد. (Shâhed az hozur dar dâdgâh emtenâ’ kard.) “The witness refused to appear in court.”
- دادگاه چند نفر رو به عنوان شاهد احضار کرد. (Dâdgâh chand nafar ro be onvân-e shâhed ehzâr kard.) “The court summoned several people as witnesses.”
Cultural note
In the Iranian legal system, the testimony of witnesses carries significant weight, and courts actively use احضاریه to compel attendance. The concept of شهادت (shahâdat), meaning testimony or witnessing, has deep roots in both Islamic jurisprudence and Persian civic life. Outside the courtroom, شاهد appears in religious discourse referring to martyrdom, since the Arabic word for martyr, شهید (shahid), shares the same root. This overlap gives the word شاهد a cultural resonance well beyond its strictly legal meaning.