شاید

Shâyad carries a quiet fatalism that runs through Iranian speech. Plans, promises, returns, recoveries are all hedged with maybe. اگه خدا بخواد (age khodâ bekhâd, "if God wills") often follows shâyad in the same sentence. The doubling is not redundant. It is a layered acknowledgement that life unfolds outside our hands. Sohrab Sepehri and Forough Farrokhzad both use shâyad as a poetic hinge, leaving sentences open. When an Iranian friend says shâyad, they are leaving room for the world to surprise them, and you.