What it means
شعله (sho’le) means a flame, or more practically, a stove burner. The word entered Persian from Arabic شعلة (shu’la), which described a torch or piece of wood set alight. In modern everyday speech, شعله is the word Iranians use for each individual burner ring on a gas stove, as well as for any visible flame. A related word is آتش (atash), the pure Persian word for fire in general, but شعله is more specific: a single, directed flame rather than a whole fire.
How to use it
- شعله رو کم کن، داره میسوزه. (sho’le ro kam kon, dare misooze.) “Turn the flame down, it’s burning.”
- اون شعله اجاق خاموشه. (oon sho’le-ye ejaq khomush-e.) “That burner on the stove is off.”
- شعله رو زیاد کن آب زودتر بجوشه. (sho’le ro ziad kon ab zudtar bejushe.) “Turn up the flame so the water boils faster.”
- شعله شمع تو باد خاموش شد. (sho’le-ye sham’ too bad khomush shod.) “The candle flame went out in the wind.”
Cultural note
Most Iranian home kitchens run on gas, so شعله is a word heard several times a day around meal preparation. The instruction شعله رو کم کن (turn down the flame) is one of the most common things said in an Iranian kitchen. Beyond the practical, شعله also carries strong poetic meaning in classical Persian literature, where it often symbolizes passion, longing, or divine light, a usage inherited directly from the Arabic literary tradition that brought the word into Persian.