The Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim who is able is required to undertake at least once in their lives, begins this weekend, and I have written a length piece about it over there. I won’t repeat all the details about the Hajj here, just some of the vocabulary, which is largely unchanged from the Arabic.
- Hajj: حَج (ḥajj)
- Pilgrimage (Persian): زِیارَت (ziyārat, from the Arabic for “visit”)
- Mecca: مکه
- Medina: مدینه
- Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken any time of the year): عُمره (ʿumrah)
- Ihram, the state of ritual purity required of all pilgrims: اِحرام (iḥrām)
- The Mosque of the Holy Place, or Masjid-i Haram, the mosque in Mecca: مَسجِدِ حَرام (masjid-i ḥarām)
- The Kaaba, the black cube-shaped structure at the heart of the Masjid-i Haram: کَعبه (kaʿbah)
- Tawaf, the ritual circumnabulation of the Kaaba that begins and ends the pilgrimage: طَواف (ṭawāf)
- Mount Arafat, where Muhammad gave his final sermon and the central location of the pilgrimage: کوهِ عَرَفات (kūh-i ʿarafāt) or the Arabic, جَبَل عَرَفات (jabal ʿarafāt)
- Hajji, one who has completed the Hajj: حاجی (ḥājjī)
- Hajj Mubarak (“Congratulations on the Hajj”), the greeting to offer a Hajji: حَج مُبارَك
Persian Word a Day 