shab

Shab is a word meaning night in Persian and related languages such as Urdu, Dari and Tajik, written as شب in the Persian script. It functions as a common noun for the period of darkness between sunset and dawn and is used widely in everyday speech, poetry and song. The term forms part of a family of Indo-Iranian cognates for “night” that appear across the region’s languages.

In cultural contexts, Shab appears in compound terms and festival names. Shab-e Barat, known as the Night of Forgiveness, is observed by Muslims in South Asia and the Middle East. Shab-e Qadr (Laylat al-Qadr) denotes the Night of Power in Islamic tradition. Shab-e Chelleh or Shabe Yalda refers to the longest night of the year, celebrated in Iran and among Persian-speaking communities during the winter solstice. These usages reflect the social and religious importance attached to night in the region’s calendars.

Beyond its use as a common noun, Shab is also encountered as a given name or nickname in some communities, and it appears in the titles of literary, musical and film works in Persian- and Urdu-speaking cultures. In transliteration from Persian and related languages, the spelling may appear as Shab or with diacritics depending on the system used.