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ḤEJLA, a bridal chamber (ḥejla-ye ʿarusi) built generally in the shape of a curtained canopy by a ḥejla-sāz (Dehḵodā, Loḡat-nāma, s.v.). A small portable ḥejla is used to commemorate the death of a young bachelor and has been connected to the legend of the betrothal of Qāsem b. Ḥasan to…

ḤEKMAT, the first Persian-language newspaper to be published in an Arab country. It was published in Cairo from 28 Ṣafar 1310/20 September 1892 until 1 Jomāda II 1329/30 May 1911, as a weekly for the first eight years, three issues per month for the next five years, and fortnightly for…

ḤEKMAT BEY (Hikmet Bey), ʿĀREF, Ottoman šayḵ-al-eslām (supreme authority in religious matters) from 1262/1845 to 1270/1854 and poet in Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, one of the last major exponents of classical Turkish poetry (b. Istanbul ?1201/1786; d. Istanbul, 1275/1859). He was the son of Ebrāhim ʿEṣmat Bey, who served as…

HEKMAT (Ḥekmat), REŻĀ SARDĀR FĀḴER, politician and the powerful speaker of the House of Representatives (Majles; b. Tehran, ca. 1308/1891; d. Tehran, 1356 Š./1978; Figure 1). He was born to Ḥājj Ḥesām-al-Din Širāzi of a wealthy family of Shiraz, where his paternal family had a reputation as physicians and scholars…

HEKMAT (Ḥekmat), ŠAMSI MORĀDPUR, educator and philanthropist (b. Tehran, 1917; d. Los Angeles 2 July, 1997; Figure 1). She graduated from American School and Sage College in Tehran. Founder, owner and principal of Hekmat International School (1950-79) in Tehran, Hekmat was one of the founders and the president of the…

HEKMAT (Ḥekmat), ʿALI-AṢḠAR, man of letters, university professor, cabinet minister, and the chief architect of the modernization of the educational system under Reza Shah, best remembered as a progressive and efficient minister of education (b. Shiraz 23 Ramażān 1310/10 April 1893; d. Tehran 1 Šahrivar 1359 Š./23 August 1980; Figure…

HELĀLI ASTARĀBĀDI JAGATĀʾI, Mawlānā Badr-al-Din (Nur-al-Din), accomplished Persian poet of Turkish origin (b. Astarābād, ca. 874/1470; d. Herat, 936/1529). Helāli spent his early years in his native town, before moving, in around 895/1491, to Herat, where he became a member of the literary circle of Sultan Ḥosayn-e Bāyqarā (q.v.). In…

HELIOCLES I, the last Greek king to reign in Bactria (ca. 145-130 BCE; Figure 1). He was one of the Greek successors of Alexander the Great, who reigned over the provinces north of the Hindu Kush mountain range, known to the ancient classical authors as Caucasus. His existence is known…

HELL i. In Zoroastrianism. ii. Islamic Period.

HELL ii. Islamic Period Duzaḵ (Mid. Pers. dušox, Av. dušaŋhu; AirWb., col. 756) and jahannam are the terms commonly used in Persian for hell.   Various lexicographers record the forms duzaḵ, saqar, merzḡān, marzaḡan, damandān, jaḥim, and saʿir in the sense of hell.  The rare forms dužaḵ (Rawāqi, pp. 19, 80)…

HELL i. IN ZOROASTRIANISM Hell is not explicitly mentioned in the Gathas. There are only allusions made to it, if not in Yasna 31.20, at least in Yasna 46.11, where it is said that the soul and the daēnā (see DĒN) of the wicked arriving at the Činwad Bridge (Av….

HELLANICUSOF LESBOS, a polyhistorian, probably younger than Herodotus but older than Thucydides (ca. 480-395 B.C.?), who was much read in the ancient world. He wrote on mythology, ethnography, and universal chronology; and he was the first to compile a history of Athens. However, only about 200 fragments of his works…

HELLENISM, a term created in Judea in the 2nd century BCE, signifying the adoption by some of the Jews of Greek language, customs, and manners. By extension it came to mean Greek culture and all the characteristics which made a Greek recognize himself as such. In the absence of any…

ḤELLI, ḤASAN B. YUSOF B. MOṬAHHAR, generally referred to, using his title, as “ʿAllāma Ḥelli,” prominent Imami theologian and jurist (b. Ḥella, 27 or 29 Ramażān 648/23 or 25 December 1250; d. Ḥella, 20 or 21 Moḥarram 726/27 or 28 December 1325). LIFE Ḥelli came from a well-established family of…