از چیزی ترسیدن

Contexte culturel

In many Persian folk tales, children are told stories of 'Lulu' (a boogeyman) to make them behave. A common phrase is 'Az Lulu mitarsi?' (Are you afraid of the boogeyman?). Rumi often writes about 'Tars' as a stage in spiritual development. He suggests that fearing the 'nafs' (ego) is more important than fearing physical threats. Iranian youth use 'tarsidan' ironically in memes, often saying 'Pashmam rikht' (My wool fell off - I was so scared) as a slang alternative to 'Tarsidam'. Some Iranians believe that if you get very scared, you should drink sugar water (Ab-ghand) to 'bring your heart back' to its place.