گلستان

Persian

Etymology

From گل (gol, “rose”) +‎ ـستان (-estân).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ɡu.lis.ˈtɑːn]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡʊ.lɪs.t̪ʰɑ́ːn]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡʊ.lɪs.t̪ʰɑ́ːn]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ɡʊ.lɪs.t̪ʰɑ́ːn]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ɡu.lis.t̪ʰɔ́ːn]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡ̥o.les.t̪ʰɒ́ːn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡu.lis.t̪ʰɔ́n]

Readings
Classical reading?	gulistān
Dari reading?	gulistān
Iranian reading?	golestân
Tajik reading?	guliston

• Rhymes: -ɑːn

Noun

Dari	گلستان
Iranian Persian
Tajik	гулистон

گلستان • (golestân)

1. rose garden

   Synonym: گلزار (golzâr)

   • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 162”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎^[1]:

     غنیمت دان و می خور در گلستان
     که گل تا هفتهٔ دیگر نباشد

     ğanīmat dān u may xwar dar gulistān
     ki gul tā hafta-yi dīgar nabāšad

     Know the opportunity and drink wine in the rose garden,
     For next week, the rose will be no more.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: gülüstan
• → Bengali: গুলিস্তান (gulistan)
• → Gujarati: ગુલિસ્તાન (gulistān)
• → Hindi: गुलिस्तान (gulistān)
• → Karakalpak: gúlistan
• → Kazakh: гүлстан (gülstan)
• → Kyrgyz: гүлстан (gülstan)
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਗੁਲਿਸਤਾਨ (gulistān)

  Shahmukhi script: گلستان (gulistān)

• → Turkish: gülistan
• → Urdu: گلستان (gulistān)
• → Uyghur: گۈلىستان (gülistan)
• → Uzbek: guliston

Proper noun

Dari	گلستان
Iranian Persian
Tajik	Гулистон

گلستان • (golestân)

1. the Gulistan of Sa'di, a renowned thirteenth-century prosimetrum
2. Golestan (a province of Iran)

Descendants

• → Gujarati: ગુલિસ્તાન (gulistān)

Urdu

FWOTD – 6 January 2025

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian گُلِسْتَان (gulistān). First attested in c. 1611 as Middle Hindi گلستان (glstan /⁠gulistān⁠/). By surface analysis, گُل (gul, “flower”) +‎ ـِسْتَان (-istān).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɡʊ.lɪs.t̪ɑːn/
• Rhymes: -ɑːn
• Hyphenation: گُ‧لِس‧تان

Noun

گُلِسْتان • (gulistān) m (Hindi spelling गुलिस्तान)

1. rose garden, flower garden, garden, flower-bed
   • 1904, Muhammad Iqbal, Tarānā-e-Hind :

     سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہمارا
     ہم بلبلیں ہیں اس کی، یہ گلستاں ہمارا

     sāre jahā̃ se acchā, hindostā̃ hamārā.
     ham bulbulẽ ha͠i iskī, yah gulistā̃ hamārā.

     Better than the whole world, is our Hindustan;
     We are its nightingales, and it is our flower-garden.

2. poetry collection

Declension

Declension of گلستان

	singular	plural
direct	گُلِسْتان (gulistān)	گُلِسْتان (gulistān)
oblique	گُلِسْتان (gulistān)	گُلِسْتانوں (gulistānõ)
vocative	گُلِسْتان (gulistān)	گُلِسْتانو (gulistāno)

Further reading

• “گلستان”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “گلستان”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]