Pedestrian

The recent Mousavi interview has been translated by a number of sources, including Washington Post, the New York Times, Tehran Bureau, and yes, Khordaad88 (Khordaad88 is the only source I know of that translated the entire text of the interview). While of course the first three organizations carry a much more professional staff, I take issue with their translation of the word “ferghe” in the context used, as “cult”.

In the end, I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. At Khordaad88, we strive to stay faithful to the original context without making any personal interpretations. So I think it can certainly be argued that Mousavi meant cult, but, that’s making an assumption. We chose not to. The word ‘ferghe’ in Persian can have a myriad of different uses: “faction”, “party”, “clique”, “group”,  (ethnic, religious, etc) and yes, cult. But, especially in popular culture, the word cult in English has a particular negative connotation to it that the word “ferghe” in Persian does not have. (not that “ferghe” can not have a negative meaning, but cult is a much stronger word, and in the context Mousavi uses it, it is not clear if he meant cult).

So, the Khordaad88 translation is:

This [current] ruling establishment is a clique.

While other news sources have translated it as:

This political establishment is a cult.

It may be considered a minor detail, but I beg to differ. Even though I would certainly call the current Iranian rulers a weird, perverted cult, perhaps ever more ludicrous than Monsieur Raël at Clonaid, I don’t think the translation of the word “ferghe” as such is empty of controversy.