This text has been translated from the Dehkhoda Encyclopedic Dictionary of Persian Language on the definition of the word “Zavieh”.

• Corner
• Pillar; (main) element- the main element of the house
• Cave; Cavern
• Eye’s corner
• House; home; room; dwelling; abode; place; locality
• Nest
• Booth; chamber; cell; room
• Private place; not crowded; a place of solitude; a place in a monastery or a convent where one can retire and meditate
• Small room at home used for prayer; an altar; special place to recite holy Quran
• Where the sheikh sits in Khanehghah, or the monastery
• Monk’s cell; monastery
• Inn; caravanserai; similar to Khanehghah, where Sufis stay while traveling,; a place to house scholars, poor and homeless
• A place run by a sheikh and a keeper, where poor and homeless come to get free food and a place to stay.
• “Middle Ages Islamic terminology”; an extensive nonprofit establishment that teaches all the recognized sciences, houses children and low income students while nurturing and training them, receives and provides food and shelter for travelers passing through.
• First time used in Greece as a priest’s domain or cell. Later when monastery life found its way into the life of Muslims, the closest to the original meaning was preserved.
• Establishing Zavieh and caravanserai has its base in the Prophet Mohammad’s tradition, who had allocated part of his mosque to be used as the living quarters for his poor and homeless followers.
• Rubat which is called Takeeh in Turkish, Zavieh, and Khankah which is called the House of Sufis in Persian, or Khangah are used interchangeably.
• In Islamic terminology; is a center for the development of mind and acquisition of all current sciences and literature. In Africa especially in Algiers each Zavieh is named after an “intermediary king”, or a spiritual guide, and consists of:
  1. A mosque with the tomb of the intermediary spiritual guide that the place has been named after.
  2. A special place allocated for reciting holy Quran.
  3. A local school to educate children.
  4. A residence for the students and seekers who are studying to become teachers or judges.
  5. A place to receive and house the travelers and wandering dervishes.
  6. A place to receive and house the travelers and wandering dervishes.
  7. Some also have tombs of pious men or teachers who had wished to be berried next to the intermediary spiritual guide.
  8. Establishing these centers, “Zaviehs”, was one of the most valuable social services imaginable and a sign of highest level of civilization and humanity. Because not only it elevated the standard of education among all ranks in the society, but also alleviated poverty by providing the most essential needs of the underprivileged. As a result, not even one distressed or helpless beggar existed.*1
• In Geometry; a corner, formed when two lines meet or cross each other. An angle.
• Clothing; traveling– sack; prayer-mat and sleeping gear that dervishes carry with themselves all the time.
• An instrument for determining and testing right angles, a set-square.
• An angle of contact (physics); the angle made by the meniscus of a liquid with the solid surface which cuts it.
• Angle of deviation (optics); the angle between the incident and emergent rays when light passes through a prism or any other optical system.
• Angle of elevation; the angle made by an ascending line with the horizontal.
• Angle of incidence (physics); the angle between the direction of a moving body or light ray and the normal drawn at the point of incidence on a surface.
• Angle of reflection (physics); the angle between the direction of a moving body or light ray after reflection from a surface and the normal to the surface at the point of incidence.
• Angle of refraction (physics); the angle between a refracted ray and the normal to the interface at the point where refraction occurs.

*1) “Daeratolmaref Islami”.