Shiraz. Glossary

Calendar and Dates:

• Persian Calendar: A solar-based calendar system used in Iran.
• It begins on the spring equinox (Nowruz). The year 1376 corresponds to 1997-1998 AD.
• Khordad, Ordibehesht, Azar, Bahman: Names of months in the Persian calendar.

Historical Figures and Events:

• Mohammad Khatami (b. 1943): President of Iran from 1997-2005, a proponent of liberal reforms and a “Dialogue of Civilizations.”
• Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri (1943-): A conservative politician who lost to Khatami in the 1997 election.
• Salman Rushdie: A British-Indian novelist, author of The Satanic Verses (1988), which prompted a fatwa from Ayatollah Khomeini.
• Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881): A British writer and historian, author of On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History.
• René Guénon (1886-1951): A French traditionalist philosopher, a theorist of the “primordial tradition.”
• Julius Evola (1898-1974): An Italian traditionalist philosopher, a theorist of a «spiritual aristocracy.»

Religious and Philosophical Terms:

• Roshanfekri (روشنفکری): “Enlightenment” in Persian.
• Ishraq: A school of Sufi philosophy based on illumination, the “philosophy of light.”
• Sharif: The Sharif University of Technology (formerly Aryamehr).
• Madrasa: An Islamic educational institution.
• Fatwa: A legal ruling on a point of Islamic law.
• VEVAK: The Ministry of Intelligence of Iran.
• IRGC: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
• Basij: A paramilitary volunteer militia attached to the IRGC.

Philosophical Concepts (from the novel):

• Zulmati Roshangarī (ظلمتی روشنگری) – “The Dark Enlightenment”: The name Ali and Javad give to the perceived secret doctrine of the West. Its essence is not to destroy tradition, but to substitute it, creating a simulacrum of a conservative society, but without God and the sacred.
• Moldbug (قالب کهنه) – “The Old Mold”: The method of “The Dark Enlightenment.” The idea is to take the external, “old form” of traditional values (patriarchy, hierarchy, order), but to fill it with a new, alien content (market efficiency, corporate governance, technocracy).
• The Corporate Caliphate: The ultimate goal of the conspiracy, according to Ali and Javad. It is a model of a state run like a transnational corporation by an authoritarian “CEO-Monarch,” where morality is replaced by efficiency, and citizens by “human capital.”
• The Cathedral (Jāme’ Kelīsā — جامع کلیسا): The name for the informal network of influence (universities, media, cultural institutions) that, according to the theory, promotes a new secular religion of “progressivism» in the West and prepares the ground for “The Dark Enlightenment.”

Persian/Arabic Expressions:

• Jan/janam: “my soul,” a term of endearment.
• Azizam: «my dear.»
• Khodahafez: “goodbye” (lit. “God protect you”).
• Salam alaykum: The Islamic greeting.
• Bismillah: “In the name of Allah.”
• Haram: Forbidden in Islam.
• Rusari: A headscarf, worn more loosely than a traditional hijab.
• Chador: A traditional full-body cloak worn by women.
• Manteau: A long outer coat worn by women.

Literary and Cultural References:

• Hafez of Shiraz (1315-1390): A great Persian lyric poet.
• Rumi (1207-1273): A Persian mystic poet and Sufi.
• Omar Khayyam (1048-1131): A Persian poet, mathematician, and philosopher.
• “The Garden of Forking Paths”: A short story by Jorge Luis Borges.
• Girih: Geometric patterns used in Islamic art.

Geographical Names:

• Shiraz: A city in southern Iran, capital of Fars Province, known as the city of poets.
• Isfahan: A city in central Iran, a former capital, known as “half of the world.”
• Zafaraniyeh: An affluent neighborhood in northern Tehran.
• Jolfa: The Armenian quarter in Isfahan.
• Zayandeh-Rood: The river that flows through Isfahan.
• Chaharbagh Avenue: A major historical avenue in Isfahan.

Modern Intellectual Figures (mentioned in the prologue):

• Curtis Yarvin (Mencius Moldbug) (b. 1973): An American programmer and political thinker, a founder of the neoreactionary movement. Under the pseudonym Mencius Moldbug, he wrote the blog “Unqualified Reservations” (2007-2014), where he criticized democracy and proposed a state-as-corporation model. He advocates for replacing democratic institutions with authoritarian technocratic rule modeled on successful corporations. His ideas have influenced parts of Silicon Valley and the alt-right movement.
• Nick Land (b. 1962): A British philosopher, one of the creators of accelerationism and a theorist of “The Dark Enlightenment.” A former lecturer at the University of Warwick, author of works on technocapitalism and the posthuman future. He advocates for accelerating technological development as a way to overcome modern political and social systems. His work combines the philosophy of Deleuze, cyberpunk, and right-wing political ideas.
• Peter Thiel (b. 1967): A German-American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, co-founder of PayPal, and the first outside investor in Facebook. Author of the book Zero to One on startups and innovation. An outspoken critic of democracy (“competition is for losers”), a proponent of technological acceleration and radical life extension. He funds various libertarian and transhumanist projects, including the creation of artificial island-states.
• Neoreaction/NRx: An intellectual movement of the 2000s-2010s that criticizes modern democracy and liberalism. Its supporters advocate for a return to hierarchical forms of government, but on a technocratic, rather than traditionally religious, basis.
• The Dark Enlightenment: A term popularized by Nick Land to describe an intellectual movement that accepts the rationality of the Enlightenment but rejects its egalitarian and democratic conclusions.
• The Cathedral: A term introduced by Yarvin to describe the decentralized but ideologically unified network of influence (leading universities, media, state apparatus) that, in his view, shapes public opinion in the West and promotes “progressivism” as a secular religion.

Scientific Concepts (used metaphorically):

• Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: The quantum mechanical principle stating the impossibility of simultaneously measuring the exact position and momentum of a particle.
• Brownian Motion: The random, chaotic movement of particles suspended in a fluid.
• Phase Transition: A change in the state of matter.
• Isotopes: Varieties of atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons.
• Fibonacci Spiral: A mathematical curve based on the Fibonacci sequence.
• L-F Vulnerability: Most commonly refers to LFI (Local File Inclusion), which occurs when a web application allows a server’s local files to be included in its code without proper validation. This can allow attackers to read sensitive files, alter server configuration, and even execute malicious code, potentially leading to data theft, site compromise, and reputational damage.