Khuda Hafiz (Persian: خداحافظ|Khodâ Hâfez), Pashto: خداۍ حافظ (khuday hafiz), Bengali: খোদা হাফেজ (Khoda Hafej), Urdu: {{Nastaliq|خُدا حافِظ, Hindi: ख़ुदा हाफ़िज़, (Xudā Hāfiz), Kurdish:, (kẖwạ ḥạfy̰z), Azerbaijani: Xüdafiz), is a common parting phrase originating in the Persian language. It is most commonly used in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and in South Asia,[1] where it is also sometimes used by non-Muslims including some Christians and Parsis.[2] [3] Additionally it is also used by some Azeris, Kurds, and Jews of Iranian heritage.[4]
In Persian, it is colloquially often shortened to Khodafez.
Literally translated it is: "May God be your Guardian". Khoda, which is Persian for God, and hāfiz means "protector" or “guardian”.[5] The vernacular translation is, "Good-bye". The phrase is also used in the Azerbaijani, Sindhi, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali and Punjabi languages.[5] [6] It also can be defined as "May God be your protector."
Transliterations may also include Khudā Hāfiz, Khudā Hāfez, and Khodā Hāfiz. One would traditionally respond with replying Khudā Hāfiz. Khuda Hafiz and the English term Goodbye have similar meanings. Goodbye is a contraction of "God be with ye".[7]
A variation of this includes Allah Hāfiz which became prevalent in Pakistan after Islamization and in Bangladesh in a way to counter Persian influence and focus more on Islam. In Pakistan, this variation was used as a counter to the original Khuda Hāfiz. Despite the word Allah being Arabic, it is not used as a parting phrase in the Arab world, where Ma'a Salamah is said.