A toshak is an Afghan floor mattress, long and fairly thin, used for sitting by day and often for sleeping at night, with loose pillows behind it. An Arabic majlis is raised, sofa-height seating built as upholstered units with fixed backs and arm bolsters, made only for sitting. Sofhu makes both, and the low Arabic floor sofa that sits between them, cut to your room.
- Toshak
- Afghan floor mattress for sitting and sleeping
- Back support on a toshak
- Loose pillows called balesht or poshty
- Arabic floor sofa
- Low seat mattress, loose back cushions, armrest blocks
- Arabic majlis
- Raised upholstered units with fixed backs and arm bolsters
- Armrests
- Majlis and floor sofa: yes. Toshak: traditionally none
- Sofhu toshak covers
- Zippered, machine wash cold, inside out
- Sofhu foam
- 32 kg/m³ (32 DNS) high-density foam
- Sizing
- Made to measure, free shipping worldwide
On this page
Is an Afghan majlis a real thing, or two traditions sharing a search box? It is a little of both. The Afghan toshak vs majlis comparison comes up because Afghan families abroad shop next to Arab families, see the same sets in the same listings, and reasonably ask whether the Arabic one would suit a home that has always used toshaks. The short answer: they do the same job, seating guests around the walls of one room, at different heights and with different pieces.
One point of vocabulary first, because Sofhu makes two Arabic products. The Arabic majlis is raised, sofa-height seating built as upholstered units with fixed backs and arm bolsters. The Arabic floor sofa is a low cushion set on the floor, and it is the closer relative of the toshak. This page compares the toshak with both.
Afghan toshak vs majlis: side by side
They differ most in height and structure. A toshak room is made of mattresses and loose pillows. An Arabic floor sofa adds matched back cushions and armrest blocks to a thicker seat. A majlis is built as raised upholstered units.
| Afghan toshak | Arabic floor sofa | Arabic majlis | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic piece | Long floor mattress | Thick seat mattress | Raised upholstered unit |
| Height | On the floor | On or near the floor | Sofa height |
| Back support | Loose pillows (balesht, poshty) | Loose back cushions on the wall | Tall fixed back |
| Armrests | None | Armrest blocks | Arm bolsters |
| Used for | Sitting, eating, sleeping | Sitting, eating, hosting | Formal sitting, receiving guests |
| Seat | Thinner, softer | Thicker, firmer | Firm, structured |
| Layout | Around the walls | Around the walls | Around the walls, often L or U |
All three leave the middle of the room open and put guests with their backs to the wall, facing each other. A visitor from Kabul and a visitor from Sana’a would each know where to sit in the other’s house.
The toshak set
A toshak is first of all a mattress. The word means exactly that. In many Afghan households people sit on toshaks instead of chairs, eat their meals there and sleep on them at night. For the back there are large pillows, the balesht or poshty, propped between the sitter and the wall. Woven Baluch balisht are a known type: a piled textile bag, stuffed and used as a back cushion.
Winter adds one more piece. Families gather on their toshaks around a sandali, a very low table with a quilt spread over it and a source of warmth beneath, so that everyone’s legs are under the same cover. It is often compared to the Japanese kotatsu.
Three things follow from this way of living:
- The run is unbroken. With no armrests in the way, a guest can lie down on the same piece at night.
- The pillows move. They are stacked, shared or carried to another room as needed.
- The room changes role. One room is the sitting room at noon, the dining room in the evening and the guest bedroom at night.
Sofhu makes toshak-style sets with zippered covers that, according to the site, can be machine washed in cold water with the cover turned inside out. The photograph shows one in cream with burgundy cross-stitch bands, laid as a single row with a plain rug. The product is described on the premium Afghan toshak page, and the background is in what is a toshak.
The Arabic majlis set and the Arabic floor sofa
Arabic seating is built for sitting upright in company for a long time. UNESCO, which inscribed the majlis as a cultural and social space in 2015, describes the room as typically a large space with carpets on the floor and cushions against the wall. The seating that furnishes it today comes in two forms.
The Arabic floor sofa keeps the old floor-level posture and has three working parts: the seat mattress, the back cushion that leans on the wall, and the armrest block. The armrest is the real difference from a toshak. It gives every guest an elbow rest and marks out individual places along a wall. It also means the set is not a bed. A thicker, firmer seat and fixed divisions suit sitting upright through a three-hour visit and are less good for a night’s sleep. Sofhu makes these in one fabric, in a single row, an L shape or a U shape, usually with a matching ottoman, floor cushions and a rug.
The Arabic majlis goes a step further from the toshak. It is raised to sofa height and built as fully upholstered units: a solid base, a tall fixed back, arm bolsters, piping and trim. It lines the walls of a formal guest room, usually in an L or a U. Both products are filled with 32 kg/m³ (32 DNS) high-density foam. The names and roles of each piece are explained in parts of a majlis set.
The photograph shows a beige velvet majlis in a U shape, with damask panels and tray-top armrests. People who search for an Afghan majlis sofa usually have something lower in mind: toshak seating with the back cushions and armrests of an Arabic floor sofa.
Fabrics and colours
Fabric is where personal and regional taste shows, and it is also where we know least for certain. Sellers often state that one colour or one printed velvet is the classic Afghan toshak cover. We have not found a reliable source for that, so we will not repeat it. What we can describe is what Sofhu makes.
For toshak-style sets, the cream design with cross-stitch bands shown on this page is one direction: pale ground, a strong woven or embroidered band along the front of the seat and across the pillows. Deep reds and plums are another.
For Arabic sets, the range is wider: plain and patterned velvet, chenille with medallions, striped backs with plain seats, sadu-pattern weaves in red, black and white.
Because every order is made up from the fabric you choose, the two can cross over. An Afghan floor sofa in a plain modern velvet looks at home in a new-build flat. An Arabic floor sofa in a cross-stitch band fabric keeps that look with more back support. Both are ordinary requests.
Practical points apply to both. Pale covers show tea and food sooner, so they suit a guest room more than a family room with children. A patterned seat hides daily wear. Removable covers matter more than any colour choice, since a room that hosts meals will see spills.
Which to choose for your home
Choose by how the room has to work over a whole day.
- Guests often stay the night: toshak style, no armrests, so the seating doubles as bedding.
- The room is for formal visits and long conversations: an Arabic majlis, raised and upright, or an Arabic floor sofa if the family prefers to sit low.
- Elders at home find it hard to get up from the floor: a majlis at sofa height, or a toshak-style set with armrests at the ends and a thicker seat.
- You eat on the floor around a cloth: either. Both keep the centre open.
- The room is small and has to be a bedroom too: toshak style in a single row or an L, since pieces without armrests stack away more easily.
A mix is also possible: the continuous look and band-pattern fabric of the toshak, with the firmer foam, matched back cushions and end armrests of the Arabic floor sofa. Tell us that is what you want and we will build it.
Whatever you call it, Afghan sofa, Afghan couch, Afghani sofa or Afghan sitting sofa, the order works the same way. Send the length of each wall, mark the doors and windows, and say whether you want armrests and whether guests will sleep on it. Buyers in the United States can also read the existing page on Afghan toshak floor sofas in Minnesota. Sofhu builds to order in Türkiye and delivers to your door with free shipping worldwide; duties or taxes may apply depending on the country, so ask before you order.
To go further, see the Afghan toshak style page, the closely related Persian poshti tradition, the general guide to Arabic floor sofas and how complete majlis sofa sets are made up. When you are ready, ask for a quote by measurement.
