在近代,呼羅珊這個名稱一直是懷舊和民族主義的根源,尤其是對於中亞的塔吉克人而言。許多塔吉克人將呼羅珊視為其民族神話的重要成分,在共同討論和學術界裡面,都對於這個名稱抱持興趣,包括其含義和文化上的重要性,但這個名稱已無政治用途。據阿富汗的歷史學家古蘭姆·穆罕默德·果巴(英语:Ghulam Mohammad Ghobar)稱,阿富汗目前使用波斯語的地區佔有呼羅珊的主要部分。[19]因為在呼羅珊的四個主要城市中的兩個(赫拉特和巴爾赫),現在都位於阿富汗。古蘭姆·穆罕默德·果巴在他的書中使用“恰當的呼羅珊”和“不恰當的呼羅珊”來區分嚴格意義上的呼羅珊稱呼和廣義的稱呼。他說,恰當的呼羅珊地區位於東部的巴爾赫,北部的梅爾夫,南部的錫斯坦,西部的內沙布爾,和有呼羅珊明珠之稱的赫拉特之間。不恰當的呼羅珊邊界則擴展至東部的哈扎拉雅特(英语:Hazarajat)和喀布爾,南部的俾路支斯坦,北部的河中地區和花剌子模,以及西部的達姆甘和戈爾甘。[19]
在呼羅珊的東部有與嚈噠人衝突的情況,嚈噠成為該地區的新統治者,但邊疆界線維持穩定不變。呼羅珊位在薩珊王朝領土的東部,遠離阿拉伯半島,是波斯領土中最後被阿拉伯人征服的地區。薩珊王朝的最後一位君王-伊嗣俟三世在阿拉伯人入侵帝國西部後,把朝廷遷往呼羅珊,但在梅爾夫(唐朝文獻稱為木鹿城)遭到暗殺,呼羅珊在公元647年被阿拉伯穆斯林征服。隨同波斯的其他省,成為倭馬亞王朝的一個省。(請參考伊斯蘭征服呼羅珊(英语:Muslim conquest of Khorasan))
^a compound of khwar (meaning "sun") and āsān (from āyān, literally meaning "to come" or "coming" or "about to come"). Thus the name Khorasan (or Khorāyānخورآيان) means "sunrise", viz. "Orient, East".[5] The Persian word Khāvar-zamīn (波斯語:خاور زمین), meaning "the eastern land", has also been used as an equivalent term.[6]
^Sykes, M. (1914). KHORASAN: THE EASTERN PROVINCE OF PERSIA. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, 62(3196), 279-286.
^Humbach, Helmut, and Djelani Davari, "Nāmé Xorāsān" (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆), Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz; Persian translation by Djelani Davari, published in Iranian Languages Studies Website.
MacKenzie, D. (1971). A concise Pahlavi dictionary (p. 95). London: Oxford University Press.
^ 7.07.1Minorsky, V. (1938). Geographical Factors in Persian Art. Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, 9(3), 621-652.
^ 8.08.18.2Khorasan. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. [2010-10-21]. (原始内容存档于2015-05-03). historical region and realm comprising a vast territory now lying in northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, and northern Afghanistan. The historical region extended, along the north, from the Amu Darya (Oxus River) westward to the Caspian Sea and, along the south, from the fringes of the central Iranian deserts eastward to the mountains of central Afghanistan. Arab geographers even spoke of its extending to the boundaries of India.
^Avery, Peter; Hambly, Gavin; Melville, Charles (编). The Cambridge History of Iran (Vol. 7): From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic. Cambridge University Press. 10 October 1991: 183, 394–395. ISBN 978-0-521-20095-0.
^Sicker, Martin. The Bear and the Lion: Soviet Imperialism and Iran. Praeger. 1988: 14. ISBN 978-0-275-93131-5.