# Persian: میان



## Asadullah

ستودن نداند کس او را چو هست

میان بندگی را ببایدت بست

Could somebody tell me what miaan-e bandegi means? I know that "bandegi" means "slavery". Also, what on earth is the ت at the end of "bebaayadat" mean?


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## colognial

Hi! 

The word is normally pronounced 'bebaayadat'; however, here the meter dictates that the same word be pronounced 'bebaayadt'. The ت at the end of the بباید is the subject of this short sentence: تو باید, ببایدت

'Miaan' (میان) is, in this context, 'the waist' or 'the waistband'. 

If you put yourself in the service of someone or something, or if you accept subjection to their will, metaphorically speaking you're bracing your waist to serve that cause. Normally, the expression is  کمر به بندگی بستن. Ferdossi chooses to drop the word کمر (= waist, belt) and replace it with میان.


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## soheil1

میان بستن=gather your determination and energy for a work.
I would really be troubled when my pants are  falling off my waist


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## Asadullah

Oh, I see. That explains the ت at the end of ببایدت. But why is there a be- at the beginning?


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## soheil1

Not any special meaning, just adding some emphasis and deecorating


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## Ali Smith

Asadullah said:


> ستودن نداند کس او را چو هست
> 
> میان بندگی را ببایدت بست
> 
> Could somebody tell me what miaan-e bandegi means? I know that "bandegi" means "slavery". Also, what on earth is the ت at the end of "bebaayadat" mean?


It's not miaan-e-bandegi. There is no _ezaafe_. The word ميان is part of the compound verb ميان بستن, and بندگى is its direct object. That's why it has را at the end.

My translation: Nobody knows how to praise him. You should be determined to worship (him).


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## mannoushka

Yes. There is no one who can praise the Lord as the Lord really is.(چو هست).

I am not totally onboard with “worship”, though. To serve the Lord is to worship Him, I suppose, but is so only indirectly. To resolve to be in His service, the poet implies, is the only way open to us, since we are not able to fathom Him out through words.


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## marrish

colognial said:


> The word is normally pronounced 'bebaayadat'; however, here the meter dictates that the same word be pronounced 'bebaayadt'.


Would somebody be willing to reaffirm this?


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## mannoushka

marrish, the pronunciation has been altered in the same way as has been suggested in your quote in the following sound recording:

شاهنامه با صدای پیام بخشعلی (آغاز کتاب)

I could not reaffirm the quote, nor tell if this recitation was flawless or not, but it still may be useful to hear it.


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## PersoLatin

marrish said:


> Would somebody be willing to reaffirm this?


The suggested recitation of that line is, not only not elegant, awkward too but that's the taught, or the mainstream method.

I myself believe that the line should read as *bebaayad to bast*/بباید تو بست , so تو/thou/you is a separate word and must be pronounced separately.

ستودن نداند کس او را چو هست
میان بندگی را بباید تو بست

Other than to make everything fit, it doesn't make sense why Ferdôsi uses بستن twice, in بندگی  and بست, you either say میان بند or میان بندگی کن, unless of course he is using بندگی to mean servitude so I have rephrased as:
کسی نداند/نتواند او را آنگونه (که)  هست بستا ید
تو باید میانت را برای بندگی ببندی

Translation (no embellishing):
no one can (knows) praise him for what he is (a praise worthy of him)
you must prepare yourself for servitude (so forget any praise)


EDIT: I removed the option تِ/te as تو/to perfectly fits and rhymes with چو in the previous line, also edited the lines to suit the change.


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## mannoushka

PersoLatin said:


> ... it doesn't make sense why Ferdôsi uses بستن twice, in بندگی  and بست, you either say میان بند or میان بندگی کن, unless of course he is using بندگی to mean servitude ...


What does میان بندگی کن mean, PersoLatin?


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## PersoLatin

mannoushka said:


> What does میان بندگی کن mean, PersoLatin?


I was laying out the scene for my next idea . What I am saying is that you can't say: *میان بندگی* را بباید تو *بست  *as  بستن  is repeated if you were to take میان بندگی as a compound, you have to say something like میان بندگی کن or میانت ببند but as it happens I don't believe میان بندگی is a compound in this line, what we have is: میانت را ببند برای بندگی/ prepare yourself for servitude, so بستن is used once only, and for میان and بندگی or بنده بودن has an implied بستن which is fine.


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## mannoushka

I see now. You are right; it’s،
 تو می‌باید بندگی را میان ببندی

Two _band_s in the space of half a line! Positively too many!


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## mannoushka

PersoLatin, are you changing the words to بباید تو بست? I think you may be taking too much licence, not with the great epic poet, but with Persian grammar. 

The reason that بست works here is because there is not an explicit subject in the sentence. Ferdossi knew to hint at the تو as a sort of a direct object: تو را باید میان به بندگی بست. If you must have بست, then you must also have a second را, which is even worse than having two بندs.


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## PersoLatin

mannoushka said:


> PersoLatin, are you changing the words to بباید تو بست? I think you may be taking too much licence, not with the great epic poet, but with Persian grammar.


What is the difference between بباید تو بست and ببایدت بست (in passive mood) both mean تو باید ببندی/you must tie or wrap (imperative mood), and tie what & where? تو باید میان ببندی/you must tie [your waist band] around your middle/waist so "prepare" and what must you prepare for? بندگی/servitude.

تو rhymes with چو in the previous line ( چو هست and تو بست), so either we have to doubt his rhyming skills or his grammar, of course my own skills are up for debate, but what I am suggesting maintains his skill & mastery in Persian grammar and in poetry.

I am more than happy to hear alternatives but the existing ones are not convincing. As a suggestion, we could always provide a rephrased version of our understanding of any work, I almost always do, but rephrasing seems to be taboo, forbidden or disrespectful.


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## mannoushka

Yeah, come to think of it, one ought also to do something about که او برتر از نام و از جای‌گاه, as the verb seems to be missing from the sentence. He was then at the start of his big project, not yet handy with the metre, maybe.

In answer to your question, if you think of the prose style of the same, it is correct to write تو باید کمر به بندگی او ببندی, but one cannot get away with تو باید کمر به بندگی او بست. What Ferdossi does, since he needs the impersonal verb بست, is he writes تو را باید کمر به بندگی او بست, which is fine.


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## PersoLatin

I think, only think mind, we are getting somewhere, why does it have to get this complicated, whether I am right about the grammar or not is important but what matters more to people who want to know the answer is, what Ferdôsi is saying, in the second line.

If you agree with me now which I think you do:


mannoushka said:


> is he writes تو را باید کمر به بندگی او بست, which is fine


then you must agree that it is my understanding of the same grammar that has given the correct meaning, that then gives the forum one alternative meaning which we both agree on, until of course someone else dismisses both of our understandings with another very very clear alternative.


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