# Urdu, Persian: و کتاب اینست



## Gope

The second subtitle under  muqadmah in بسلامت روى is وکتاب انیست, which looks like Farsi to me. Should be grateful to be told its meaning and pronunciation, and of course what are the separate words that compose this phrase. Thanks.


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## Qureshpor

"ba-salaamat ravii" itself probably comes from some famous Farsi shi3r. It means "xair se jaanaa", i.e a kind of prayers for someone on a journey. As you know this book is all about his travels.

The meaning of your title is "And this is the book" or "And here is the book" referring to I presume "ba-salaamat ravii".


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## Treaty

If it is *و کتاب اینست* it means "and this is the book" (i.e. "the book starts here") in Persian.


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## Gope

Qureshpor said:


> "ba-salaamat ravii" itself probably comes from some famous Farsi shi3r. It means "xair se jaanaa", i.e a kind of prayers for someone on a journey. As you know this book is all about his travels.
> 
> The meaning of your title is "And this is the book" or "And here is the book" referring to I presume "ba-salaamat ravii".



Thanks. Is it pronounced va ketaab aanist? Are these the words that make up the phrase?


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## Qureshpor

Sorry, I did n't notice the typo, Treaty and Gope SaaHibaan.

و کتاب اینست۔


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## Gope

Treaty said:


> If it is *و کتاب اینست* it means "and this is the book" (i.e. "the book starts here") in Persian.


Thanks Treaty SaaHib, it must be as you have written, and also confirmed by QP SaaHib. The dots have been misread by me!
So is it pronounced va ketaab ain ast?


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## Dib

Gope said:


> So is it pronounced va ketaab ain ast?



In modern (Western) Persian: va ketaab iin ast.
I don't know if it was different in Indo-Persian/Classical Persian, etc.


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## Gope

Dib said:


> In modern (Western) Persian: va ketaab iin ast.
> I don't know if it was different in Indo-Persian/Classical Persian, etc.


Thanks, Dib SaaHib, the quote is from a book written in 1975.


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## Qureshpor

^ Colonel Muhammad Khan, the author of the book would have pronounced "va kitaab iinast", "va" perhaps floating between "va" and "wa!.


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## Jervoltage

Qureshpor said:


> ^ Colonel Muhammad Khan, the author of the book would have pronounced "va kitaab iinat", "va" perhaps floating between "va" and "wa!.



Qureshpor Sb., is that a typo, or he would have really pronounced _ast_ as _at_?


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## Qureshpor

^ Jervoltage SaaHib. It was indeed a typo. Even a colonel should n't be allowed to get away with mispronunciations!


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## colognial

Hi, there! What if there is no typo? Could the Colonel have meant to write, _Go in safety, and let this book be your companion [on your journey]_?

_Anees_ in Persian stands for _companion_, and the _at_ tagged on to the end of the word is a joined possessive adjective, meaning _your_.


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## Qureshpor

^ That would have required two letter "siins"..*
و کتاب انیسست *


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## marrish

I suppose it can be without -st (ast): _va kitaab aniis-at_.


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## colognial

Qureshpor said:


> ^ That would have required two letter "siins"..*
> و کتاب انیسست *


I am sure you know what the correct word is, because you must have seen it in the book, whereas I'm just playing with the different possibilities, hoping to be humoured by those of you who know exactly what's actually been the intention of the author! 

Having said all above, I think I could safely continue by pointing out that in the first sentence, i.e. 'be salaamat ravi', the verb suggests a wish is being made: 'may you go in safety', rather than just 'go safely'. The reader would then expect the second sentence to also be intended as a wish: 'va ketaab anissat [baad]', meaning 'and may this book be your [traveling] companion'.


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## marrish

colognial said:


> I am sure you know what the correct word is, because you must have seen it in the book, whereas I'm just playing with the different possibilities, hoping to be humoured by those of you who know exactly what's actually been the intention of the author!
> 
> Having said all above, I think I could safely continue by pointing out that in the first sentence, i.e. 'be salaamat ravi', the verb suggests a wish is being made: 'may you go in safety', rather than just 'go safely'. The reader would then expect the second sentence to also be intended as a wish: 'va ketaab anissat [baad]', meaning 'and may this book be your [traveling] companion'.


Well, nobody but the original poster, Gope, read the phrase in the said book himself but since there were so many divergent ''interpretations"  of such a tiny phrase, my idea to go and check it in the book itself proved right.

1. Gope SaaHib: you have misspelt it in the title of the thread but typed it as it should be in the first post.
2. Dear janaab colognial: thank you for solving this mystery, it is written indeed و کتاب انیست so your explanation is completely accurate!


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## Qureshpor

Gope said:


> The second subtitle under  muqadmah in بسلامت روى is وکتاب انیست, which looks like Farsi to me. Should be grateful to be told its meaning and pronunciation, and of course what are the separate words that compose this phrase. Thanks.


It has just occurred to me that an idiomatic translation of "va kitaab iinast" would be...

aur yih rahii kitaab!


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## marrish

I agree with you on this point.


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