# Persian and Urdu: yak na shud, do shud



## Alfaaz

*Background:* Phrase used in an Urdu TV drama: 

_Child: Daddy, I will go with you too!
بَچَّہ: ابّا میں بھی آپ کے ساتھ جاؤنگا
Mother: (laughing/smiling) yak na shud, do shud...
والدہ: یک نہ شد، دو شد 
Father: No son, you are still young.
والد: نہیں بتا، تم ابھی کم سن ہو

_*Question:* What does this expression/phrase mean?


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## arsham

It litterally "one (the first one) didn't happen/wasn't possible, two (the second one) happened/was possible". it is not used as an expression in Persian as far as I know but still interesting to know that in Urdu it is used as a set phrase!


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## Alfaaz

Thanks for the answer! Don't know for sure if it is a set expression or not; often, sh'air ashaar/اشعار شِعْر are used in dialogues or even generally in day-to-day conversations (for example: faqat chand roz aur meri jaan, chand hi roz/فقط چند روز اور میری جان، چند ہی روز ) meaning "only a few more days, my darling; a few more days..." from Faiz Ahmad Faiz's poem and used (not necessarily) to warn someone of their defeat.


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## Faylasoof

arsham said:


> It litterally "one (the first one) didn't happen/wasn't possible, two (the second one) happened/was possible". it is not used as an expression in Persian as far as I know but still interesting to know that in Urdu it is used as a set phrase!


 This is indeed the literal meaning, Arsham! But for us  یک نہ شد، دو شد = As if one wasn't bad enough! Now we have two! 
Used by us Urduphones when a situation turns for the worse! From the limited context above I can't say for sure why the mother used it here but it implies that she considers the situation has become / is becoming  disagreeable / unacceptable / worse.


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## Faylasoof

Alfaaz said:


> Thanks for the answer! Don't know for sure if it is a set expression or not; often, sh'air ashaar/اشعار شِعْر are used in dialogues or even generally in day-to-day conversations (for example: faqat chand roz aur meri jaan, chand hi roz/فقط چند روز اور میری جان، چند ہی روز ) meaning "only a few more days, my darling; a few more days..." from Faiz Ahmad Faiz's poem and used (not necessarily) to warn someone of their defeat.


 Alfaaz, this is a set expression! It may have gone down in usage amongst Urduphones since independence but in Lucknow we still use this a lot, esp. my family and others like us. As I explain above it indicates a bad situation becoming worse.


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## searcher123

Faylasoof said:


> (...)for us  یک نہ شد، دو شد = As if one wasn't bad enough! Now we have two!
> Used by us Urduphones when a situation turns for the worse!(...)



In modern Persian we say:

كم بود جن و پري؟! يكي هم از ديوار پريد!
مشكل دوتا شد!
حالا خر را بيار و باقالي باركن!
بدبختيمون كم بود، قوزبالاقوز شد!
گاومون زاييد!ا

*Note:* 1, 3 and 4 are proverbs


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## Alfaaz

Thanks Faylasoof and searcher123 for modern equivalents! The expression is often used in media and elsewhere as you have confirmed, but still wasn't sure after seeing arsham's reply (as he is of course a native Farsi speaker)! Speaking of Farsi expressions used in Urdu, there is the ever popular "dair aayad durust ayad"/دیر آید درست آید and there are two which are not coming to mind right now, the summary of which would be as follows: 

جوانی کی عبادت پیغمبروں جیسی/پیغمبری کے قریب ہوتی ہے 
Jawani ki 'ibadat paighambaron jaisi/paighambari ke qareeb hoti hai
Worship done in youth is like that of prophets/is close to prophethood...

نماز پڑھو/قائم کرو/ادا کرو، اسے پہلے کے تمہاری نماز پڑھی جائے/قائم ہو/ادا کی جائے
namaz parho/qaim karo/ada karo, isse pehle ke tumhari namaz parhi jaaey/qaim ho/ada ki ja'ae
Say/establish/offer prayers, before (qabl az) your prayers are offered (prayers for you are offered-namaz-e-janazah (نمازِ جنازہ). 

*Questions: Can someone provide the Farsi for the two described above? Also is it dair "ayad" or "ayam" (have probably heard both...)?*


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## Alfaaz

Yes, it makes sense according to the plot of the drama. The father is a police detective, who's been invited by his officer friend to a police raid/mission. The wife gets annoyed with her husband, asking that why does he need to go to such a dangerous place. The child expresses the desire to also go (as it seems exciting to him also). The mother says yak na shud, do shud! The father tells the son that he cannot go, since he's too small. At the raid/mission/battle the father gets shot, and his officer friend doesn't help him (because he has a crush on his wife-the lady who said "yak na shud..."), and the father dies. Will the officer be able to finally marry the widow of his best friend...?
آگے جاننے کہ لئے اگلی قسط ملاحظہ کریں 
To find out what happens next, watch the next episode...


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## searcher123

> (...)Will the officer be able to finally marry the widow of his best friend...?(...)



If these two get married at last, you can say in Persian:

نه چَك زديم، نه چونه! عروس اومد تو خونه


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## Qureshpor

> نماز پڑھو/قائم کرو/ادا کرو، اسے پہلے کے تمہاری نماز پڑھی جائے/قائم ہو/ادا کی جائے
> namaz parho/qaim karo/ada karo, isse pehle ke tumhari namaz parhi jaaey/qaim ho/ada ki ja'ae
> Say/establish/offer prayers, before (qabl az) your prayers are offered (prayers for you are offered-namaz-e-janazah (نمازِ جنازہ).


*نمازبخوان قبل از اینکه برایت نماز بخوانند
namaaz paRh is se pahle kih log terii namaaz paRheN
*


> * Also is it dair "ayad" or "ayam" (have probably heard both...)?*


*
der aayad durust aayad
Better late than never!

*


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## Qureshpor

> _yak na shud, do shud...
> 
> یک نہ شد، دو شد
> 
> _*Question:* What does this expression/phrase mean?



*One misfortune on the heals of another!
*


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## searcher123

QURESHPOR said:


> *نمازبخوان قبل از اینکه برایت نماز بخوانند
> namaaz paRh is se pahle kih log terii namaaz paRheN
> *



Its equivalent in modern Persian:
به حساب خود برس، قبل از آنكه به حسابت برسند

That was spread of this Hadis of prophet Mohammad (PBUH) that say: حاسبوا انفسكم قبل ان تحاسبو



> *
> der aayad durust aayad
> Better late than never!
> *




Its equivalent in modern Persian:
دير رسيدن، بهتر از ﴿هرگز﴾ نرسيدن است


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## Alfaaz

Thanks for the informative replies everyone!


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## Alfaaz

Just remebered another one! تنگ آمد بجنگ آمد which is given as an equivalent to the English saying (by one of the dictionaries): A COWARD'S FEAR CAN MAKE A COWARD VALIANT; but doesn't seem like an exact translation or equivalent. 

The Farsi phrase seems to be saying something more along the lines of: once (one) becomes tired (of opresssion), becomes closer/ready to fight...?


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## Qureshpor

Alfaaz said:


> Just remebered another one! تنگ آمد بجنگ آمد which is given as an equivalent to the English saying (by one of the dictionaries): A COWARD'S FEAR CAN MAKE A COWARD VALIANT; but doesn't seem like an exact translation or equivalent.
> The Farsi phrase seems to be saying something more along the lines of: once (one) becomes tired (of opresssion), becomes closer/ready to fight...?



Alfaaz, you started asking about "yak nah shud do shud". Then you veered into

"جوانی کی عبادت پیغمبروں جیسی/پیغمبری کے قریب ہوتی ہے "

"نماز پڑھو/قائم کرو/ادا کرو، اسے پہلے کے تمہاری نماز پڑھی جائے/قائم ہو/ادا کی جائے" and

"der aayad durust aayad", in between reminding us of what Faiz said in "فقط چند روز اور میری جان، چند ہی روز ". Now we are being taken to "tang aamad ba-jang aamad". Where is this all heading for?


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## Alfaaz

I don't know either! It seems all over the place and heading towards possible chaos! I thought I'd ask all the idiom questions in one thread rather than make a separate thread for each one!

One could probably use "yak na shud, do shud" in this situation too ?!?! As if one idiom question wasn't bad enough, they come up with another one! 

Also, I certainly didn't intend to make it sound like it was about موجودہ سیاسی حالات either! فقط چند روز اور, تنگ آمد بجنگ آمد


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## Qureshpor

Alfaaz said:


> One could probably use "yak na shud, do shud" in this situation too ?!?! As if one idiom question wasn't bad enough, he comes up with another one!




You won't believe this, but I did think about responding in this manner. But the problem was that I would have had to write, "yak nah shud panj shud!"

By the way, I have tried to search for "tang aamad ba-jang aamad" but without any success I am afraid. I asked an Afghan friend of mine who also replied in the negative.

I would like to add one thing. If our Iranian Persian speakers or Afghan Dari speakers are not familiar with "yak nah shud do shud" etc we should not read too much into this. Just like the Americans, Canadians, Australians etc have their own idioms, is it not possible for Indo-Persian to have its own?


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## Alfaaz

> is it not possible for Indo-Persian to have its own?


Indeed, it is possible.


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## Qureshpor

Alfaaz said:


> Just remebered another one! تنگ آمد بجنگ آمد



If you wish to know the true significance of this idiom, type  "Amma Gee on Fire (Must Watch)" on google and you will have your answer!


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## Faylasoof

Just to add that _yak na shud do shud_ is just one of hundreds of Persian idioms that Indo-Pak Farsi and Urdu use that are not familiar to Persophones of Iran, Afghansitan and Tajikistan. I know this as I’ve been trying them on my Iranian and Afghani friends over the last few years!


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## Sheikh_14

Would it be grammatically acceptable to suffix the phrase yak na shud, do shud with aast I.e. hain?


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## marrish

No, it wouldn't.


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## Sheikh_14

Rght because it would translate directly as:
Ek na tha, do the (there wasn't one but two hence the aast/hain isn't only not required but as you stated incorrect).

However, how would you say the following in Persian (kindly type in roman script as well for pronunciation purposes):
Kahaan ek na tha, aab do hai.
Whilst earlier there was none, now there are two.


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