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BRIEF ON PERSIAN LANGUAGE
Guruji has used very simple Persian while writing the Zafarnama. It
is not possible for any one to give exact pronunciation of the Persian
words in English or in Gurmukhi scripts but I have tried to be as close
(especially in Gurmukhi script) as possible to the original Persian.
The reader will notice that many words have been used by Guruji, which
differ only marginally from each other. This is because the Persian
words, especially verbs, can be changed to their present, past, singular,
and plural forms by slight modification to their basic form. Just to
give a few examples: (a)"aamdan" or "E`mdn"
and (b) "khordan" or "<Ordn"
are the basic verbs meaning, "to come" and " to eat/to
drink" respectively (these words have been used quite frequently
in Zafarnama). Their present and past stems are "aa-E`
" and "aamad-E`md" respectively
for (a) and "khor-<Or"
and "khord-<Ord" respectively for
(b). These undergo changes as per the following ( use of personal pronouns
can be dispensed with when these forms are used):
For "aamdan - a;mdn"
to come
| (present tense from present stem
"aa-E`") |
(past tense from past stem"aamad-E`md") |
| aayam or a;ym
I come |
aamdam or a;mdm
I came |
| aa-ee or a;XI
You come (singular) |
aamdi or a;mdI
You came |
| aayad or a;yd
He comes |
aamad or a;md
He came |
| aayeem or a;yIm
We come |
aamdeem or a;mdIm
We came |
| aayeed or a;yId
You come (plural) |
aamdeed or a;;mdId
You came |
| aayand or a;yMd
They come |
aamdand or a;mdMd
They came |
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For "khordan -
<Ordn " (to eat/drink)
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| (Present tense from present stem
"khor-<Or") |
(Past tense from past stem"khord-<Ord")
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| khoram or <Orm
I eat/drink |
khordam or <Ord
I ate/drank |
| khori or <OrI
You eat/drink (singular) |
khordi or <OrdI
You ate/drank |
| khoradd or <Ord
He eats/drinks |
khord or <Ord
He ate/drank |
| khoreem or <OrIm
We eat/drink |
khordeem or <OrdIm
We ate/drank |
| khoreed or <OrId
You eat/drink (plural) |
khordeed or <OrdId
You ate/drank |
| khorand or <OrMd
They eat/drink |
khordand or <OrdMd
They ate/drank |
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Other changes in the verbs are brought about by adding suffix to these
roots. For example when "ni-nI" is
added to the root ( present or past ), it conveys the meaning of "no,
not"; "niaayam-nIa;ym" means
"I ( will ) not come" and "nikhordam-nI<Ordm"
means " I did not eat". If "b-b"
is prefixed to the present stem only, it changes the verb to imperative
form. For example "bkhor-b<Or"
is an order "eat"; and "biaa-bIa;"
is an instruction to a person "come here". For negative commands
"m-m" or "n-n"
is prefixed to the present root. "mkun/nkun-makun/nakun"
conveys "do'nt do". There are many other variations of these
verbs and other words. To understand all these one has to learnPersian
language. However, for ease of understanding, Individual meanings of
the Persian words have been explained immediately after each verse in
English.
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