بیدار

What it means

بیدار (bidâr) means awake, alert, or conscious. It is pure Persian, built on the root بید- conveying wakefulness and awareness. The adjective forms three essential compound verbs: بیدار بودن (bidâr budan, to be awake), بیدار شدن (bidâr shodan, to wake up, intransitive), and بیدار کردن (bidâr kardan, to wake someone up, transitive). These three verbs cover the full range of what English does with “awake,” “to wake up,” and “to wake someone.” The word also functions metaphorically to mean alert or vigilant, and the phrase بیدار باش (bidâr bâsh, stay awake, stay alert) is used literally and figuratively. A close antonym is خواب (khâb, asleep), and the pair خواب / بیدار is one of the first opposites Persian learners encounter.

How to use it

• هنوز بیداری؟ (hanuz bidâri?) “Are you still awake?”
• بیدارم کن ساعت هفت (bidâram kon sâat-e haft) “Wake me up at seven.”
• با سروصدا بیدار شدم (bâ sarosedâ bidâr shodam) “I woke up because of the noise.”
• تمام شب بیدار بودم (tamâm-e shab bidâr budam) “I was awake all night.”

Cultural note

بیدار کردن (waking someone up) in Iranian households is wrapped in social texture. In a culture where mehmâni (social gatherings) often run late and the host family is expected to stay up until the last guest leaves, being بیدار well past midnight is normal. The designated alarm-setter who says بیدارم کن fajr (wake me for the dawn prayer) or بیدارم کن ساعت شش is performing a small act of trust. In Sufi poetry, بیدار also means spiritually awakened, the opposite of غافل (ghâfel, heedless), giving the everyday adjective a second life in mystical literature.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab