What it means
قابل ندارد (ghâbel nadâre) combines قابل (ghâbel), the Arabic adjective meaning worthy or deserving, with ندارد (nadâre), the Persian negative third-person form of داشتن (dâshtan, to have). The literal sense is it does not have worth or it lacks the quality to be worthy. In spoken Persian the phrase contracts naturally to قابل نداره (ghâbel nadâre). Like ناقابل (nâghâbel), it is a ritual self-deprecating remark made when presenting a gift, serving food, or doing a favor for someone. The speaker implies the gift or service falls short of what the recipient truly deserves. A fuller version is قابل شما رو نداره (ghâbel-e shomâ ro nadâre), meaning it is not worthy of you specifically.
How to use it
- قابل نداره، ولی خواستم یه هدیه بیارم. (ghâbel nadâre, vali khâstam ye hadiye biâram.) “It is not worthy, but I wanted to bring a gift.”
- قابل شما رو نداره، با محبت تقدیم میشه. (ghâbel-e shomâ ro nadâre, bâ mahabbat taghdim mishe.) “It is not worthy of you, offered with affection.”
- این ناهار قابل نداره، ولی بفرمایید. (in nâhâr ghâbel nadâre, vali bafarmâid.) “This lunch is nothing special, but please help yourself.”
- زحمتی نبود، قابل نداره. (zahmati nabud, ghâbel nadâre.) “It was no trouble at all, it is nothing.”
Cultural note
قابل ندارد is part of the wider taarof system in which both giving and receiving are ritualized through language. When a host says قابل نداره about a meal they have spent hours preparing, they are not being dishonest: they are performing an act of social generosity by lifting the guest above themselves. Guests who hear this phrase are expected to counter with appreciation rather than agree with the dismissal. This call-and-response pattern of humility and acknowledgment is one of the most distinctive features of Iranian social interaction and is encountered in homes, workplaces, and bazaars alike.