Word Meaning
आतिश-नफ़स
ātish-nafas
Meaning
Fiery-breathed; possessing speech or song that burns with intense passion.
Detailed Meaning
A compound adjective describing someone whose breath, voice, or song has the incandescent intensity of fire. In Ghalib's couplet, it describes an ideal musician whose fiery melody acts like a bolt of lightning, entirely annihilating the mortal self. It represents the height of artistic passion and metaphysical longing in Urdu poetic thought.
Etymology
Persian 'ātish' (fire) + Arabic 'nafas' (breath), compounded in classical Persian and Urdu poetry.
Usage
In classical Urdu ghazal, it is traditionally used as an epithet for an impassioned lover, poet, or singer whose lament burns with spiritual fire.
Examples
The fiery-breathed singer moved the entire assembly to tears.
None could endure the sigh of the fiery-breathed nightingale.