Word Meaning
आशियाँ-बंदी
āshiyāñ-bandī
Meaning
Building a nest; settling down to make a permanent home.
Detailed Meaning
The compound refers to the act of weaving or constructing a nest and settling into fixed domesticity. In Iqbal's couplet, it symbolizes contentment with sedentary comfort and self-imposed confinement, which diminishes the lofty, boundless spirit of the falcon (Shaheen). The falcon rejects nest-building as an act of cowardice and limitation.
Etymology
Persian: āshiyān (nest) + bandī (binding, making, from bastan).
Usage
In philosophical and classical Urdu poetry, especially that of Allama Iqbal, it stands as a metaphor for settling into domestic complacency instead of pursuing limitless spiritual and existential ambition.
Examples
The soaring falcon rejects the comfort of nest-making.
True freedom is lost in the quiet toil of nest-making.