Word Meaning
इलाही
Ilaahi
Meaning
O God; my Lord; an exclamation of prayer, yearning, or anguish.
Detailed Meaning
In classical Urdu poetry, 'Ilahi' is a vocative invocation meaning 'O God!' or 'My Lord!', frequently expressing desperation, wonder, or an urgent plea. In this couplet, it serves as an address to the Divine as the speaker wishes a cataclysm to fall upon Badakhshan, projecting intense inner torment onto the cosmos. It can also function adjectivally in broader contexts to mean 'divine' or 'godly'.
Etymology
Arabic, from 'ilah' (god, deity) combined with the first-person possessive suffix '-i' (my God), or the nisba adjective meaning 'divine'.
Usage
Frequently placed at the beginning of a misra in ghazals to signal an impassioned plea, exclamation of bewilderment, or desperate prayer.
Examples
O God, what strange trial has befallen me?
O Lord, grant peace to this wounded heart.