Word Meaning
काग़ज़ी
kāg̱ẖazī
Meaning
Made of paper, frail, or dressed in paper garments as a plaintiff.
Detailed Meaning
Literally denoting something composed of paper or possessing the fragility of paper. Historically in Persian tradition, petitioners wore a paper garment (kāg̱ẖazī pairahan) to signal a formal grievance before a ruler or judge. In Ghalib's opening verse, it captures both the literal existence of a painted figure on paper and its symbolic state as a complainant against the Creator.
Etymology
Persian: derived from 'kāg̱ẖaz' (paper) with the adjectival suffix '-ī'.
Usage
In classical ghazals, it often invokes the poetic convention of the petitioner wearing paper robes to lament mortality and existential distress.
Examples
a fragile, paper-thin garment
a paper boat adrift in turbulent waters