Word Meaning
क़र्ज़
Qarz
hinoun, masculine
Meaning
Debt, loan, or an unfulfilled obligation owed.
Detailed Meaning
Literally denotes a debt or money borrowed that must be repaid. In classical poetry, and specifically in this couplet, it serves as a metaphor for an unpaid duty or incomplete burden—here, the effort still owed by the fingernails to untie the half-opened knot of inner turmoil. It frames emotional struggle as an ongoing, binding liability.
Etymology
Arabic root q-r-ḍ (ق-ر-ض), originally meaning to cut off, hence a portion of property given out as a loan.
Usage
In ghazal poetry, it frequently appears in contexts of destitution, tavern drinking on credit, or existential dues owed to fate.
Examples
Drinking wine on debt, yet fully aware of the reckoning.
Paying back the debt of life with every breath.
Synonyms
उधारऋणदेनदारी
Related Words
तक़ाज़ाअदावाजिबदेनदार