Word Meaning
खाए
khāe
Meaning
Eats, consumes, or devours (subjunctive or conditional form).
Detailed Meaning
Here, 'khāe' is the third-person conditional or subjunctive form of the verb 'khānā' (to eat or consume). In Ghalib's verse, it signifies the ravaging of standing crops by locusts, contrasting one mode of ruination with another (burning of the harvest). It underscores the inescapability of ruin regardless of the specific agent of destruction.
Etymology
Sanskrit खादति (khādati) through Prakrit खाइ (khāi) into Old Hindi/Urdu खाना (khānā).
Usage
In classical Urdu ghazal, verbs of eating are frequently deployed idiomatically and metaphorically, such as suffering sorrow (ग़म खाना) or enduring deception (फ़रेब खाना).
Examples
Even if sorrow eats away at life, endurance remains necessary.
Lest the storm consume the fragile nest.