Word Meaning
ख़ुद-नुमाई
khud-numā'ī
Meaning
Ostentation, self-display, showing off, vanity, or exhibiting one's own beauty or pride.
Detailed Meaning
A Persian compound referring to the act of exhibiting or flaunting oneself, often associated with vanity, narcissism, or the beloved's pride in her beauty. In the cited couplet, it contrasts the lover's absolute humility and ruin (reduced to dust) with the beloved's unyielding self-absorption and aloof display of charm.
Etymology
Persian: compound of 'khwud' (self) and 'numā'ī' (showing, exhibition, from numūdan).
Usage
In classical Urdu ghazal, it typically depicts the proud self-indulgence and captivating yet cruel aloofness of the beloved in contrast to the lover's self-effacement.
Examples
His constant self-display alienated all his companions.
The mirror exists merely to indulge her vanity and ostentation.