ख़िफ़्फ़त

Meaning

Lightness, humiliation, disgrace, embarrassment, or slight.

Detailed Meaning

Derived from an Arabic root meaning lightness, 'khiffat' metaphorically signifies loss of dignity, humiliation, or abasement. In this couplet, it represents the shame or sense of lowliness that marks the lover's demeanour. It underscores how devotion in classical poetry frequently reduces the lover to self-effacing disgrace.

Etymology

Arabic (خِفَّة / khiffat), from the triconsonantal root خ-ف-ف (kh-f-f), meaning 'to be light, slight, or negligible'.

Usage

Frequently used in classical Urdu poetry to capture the lover's willing acceptance of social indignity and embarrassment in the realm of passion.

Examples

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Related Words