Word Meaning
ग़रीब-ख़ाने
ghareeb-khaane
Meaning
Humble dwelling, poorhouse, or modest home (used politely for one's own house).
Detailed Meaning
A Persian-Arabic compound literally signifying the dwelling of a poor person, traditionally used in polite discourse to designate one's own humble house. In the verse, it underscores the lover's destitute and desolate home, shut with a lock in loneliness. It highlights the stark contrast between the lover's ruined state and the beloved's careless ease.
Etymology
Arabic gharīb (poor, stranger) + Persian khāna (house, abode).
Usage
In ghazal and Urdu etiquette, it is an expression of self-effacing modesty used for one's own residence in contrast to the beloved's grand abode.
Examples
No guest ever entered to brighten this humble house.
A heavy lock hung upon the gates of the poorhouse.