Word Meaning
चार-दहुम
chār-dahum
Meaning
fourteenth; specifically pertaining to the fourteenth night (the full moon)
Detailed Meaning
Literally meaning 'fourteenth' in Persian, it is most commonly used in the poetic compound 'shab-e-char-dahum' (the fourteenth night). In classical Urdu poetry, it metaphorically represents the dazzling beauty of the full moon (maah-e-shab-e-char-dahum) or a radiant beloved. In Ghalib's elegy for his young nephew Arif, it evokes a youth cut down in the radiant prime of his life.
Etymology
Persian (chahār-dahum / chār-dahum), derived from chār/chahār (four) + dah (ten) + ordinal suffix -um.
Usage
Commonly invoked in ghazals and marsiyas as an epithet for unblemished beauty, youth at its peak, or a luminous beloved.
Examples
maah-e-shab-e-char-dahum (the full moon of the fourteenth night)
chashm-e-bad-door az husn-e-char-dahum (may the evil eye stay far from this youthful fourteenth-night beauty)