Word Meaning
ज़ियादा
ziyaada
Meaning
More, exceeding, greater in degree, quantity, or measure.
Detailed Meaning
In classical Urdu poetry, 'ziyaada' indicates an excess or a heightened comparative degree of emotion, grief, or suffering. In this couplet by Ghalib, it functions comparatively ('hum se bhi ziyaada') to reveal that the very people expected to console the poet were themselves even more wounded by tyranny. This intensifies the tragic irony of seeking sympathy from those who are doubly afflicted.
Etymology
From Persian 'زیادہ' (ziyāda), originally derived from Arabic 'زِيَادَة' (ziyādah, meaning 'increase, addition').
Usage
In the ghazal tradition, it is often employed in comparative constructions to underscore an unbearable surplus of sorrow, passion, or irony.
Examples
Sorrow became far more than the heart could bear.
None was more broken by love than he.