Word Meaning
तमीज़
tamīz
Meaning
Discernment, distinction, discrimination, or sense of decorum.
Detailed Meaning
In classical Urdu poetry and Islamic philosophy, tamīz refers to the faculty of reason that differentiates between opposing qualities, such as right and wrong or virtue and vice. In this specific couplet, it denotes distinguishing between ugliness ('zishtī') and goodness ('nekī'), a process tangled with countless intellectual disputes. The poet contrasts this complex faculty of discrimination with maintaining an unblemished, simple interiority.
Etymology
Arabic, from the triconsonantal root m-y-z (م-ي-ز), verbal noun tamyīz (تَمْيِيز) meaning 'distinction', 'separation', or 'discrimination'.
Usage
In the ghazal, tamīz often contrasts worldly or intellectual calculation with the uncritical, all-encompassing simplicity of mystic love.
Examples
Discernment between friend and foe vanished in love
Where is the distinction of beauty and blemish in passion?