Word Meaning
दर-गिल
dar-gil
Meaning
Mired in mud; stuck or caught in clay or mire.
Detailed Meaning
In Persian and Urdu poetics, 'dar-gil' literally signifies being immersed or caught in mud or clay. It is most famously used in the compound 'paa-dar-gil' (foot stuck in mud) to convey an absolute state of helplessness, paralysis, or inability to move forward. In Ghalib's couplet, the mingling of copious tears with the dust of grief creates a mire wherein the fragments of the lover's weeping heart remain trapped.
Etymology
Persian: composed of the preposition 'dar' (در, in/at) and 'gil' (گل, mud/clay).
Usage
Almost always employed in classical ghazal as part of the Persian compound 'paa-dar-gil' to symbolize an entrapped or helpless lover.
Examples
a traveler with feet mired in clay
helpless and stuck in the mud of worldly sorrow