दर्दनाक

Meaning

Painful, agonizing, tragic, or poignant.

Detailed Meaning

In Urdu poetry, 'dardnaak' describes an utterance, cry, or situation imbued with acute suffering and sorrow. In the given couplet, it modifies the exhausted traveler's wailing cry ('sada-e-dardnaak'), which the listener tragically mistook for the sound of a departing caravan. It conveys deep pathos, misery, and tragic desolation.

Etymology

Persian: compounded from 'dard' (pain/grief) and the suffix '-naak' (endowed with/full of).

Usage

Commonly employed in both ghazal and nazm to evoke heightened pathos, tragic grief, and lamentation.

Examples

Synonyms

Related Words