Word Meaning
नौहा-ख़्वाँ
nauha-khwaan
Meaning
A mourner; one who recites a dirge or lament for the dead.
Detailed Meaning
In classical Urdu poetry, a 'nauha-khwaan' is a reciter of laments or an elegiac mourner. In this couplet, it epitomizes absolute desolation and solitude, where the poet yearns for an end so completely forsaken that not a single soul remains to grieve or weep at his demise. It reinforces the themes of utter alienation and philosophical resignation.
Etymology
Arabic 'nauha' (wailing, lamentation) combined with Persian 'khwaan' (present stem of 'khwaandan', meaning reciter or singer).
Usage
Frequently invoked in classical ghazals to underscore absolute despair, isolation, and tragic abandonment in death.
Examples
No mourner was present at the stranger's lonely grave.
The night wind became the sole dirge-singer of his sorrow.