Word Meaning
नव-ख़ताँ
nav-khatāñ
Meaning
Youths with nascent facial down; tender young adolescents or beauties.
Detailed Meaning
'Nav-khatāñ' (plural of 'nav-khat') refers to tender youths whose first facial down or subtle beard has just begun to appear, a standard trope of adolescent beauty. In this couplet, it evokes the delicate bodies of youth buried in the earth, whose physical components transform into sprouts of vegetation. The poet draws a vivid aesthetic parallel between the fresh down on a young cheek and green shoots emerging from soil.
Etymology
Persian compound formed from 'nau' (new, fresh) + 'khat' (hair/down on the face, line) + plural suffix '-āñ'.
Usage
In classical Urdu ghazal, 'khat' and 'nau-khat' are conventional motifs denoting adolescent charm and the bittersweet transition from boyhood to youth, frequently compared to budding green grass (sabza).
Examples
The garden bloomed from the dust of the tender youths.
The fading glow of those young adolescent faces.