Word Meaning
फ़ित्ना-ख़िराम
fitna-khiraam
Meaning
walking or moving so gracefully as to provoke chaos, turmoil, or sedition
Detailed Meaning
In Persian and Urdu poetics, the compound denotes someone whose graceful gait or movement stirs up widespread agitation, unrest, or turmoil. In this couplet by Ghalib, it is applied metaphorically to the beloved's glance ('nigah'), depicting the restless, destructive, and boundary-defying nature of seeing or being seen. The gaze moves with such tumultuous charm that it throws both worlds open to upheaval.
Etymology
Compound formed from Arabic 'fitna' (فتنة, meaning chaos, sedition, trial) and the Persian active participle stem 'khiraam' (خرام, from khiraamidan, meaning to walk gracefully or strut).
Usage
Commonly employed in classical Urdu ghazals as a compound epithet for the beloved's ravishing walk or a destabilizing glance.
Examples
A gait that sows tumult across the lanes of the heart
Her chaos-stirring movement sets the entire assembly ablaze