Word Meaning
बे-कफ़न
be-kafan
Meaning
Without a shroud; unburied or deprived of proper funeral rites.
Detailed Meaning
In classical Urdu poetry, 'be-kafan' describes a corpse left without a burial shroud, symbolizing ultimate destitution, tragedy, or complete worldly detachment. In this couplet, Ghalib envisions his own dead body lying unceremoniously abandoned and without a shroud, underscoring both his miserable worldly condition and his identity as an untethered, liberated soul ('aazaad mard').
Etymology
Compound of Persian prefix 'be-' (without) and Arabic 'kafan' (shroud).
Usage
Frequently used in ghazal and marsiya traditions to emphasize the tragic, unhonored death of a destitute lover or a martyr.
Examples
The shroudless body lay forsaken in the wilderness.
A fate so desolate that he died shroudless and alone.