Word Meaning
बादा-गर्दान
baada-gardaan
Meaning
Cupbearer; one who circulates or serves the wine cup among drinkers.
Detailed Meaning
A compound formed from Persian 'bādah' (wine) and 'gardān' (one who turns or rotates), referring literally to the cupbearer who passes the goblet around the assembly. In Iqbal's couplet, 'bāda-gardān-e-ajam' evokes Persian/non-Arab intellectual and spiritual masters whose traditional ways hesitate before his fiery, revitalizing Arab message. It serves as both a literal wine-server and an allegory for cultural custodians.
Etymology
Persian: bādah (wine) + gardān (active participle stem of gardāndan, 'to turn, circulate').
Usage
Used in classical ghazal and philosophical poetry as an allegory for the sāqī or spiritual teacher who distributes divine ecstasy.
Examples
The cupbearer stepped forth to begin another round of wine.
None among the assembly could match the generosity of that cupbearer.