Word Meaning
बादा-पैमाई
bāda-paimā'ī
Meaning
Measuring or drinking wine; metaphorically, redundant or futile exertion.
Detailed Meaning
Literally denoting the act of measuring or pouring wine, the expression also conveys habitual drinking or aimless, futile effort. In this couplet, because the ambient breeze is itself laden with intoxication, consuming wine is rendered a trivial and redundant exercise in merely measuring cups. The poet contrasts the true absorption of wine with the mechanical act of pouring it.
Etymology
Persian compound composed of 'bāda' (wine) and 'paimā'ī' (act of measuring or traversing, from the verb 'paimūdan').
Usage
In classical ghazal, it carries a deliberate double entendre: either the literal indulgence of the drinker or the metaphorical wandering and futile striving of the lover.
Examples
The tavern witnessed nothing save endless measuring of the cup.
Do not inquire of our aimless pouring of wine in this solitude.