Word Meaning
बीमारी
bīmārī
Meaning
Illness, malady, sickness; metaphorically, the affliction or lovesickness of the heart.
Detailed Meaning
Literally denotes physical disease or ailment, but in classical Urdu poetry it almost always signifies the malady of love, longing, or spiritual distress. In this couplet, 'derīna bīmārī' (chronic sickness) refers to the lingering weakness and affliction of the speaker's heart. The poet laments that this incurable emotional ailment yields only to wine, the elixir of ecstasy.
Etymology
Persian: derived from 'bīmār' (sick, ill) with the abstract noun suffix '-ī'.
Usage
In classical Urdu ghazal, 'bīmārī' frequently functions as an emblem of lovesickness, where the beloved is the cause and only their presence or wine is the cure.
Examples
This chronic illness of the heart has no worldly cure.
My illness was relieved only by the sight of the beloved.