Word Meaning
बिस्मिल
bismil
Meaning
Sacrificed, slaughtered, or mortally wounded; a fluttering, dying victim of love.
Detailed Meaning
In classical Urdu poetry, 'bismil' refers literally to an animal ritually slaughtered over which 'bismillah' was pronounced, and metaphorically to a lover slain by the beloved's glance. In this couplet, Ghalib compares the fine crystalline markings (jauhar) on a mirror to the fluttering, dying plumage of a green parrot ('tuti-e-bismil'), silenced and spellbound by the beloved's dazzling beauty.
Etymology
Arabic (from 'bismillah', 'in the name of God'), referring to the Islamic ritual slaughter; loaned into Persian and Urdu as an adjective/noun meaning slaughtered or mortally wounded.
Usage
Consistently employed in the ghazal tradition to evoke the agonizing yet sublime ecstasy of the lover dying at the beloved's hands.
Examples
The restless fluttering of the dying bird
Slain at the threshold of the beloved