Word Meaning
मोहरा-बाज़ी
mohra-baazi
Meaning
The act of playing with pawns or chess pieces; strategic gaming or maneuvering.
Detailed Meaning
Literally referring to the movement of chess pieces or pawns on a board, 'mohra-baazi' metaphorically denotes intellectual maneuvering, political cunning, or destiny's games. In Iqbal's verse, it signifies the scholastic and rationalistic disputes of dialecticians (like Fakhr al-Din Razi) which ultimately dissolve before the intuitive love of mystics (like Jalal al-Din Rumi). It conveys the futile exercise of intellectual chess when confronted with spiritual truth.
Etymology
Persian: compound of 'mohra' (bead, counter, chess piece) and 'baazi' (play, game, playing).
Usage
In classical and modern Urdu poetry, it frequently symbolizes the petty, speculative machinations of intellect or fate in contrast with authentic spiritual illumination.
Examples
Neither piece nor pawn-play survived the turn of fate.
The intellect exhausts itself in mere pawn-play on the board.