Word Meaning
याद
yaad
Meaning
Memory, remembrance, recollection, or longing thoughts of someone.
Detailed Meaning
In classical Urdu poetry, 'yaad' denotes both the mental faculty of recollection and the evocative, agonizing presence of the beloved in absentia. In this couplet, it represents the captive lover's persistent obsession with the beloved's curling locks, overshadowing even the physical suffering of heavy chains. It emphasizes that mental or emotional entrapment surpasses the hardship of bodily imprisonment.
Etymology
From Persian 'یاد' (yād), meaning memory, mind, recollection.
Usage
In the ghazal tradition, 'yaad' often serves as a bitter-sweet companion that torments the lover yet keeps his devotion alive during separation.
Examples
The memory of past days became a torment.
Your remembrance arrived like an intimate comforter.