Word Meaning
रहगुज़ार
rahguzār
Meaning
A pathway, road, passage, or transit route.
Detailed Meaning
In classical Persian and Urdu poetry, 'rahguzār' designates a roadway, path, or place of transit. In this couplet, it functions within the compound 'charāġh-e-rahguzār-e-bād' (a lamp placed in the path of the wind), a powerful metaphor for extreme vulnerability and inevitable extinction. The poet evokes this to show that even the magnificent celestial sun is as frail as a flickering flame against the relentless breeze of cosmic decay.
Etymology
Persian compound formed from 'rah' (path, road) and 'guzār' (passing, place of transit, from guzashtan).
Usage
Commonly paired in ghazal with motifs of longing (waiting along the beloved's path) or peril (a fragile flame situated in the path of a destructive wind).
Examples
a flickering flame upon the wind's passage
waiting as mere dust in the beloved's pathway