Word Meaning
लाज़िम
laazim
Meaning
Necessary, obligatory, incumbent, or binding upon someone as a duty.
Detailed Meaning
'लाज़िम' denotes a moral duty, binding obligation, or that which is fundamentally appropriate. In this couplet from Mirza Ghalib's elegy for his nephew Arif, it carries a tender and poignant reproach, asserting that Arif was obligated by affection and tradition to wait for his elder before dying. It presents untimely demise not merely as tragedy, but as an affectionate breach of emotional propriety.
Etymology
Arabic, from the trilateral root l-z-m (ل-ز-م), conveying the sense of adhering closely, being indispensable, or becoming binding.
Usage
In classical Urdu poetry, 'laazim' frequently frames the inexorable emotional claims and ethical imperatives of love, grief, and fate.
Examples
It was necessary to honor the promise of love.
Patience is incumbent upon the broken-hearted.