Word Meaning
शाहिद-बाज़
shaahid-baaz
Meaning
An admirer of beautiful faces, a pursuer or lover of beauties.
Detailed Meaning
In Persian and Urdu poetic tradition, 'shahid-baz' refers to someone captivated by physical or idealized beauty. In this couplet, Ghalib humorously and ruefully looks back at himself as a worldly, libertine admirer of beauties. It combines the Arabic 'shahid' (a beloved whose beauty bears witness to divine creation) with the Persian suffix '-baz' (one who indulges in a pursuit).
Etymology
Arabic 'shāhid' (witness; beloved/beauty) + Persian '-bāz' (player, pursuer).
Usage
In classical ghazal, it often describes the bohemian 'rind' who celebrates worldly aesthetic charm in defiance of orthodox pietism.
Examples
A gathering of roguish admirers of beauty in the alley
Known to all as a carefree admirer of beauty