Word Meaning
शतरंज-ज़माना
shatranj-e-zamaana
hinoun (compound)
Meaning
The chessboard or chess game of the world and fate.
Detailed Meaning
A metaphorical compound framing worldly life and destiny as a complex game of chess. In this couplet, it signifies the confounding and inevitable stratagems of time or fortune, against which human beings find themselves powerless and checkmated.
Etymology
Compound of Arabic 'shatranj' (ultimately from Sanskrit 'chaturanga') and Arabic 'zamaan' (time, world, era).
Usage
Commonly employed in classical Urdu poetry to depict human helplessness against destiny and the deceptive nature of time.
Examples
The cunning move on the chessboard of the world baffled him.
None could master the hidden rules of fate's chessboard.
Synonyms
बिसात-ए-दहरग़रदिश-ए-अय्यामखेल-ए-तक़दीर
Related Words
बिसातमातचालबाज़ी