Word Meaning
शश-जिहत-आफ़ाक़
shash-jihat-āfāq
Meaning
The six directions of the cosmos; the entire physical universe.
Detailed Meaning
A composite Persian-Arabic phrase denoting the entirety of the spatial cosmos bounded by six directions (above, below, front, behind, right, left). In the couplet, it represents the vast, phenomenal world that, neglected by love, becomes as barren and unseeing as the averted gaze of a dungeon.
Etymology
Compound of Persian 'shash' (six) + Arabic 'jihat' (directions) + Arabic 'āfāq' (horizons, worlds).
Usage
Commonly invoked in classical poetry to emphasize the spatial confinement of the worldly cosmos as opposed to infinite divine or spiritual realms.
Examples
The mystic soul seeks freedom beyond the six-directional cosmos.
Bound within the prison of the six directions of the world.