Word Meaning
सर-नाविश्त
sar-nawisht
Meaning
Destiny, fate, fortune, or that which is written on the forehead.
Detailed Meaning
Literally meaning 'written on the head or forehead', 'sar-nawisht' denotes predestined fate or fortune. In classical Urdu poetry, it frequently signifies the inevitable sorrows and trials decreed for the lover from eternity. In the cited couplet, it refers to the preordained, restless outcome of love that was inscribed from the very inception.
Etymology
Persian: compound of 'sar' (head, forehead) and 'nawisht' (written, from 'nawishtan', to write).
Usage
In the ghazal tradition, it evokes the tragic inevitability of romantic suffering, often paired with motifs of the pen (ख़ामा) and the forehead.
Examples
No one could alter the painful decree of fate.
Such was the destiny inscribed upon my forehead.