Word Meaning
हैरत-कश
hairat-kash
Meaning
Struck with wonder, absorbed in astonishment, or enduring intense bewilderment.
Detailed Meaning
In classical poetry, 'hairat-kash' describes a subject or gaze transfixed by utter astonishment. In this couplet, it qualifies the eyes that are spellbound upon witnessing a singular manifestation of inner truth or divine reality. The agentive suffix '-kash' implies drawing in, absorbing, or painfully bearing the state of awe.
Etymology
Arabic 'ḥayrah/ḥayrat' (bewilderment, wonder) combined with the Persian agentive suffix '-kash' (from 'kashīdan', to pull, draw, or endure).
Usage
Frequently favored in Sabk-e-Hindi and metaphysical Urdu ghazals to depict the motionless, speech-depriving trance induced by sublime beauty or truth.
Examples
A hairat-kash gaze lost before the mirror
To remain hairat-kash in the presence of beauty