Word Meaning
हैरत-मता
hairat-matā'
Meaning
Treasure or merchandise consisting of astonishment and wonder.
Detailed Meaning
In classical Persian and Urdu poetics, this compound designates 'astonishment' or 'bewilderment' as an asset, commodity, or merchandise. In Ghalib's verse, it contrasts worldly riches gained through greed with the speaker's singular capital: spiritual and philosophical awe within a world driven purely by profit and loss.
Etymology
Arabic: 'hairat' (حيرة, astonishment, wonder) + 'matā'' (متاع, goods, merchandise, wealth, belongings).
Usage
Commonly used in philosophical and Sufistic ghazals to express the transcendent state where spiritual wonder displaces all worldly possessions.
Examples
hairat-matā'-e-dahr (the merchandise of wonder in this world)
dil-e-hairat-matā' (a heart whose only wealth is astonishment)