Word Meaning
हम-सफ़ीराँ
ham-safīrāñ
Meaning
Fellow singing birds; companions or kindred spirits sharing the same plight.
Detailed Meaning
'Ham-safīrāñ' is the Persian plural of 'ham-safīr', literally signifying birds that sing together in a cage or garden. In Urdu poetry, it is a classic metaphor for fellow sufferers, sympathetic companions, or poets sharing the same voice and fate. In this couplet, it serves as a vocative appeal to companions who share the speaker's grief, contrasting their misery with cheerful friends.
Etymology
Persian compound of 'ham' (same/fellow) and Arabic 'safīr' (whistle/song of a bird), combined with the Persian plural suffix '-āñ'.
Usage
In classical Urdu poetry, the word is most frequently employed as an allegory for birds trapped together in a hunter's cage (qafas), representing comrades bound by common exile, oppression, or sorrow.
Examples
O fellow songbirds, mourn the desolation of the garden.
The caged captive cries out to his companions.