Persian · noun · The Heart & the Body

Ashk

अश्क
said ASHK
also written: ashk-e, ashkbaar
Meaning

A tear; tears.

Literally: tear, teardrop

Usage & notes

Ashk is the tear in its Persianate register — the same weeping as aansu, but dressed in the higher diction of the classical ghazal. The lover is ashkbaar, raining tears; his ashk are bloody (ashk-e-khoon) from a heart worn raw. As both grief and ornament, the tear is the lover's jewel and his confession: the visible overflow of a longing too great for the eyes to hold.