Persian · noun · The Heart & the Body

Dahan

दहन
said da-HAAN
also written: Dahaan, dahaan, dehan, dahan-e
Meaning

The mouth.

Literally: mouth

Usage & notes

Dahan is the beloved's mouth — famous in the ghazal for being so small it seems almost not to exist, a delicate point (nuqta) the poet can barely find. Its tininess becomes a marvel and a riddle: a mouth so slight it is closer to nothing, yet the source of speech, smile, and life-giving breath. The conceit turns the mouth into a meditation on the almost-invisible from which everything precious issues.