Arabic · noun · People & Roles

Ghareeb

ग़रीब
said gha-REEB
also written: Gharib
Meaning

A poor person; also, in the older sense, a stranger or humble wayfarer.

Literally: poor; needy; a stranger

Usage & notes

Ghareeb means the poor and needy, and in its older sense a stranger or exile. Iqbal's sympathies lie firmly with the ghareeb, and he indicts a world order that lets the few feast while the many starve. He calls the poor to dignity and self-assertion, not pity, and warns the rich that injustice will not stand.