Urdu Dictionary
Arabic · noun · Mind & Knowledge

Maani

मानी
said maa-NEE
also written: ma'ani, mani
Meaning

Meaning, inner significance — as opposed to outer form.

How Iqbal uses it

The content the form can barely hold. He pictures the flood of “maani” as so hard to contain that the qalandar finally just pours out the secrets of the book. For Iqbal, form serves meaning, never the reverse.

See it in the verse

Maani in Iqbal’s couplets

Tha zabt bahut mushkil is sail-e-maani ka
Kah Daale qalandar ne asrar-e-kitab aakhir
It was very hard to hold back this flood of meaning; at last the wandering sage spoke out the secrets of the book.
Courage · Self-Knowledge · Awakening
Related words
ARABIC

Haqeeqat

Reality; the Truth, the ultimate essence (the opposite of majaz).

ARABIC

Majaz

Metaphor; the figurative — the world of appearances (the opposite of haqeeqat).

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