Arabic · noun · Love & Longing

Mashuq

माशूक़
said maa-SHOO-qa
also written: Mashuqa, mashuqa, ma'shuqa, mashooqa
Meaning

The beloved; the one who is loved and desired.

Literally: beloved (feminine), the loved woman

Usage & notes

Maashuqa is the beloved in the feminine — the loved woman, the female counterpart of the masculine mashooq. She holds the ghazal's familiar power: beautiful, often cruel, the still center around whom the lover's storm turns. The word names beauty as the adored and indifferent other, the one whose favor is everything and whose neglect is the lover's daily bread.