Persian · noun · Being & Non-Being

Pasti

पस्ती
said pas-tee
also written: pasti, pasti-lowness, pastī
Meaning

Lowness, decline, degradation, lowliness.

Literally: lowness, baseness, a sunken and degraded state

Usage & notes

Pasti is lowness — the fallen, base condition of a soul or people sunk in degradation and small aims. Iqbal uses it as the foil to all he prizes: where himmat soars, pasti grovels; where khudi affirms itself, pasti has surrendered. He laments this inner lowness as the real disease behind subjugation, and calls the self to rise from it toward height, dignity, and daring.