Meaning
The free-spirited libertine of the tavern, who scorns hypocritical piety in favour of sincere, intoxicated devotion.
Usage & notes
The rind, careless of orthodoxy and drunk on love, is the foil to the cold zahid in the ghazal tradition Iqbal inherited. He prizes the rind's burning sincerity over the ascetic's loveless correctness.
Related words
ARABIC
Zahid
The ascetic, the abstinent pietist who renounces worldly pleasure.
ARABIC
Sufi
A Muslim mystic who seeks direct experiential knowledge of God.
PERSIAN
Maikhaana
The tavern or wine-house; in Sufi symbolism, the place of mystical gathering and divine intoxication, set against the mosque and seminary.