Arabic · noun · Love & Longing

Taghaful

तग़ाफ़ुल
said ta-GHAA-ful
also written: Taghaaful, taghaaful, taghaful-e
Meaning

Deliberate inattention or feigned negligence by the beloved, who pretends not to notice the lover.

Literally: deliberate neglect, feigned indifference

Usage & notes

Taghaful is the beloved's studied inattention — the pointed pretending-not-to-notice, more wounding than open cruelty because it denies the lover even the dignity of being seen. It is indifference wielded as art. The ghazal makes it one of love's keenest pains: to be looked through rather than at, and yet to go on loving the one whose glance you cannot earn.