Arabic · noun · Love & Longing

Wala

वला

said wa-laa

also written: Walah

Meaning

Distracted ardour of love, the bewildered, absorbing passion that overwhelms the lover's heart.

Literally: passionate love, distraction through love

How Iqbal uses it

Wala is love so consuming it bewilders the lover, an ardour that scatters the wits. It names the rapt, distracted devotion of a heart wholly possessed by its beloved.

See it in the verse

Wala in Iqbal’s couplets

Dhoondne wala sitaron ki guzargahon ka
Apne afkaar ki duniya mein safar kar na saka

He who charts the very pathways of the stars could not journey through the world of his own thoughts.

Self-Knowledge · Selfhood

Related words

ARABIC

Shauq

Ardent desire, eager yearning, passionate enthusiasm.

ARABIC

Junoon

Madness, frenzy, ecstatic obsession.

ARABIC

Walwala

Fervour, surging enthusiasm, an upwelling of passionate zeal.

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