Persian · noun · Poetry, Speech & Art

Zameen-e-shairi

ज़मीन-ए-शायरी
said za-meen-e-shaa-i-ri
also written: Zameen, zamin, zameen, earth
Meaning

The poetic 'ground' of a ghazal: its combined meter, rhyme and refrain.

Literally: earth, ground, land

How Iqbal uses it

Zameen is the earth — the ground underfoot, the soil that receives the seed and the rain, the homeland, and the lowly counterpart to the high heavens (zameen-o-aasman, earth-and-sky, naming the whole created span). It is the human ground of dust and dwelling. Iqbal sets the earth against the sky to frame his great theme of ascent: man is made of this earth yet summoned skyward, and the awakened self can make the very dust of the ground rival the stars.