Khudaa, Khudaa'ee, Khudaavand
paabagil
> Yaani k 'kh' as we write in combo form 'kaaf+ do chasme-hey' is purely
> sub-continental sound. So, does this mean words having this sound are
> created in sub-continent or may be indianized versions of arabic,
> persian words.
> By this argument 'khuda' should a local word!!
Phonetically speaking, Khudaa is not a "local" (i.e., Indian) word: Kh
is not the aspirated k as in Urdu "khaaT" (cot), "khaanaa" (meal), or
"akhaaRaa" (arena), etc. Rather, it's pronounced similar to the German
"ch", as in words like Munich, Bach, etc., or like Scotish Loch (Loch
Ness), etc., and is usually transliterated in Roman Urdu as Kh or in
iTrans as K (capital K).
Etymology of Khudaa:
In Old Persian, one finds words like yazdaan, yaztaan, yazd, muzda,
aahuraa mazda, baGh, etc., to describe the Supreme Being, but not
Khudaa or any of its variations. For example, the name of the Iraqi
capital Baghdad is derived from baGh + daat, where baGh = God; daat =
given.
There was, however, a word in ancient Iran -- thought to be eight
thousand years old -- "Khutaa'ee", meaning king, ruler, owner,
governor, etc. It changed many shapes over the centuries and across
the geographical domains, which can be depicted thusly:
Khutaa'ee --> Khotaa'ee --> Khozaa'ee --> Khuzaa'ee --> Khudaa'ee -->
Khudaa
When Muslims conquered Iran in the seventh century, the word Khudaa
was used in all of the above-mentioned meanings, but never for the
Supreme Being. Some examples are "deh-Khudaa" (mukhiyaa, number-daar),
Bokhara-Khudaa (the governor of Bokhara), "naa-Khudaa" (owner of the
boat; oarperson), etc. Somehow, Muslims started using the word for the
Supreme Being during the seventh and eighth centuries. So much so that
to denote the previous meanings of Khudaa, they started using
"Khudaa-vand" and "Khudaanja" (small God) instead.
Shortened form of Khudaavand became "Khaavand", which first meant
"possessor" or owner and later, "husband". Other variations are Khond,
Khondkaar, etc. On the other hand, "Khudaanja" subsequently
transformed into Kha(v)aja, meaning leader, chief, etc.
As far as Urdu is concerned, from the very outset Khudaa has been used
to denote the Supreme Being, as in Ma'eraaj al ‘Aashiqeen, by
Kha(v)aja Banda-Nawaz Gaisoo-Daraaz (died 1422), considered the first
Urdu prose book:
Hazrat (Muhammad) doodh piye, hor (aur) arz kiye, "ai mere Khudaa maiN
doodh qubool kiyaa".
In modern Urdu Khudaavand is also used for Khudaa, as in this
tremendous quatrain by Iqbal:
Khudaa'ee ihtimaam e Khushk o tar hai
Khudaavandaa Khudaa'ee dard e sar hai
magar ye bandagee, astaGhfirullah
ye dard e sar naheeN dard e jigar hai
or, in the same vein:
mataa'e e bai-bahaa hai dard o sauz e aarzoo-mandee
maqaam e bandagee le kar na looN shaan e Khudaavandee
But even in Ghalib' times Khudaavand was usually not employed for the
Supreme Being, as in this letter to Mir Mehdi Majrooh:
"Khudaa kaa banda hooN, Ali kaa Ghulaam; meraa Khudaa kareem, meraa
Khudaavand saKhee. Ali daaram, che Gham daaram."
Or in this she'er:
tum ho but phir tumheN pindaar e Khudaa'yee kyoN hai
tum Khudaavand hee kehlaa'o, Khudaa aur sahee!
---
I would like to end this post by quoting Mir's two ash'aar, which are
outstanding masterpieces in not just Urdu poetry but in the entire
history of poetry of all languages of all times:
saraapaa aarzoo hone ne banda kar diyaa ham ko
vagarna ham Khudaa the gar dil be mudd'aa hote
Ilaahi kaise hote haiN jinheN hai bandagee Khaahish
hameN to sharm daaman-geer hotee hai Khudaa hote
aadaab arz hai,
Zafar
paabagil
> In the first Miir Taqi Miir she'r, in the second misra, I think it
> should be'..dil-e-be mud'aa'. i.e.:
>
> saraapaa aarzoo hone ne banda kar diyaa ham ko
> vagarna ham Khudaa the gar dil-e-be mudd'aa hote
mazmoon kee ta'areef aur 'typo' kee nishaan-dahee kaa bahut bahut
shukriya, Vijay saahib. Iqbal ke she'er meN bhee aik typo thaa, jis ko
maiN ne doosree post meN saheeh kar diyaa thaa:
maqaam e bandagee *de* kar na looN shaan e Khudaavandee
Zafar
Amit Malhotra
>babuc...@yahoo.com (A.Kala) wrote in message
>
>> Yaani k 'kh' as we write in combo form 'kaaf+ do chasme-hey' is purely
>> sub-continental sound. So, does this mean words having this sound are
>> created in sub-continent or may be indianized versions of arabic,
>> persian words.
>> By this argument 'khuda' should a local word!!
>
>Phonetically speaking, Khudaa is not a "local" (i.e., Indian) word: Kh
>is not the aspirated k as in Urdu "khaaT" (cot), "khaanaa" (meal), or
>"akhaaRaa" (arena), etc. Rather, it's pronounced similar to the German
>"ch", as in words like Munich, Bach, etc., or like Scotish Loch (Loch
>Ness), etc., and is usually transliterated in Roman Urdu as Kh or in
>iTrans as K (capital K).
>
A most interesting and informative post Zafar Sahib. In the other
thread "test" on Khudaa, I had asked a question regarding the usage of
"Khudaa" as "Allah", isn't that supposed to be a no?
Regards,
Amit Malhotra
paabagil
> On 30 Oct 2004 12:03:18 -0700, paab...@hotmail.com (paabagil) wrote:
>
> >babuc...@yahoo.com (A.Kala) wrote in message
> >
> >> Yaani k 'kh' as we write in combo form 'kaaf+ do chasme-hey' is purely
> >> sub-continental sound. So, does this mean words having this sound are
> >> created in sub-continent or may be indianized versions of arabic,
> >> persian words.
> >> By this argument 'khuda' should a local word!!
> >
> >Phonetically speaking, Khudaa is not a "local" (i.e., Indian) word: Kh
> >is not the aspirated k as in Urdu "khaaT" (cot), "khaanaa" (meal), or
> >"akhaaRaa" (arena), etc. Rather, it's pronounced similar to the German
> >"ch", as in words like Munich, Bach, etc., or like Scotish Loch (Loch
> >Ness), etc., and is usually transliterated in Roman Urdu as Kh or in
> >iTrans as K (capital K).
> >
>
> A most interesting and informative post Zafar Sahib.
aap ko meree haqeer kaavish pasand aa'yee, samajhi'ye mere paise
vusool ho ga'ye :)
> In the other thread "test" on Khudaa, I had asked a question regarding the
> usage of "Khudaa" as "Allah", isn't that supposed to be a no?
I am unable to comprehend what you're asking here, Amit jee. You wrote
this in the "Test" thread:
> From what I understand, the word "Khuda" should not be used to denote
> "Allah". I'm sure that our Muslim Alupers will be able to confirm
> this for me, but I think it's supposed to be a 'no-no' right?
Do you mean that Muslims do not regard Allah = Khudaa = The Supereme
Being? Well, if this is what you mean, I guess I have already answered
this question in this very thread:
> As far as Urdu is concerned, from the very outset Khudaa has been used
> to denote the Supreme Being, as in Ma'eraaj al 'Aashiqeen, by
> Kha(v)aja Banda-Nawaz Gaisoo-Daraaz (died 1422), considered the first
> Urdu prose book:
>
> Hazrat (Muhammad) doodh piye, hor (aur) arz kiye, "ai mere Khudaa maiN
> doodh qubool kiyaa".
>
> In modern Urdu Khudaavand is also used for Khudaa, as in this
> tremendous quatrain by Iqbal:
>
> Khudaa'ee ihtimaam e Khushk o tar hai
> Khudaavandaa Khudaa'ee dard e sar hai
> magar ye bandagee, astaGhfirullah
> ye dard e sar naheeN dard e jigar hai
[...]
Please elaborate if this is not what you wanted to ask.
----
One last example of the usage of Khudaa:
In Gita, in reply to Arjun's question that how did he attain his
status,
Lord Krishna says:
man az har sih 'aalam judaa gashta am
tihee gashta az Khud, Khudaa gashta am
[Faizi, the court poet of Akbar]
tarjuma:
maiN teenoN jahaaN se judaa ho gayaa hooN
tihee* Khud se ho kar, Khudaa ho gayaa hooN
[* Khaalee; empty]
Zafar
Amit Malhotra
Actually, what I meant Zafar sahib was the fact that the word "Khudaa"
shouldn't be used to denote Allah. Ok, let me explain, i have tons of
Pakistani friends of course, and some of them make it a point to now
say "Khudaa" but rather "Allah" when talking about God. Once someone
stopped me from saying "Khudaa-haafiz" as well saying, you should not
use the word "Khudaa" for God, the proper word is Allah and say
"Allah-haafiz" instead. Never really understood the reasoning... the
person said something about the fact that in Arabic, the word does not
exist, etc.
Regards,
Amit Malhotra