Ishq
Encyclopedia
Dari "eshq" Persian
eshgh, Turkish
aşk, ( Ishq), Azerbaijani
(eşq), means "love". The word is derived from ‘ashiqah, a vine
: the common belief is that when love takes its root in the heart of a lover, everything other than God is effaced. In Islam's Sufi and mystic doctrine it is a concept which refers to "divine love" or "a creature's love for its creator"; i.e. man
's love for God
.
, Siraiki
, Punjabi
, Urdu
and Hindi
.
has a meaning of lustless love
. In Arabic, which is its language of origin, it is a noun. However, in Urdu and Hindi it is used as both verb and noun. ‘Āshiq (male) and ‘Āshiqah (female) are its subjective forms. Māshūq (male) and Māshūqah (female) are its objective forms. In addition to Arabic, these forms are used in Persian, Urdu and sometimes in Hindi also.
In Urdu, Ishq (عشق) is used to refer to fervent love for any object, person or God. However, it is mostly used in its religious context. In Urdu, three very common religious terminologies have been derived from Ishq. These terminologies are Ishq-e-Haqīqi (love of God), Ishq-e majāzi (love of God's creation i.e. a human
), and ishq-e rasūl or ishq-e Muhammadi (love of Muhammad
). Other than these, in non-religious context, ‘ishq is a synonym for obsessive love.
In Hindi, ishq (इश्क़) is mostly used to refer to romantic love in its extreme passionate form. This interpretation of Ishq is mostly popularised by Bollywood movies
and Indian filmi music.
In Turkish, Aşk is commonly used to express love, passion or adoration. The Turkish version replaces the 'q' with a 'k', as Turkish lacks voiceless uvular plosive, and the letter 'ş' with the cedilla
denotes the "sh" sound, ʃ. In comparison to Arabic, Urdu
or Hindi
, the word is less restricted and can be applied to many forms of love, or simply romance. It is common in lyrics of Turkish songs.
.
According to hadith
it is necessary for a Muslim to love Muhammad more than mere human beings; even more than their own life. The love of the Prophet is Iman
according to Muslim belief
.
s, music, poetry and literature. Ashfaq Ahmed
wrote many short stories and TV dramas about mysticism involving ishq.
The world famous, Lebanese singer, Najwa Karam
used "Ishq" from its derived form of "ashiqah," (as stated above). Her song 'Aaskah' (Falling in love) was an enormous hit, hitting number one all over the Middle East, and was also popular abroad.
Bollywood
movies have mostly promoted romantic context of ishq by many romantic movies with titles containing the word ishq. Countless film songs have used this word in a purely romantic context with male/female duets
. Related words that are used in Bollywood movies are Mohabbat, Prem and Pyaar.
The term has also been applied in various popular-culture contexts, including the name of a record company and the title of a music CD by Abida Parveen
.
Ishq is also the name of an ambient music band from the UK, http://www.ishq.org.
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
eshgh, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
aşk, ( Ishq), Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
(eşq), means "love". The word is derived from ‘ashiqah, a vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
: the common belief is that when love takes its root in the heart of a lover, everything other than God is effaced. In Islam's Sufi and mystic doctrine it is a concept which refers to "divine love" or "a creature's love for its creator"; i.e. man
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
's love for God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
.
As a word in different languages
This word has made its way to many other languages which were influenced by Arabic in one way or another. Some of the most notable languages which have borrowed it are Persian, Turkish, Azerbaijani (Azeri), SindhiSindhi language
Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...
, Siraiki
Siraiki language
Saraiki , transliterated as Sirāikī and sometimes spelled Seraiki and Saraiki, is a standardized written language of Pakistan belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages. It is a language spoken in the heart of Pakistan...
, Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
and Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
.
has a meaning of lustless love
Platonic love
Platonic love is a chaste and strong type of love that is non-sexual.-Amor Platonicus:The term amor platonicus was coined as early as the 15th century by the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino. Platonic love in this original sense of the term is examined in Plato's dialogue the Symposium, which has...
. In Arabic, which is its language of origin, it is a noun. However, in Urdu and Hindi it is used as both verb and noun. ‘Āshiq (male) and ‘Āshiqah (female) are its subjective forms. Māshūq (male) and Māshūqah (female) are its objective forms. In addition to Arabic, these forms are used in Persian, Urdu and sometimes in Hindi also.
In Urdu, Ishq (عشق) is used to refer to fervent love for any object, person or God. However, it is mostly used in its religious context. In Urdu, three very common religious terminologies have been derived from Ishq. These terminologies are Ishq-e-Haqīqi (love of God), Ishq-e majāzi (love of God's creation i.e. a human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
), and ishq-e rasūl or ishq-e Muhammadi (love of Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
). Other than these, in non-religious context, ‘ishq is a synonym for obsessive love.
In Hindi, ishq (इश्क़) is mostly used to refer to romantic love in its extreme passionate form. This interpretation of Ishq is mostly popularised by Bollywood movies
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
and Indian filmi music.
In Turkish, Aşk is commonly used to express love, passion or adoration. The Turkish version replaces the 'q' with a 'k', as Turkish lacks voiceless uvular plosive, and the letter 'ş' with the cedilla
Cedilla
A cedilla , also known as cedilha or cédille, is a hook added under certain letters as a diacritical mark to modify their pronunciation.-Origin:...
denotes the "sh" sound, ʃ. In comparison to Arabic, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
or Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, the word is less restricted and can be applied to many forms of love, or simply romance. It is common in lyrics of Turkish songs.
As an islamic concept
In religious context, Ishq, divided into three kinds, is a very important but rather complex concept of Sufi tradition of IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Ishq-e Haqīqi
Ishq-e Haqīqi literally means "the real love" but metaphorically it means "the love of God". It refers to the belief that only God is worth loving and He is the only one who can return His creature's love for Him.Ishq-e Majāzi
Ishq-e Majāzi literally means "metaphorical love". It refers to the love for God's creation i.e. love of a man for a woman and vice versa. It is said to be generated by beloved person's external beauty. According to some schools of thought in Sufism, Ishq-e Majāzi can not eventually lead to Ishq-e Haqiqi.Ishq-e Rasūl or Ishq-e Muhammadi
Ishq-e Rasūl ' means "love of Muhammad," an important part of being a Muslim.According to hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
it is necessary for a Muslim to love Muhammad more than mere human beings; even more than their own life. The love of the Prophet is Iman
Iman (concept)
Iman is an Arabic term which denotes certitude or adherence to an idea. In Islamic theology, it refers to the inner aspect of the religion, and denotes a believer's faith in the metaphysical realities of Islam. The term Iman has been delineated in both the Quran as well as the famous Hadith of...
according to Muslim belief
Belief
Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true.-Belief, knowledge and epistemology:The terms belief and knowledge are used differently in philosophy....
.
Use in music culture
Ishq both as a word and a concept has been extensively used in Arab pop culture. Pakistani pop culture, with its roots in Islamic society, has used its religious context and used it in mystic QawwaliQawwali
Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan, Hyderabad, Delhi, and other parts of northern India...
s, music, poetry and literature. Ashfaq Ahmed
Ashfaq Ahmed
For disambiguation also see Ashfaq Ahmad, Ishfaq Ahmed and Ishfaq AhmadAshfaq Ahmed, PP, SI was a distinguished writer, playwright, broadcaster, intellectual and spiritualist from Pakistan. His prime qualities of heart and hand earned appreciations across the world...
wrote many short stories and TV dramas about mysticism involving ishq.
The world famous, Lebanese singer, Najwa Karam
Najwa Karam
Najwa Karam is a Multi-Platinum, Best-Selling Lebanese Arab recording artist and Philanthropist. Najwa, widely known for her Mawwal and other musical talents, has surpassed musical and political limits in building her Empire, as she has effectively helped change the Arabic music industry in its...
used "Ishq" from its derived form of "ashiqah," (as stated above). Her song 'Aaskah' (Falling in love) was an enormous hit, hitting number one all over the Middle East, and was also popular abroad.
Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
movies have mostly promoted romantic context of ishq by many romantic movies with titles containing the word ishq. Countless film songs have used this word in a purely romantic context with male/female duets
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
. Related words that are used in Bollywood movies are Mohabbat, Prem and Pyaar.
The term has also been applied in various popular-culture contexts, including the name of a record company and the title of a music CD by Abida Parveen
Abida Parveen
Abida Parveen , is a Pakistani singer of Sindhi descent and one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music . She sings mainly ghazals, Urdu love songs, and her forte, Kafis, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets...
.
Ishq is also the name of an ambient music band from the UK, http://www.ishq.org.