# Urdu: مفلوک الحال بوڈھا



## Gope

What does الحال occurring in this sentence mean? 'now' does not seem to fit here.
راستے میں ایک مفلوک الحال بوڈھا اور اس کی  بيوى  ایک گدھے كو  ہانکتے  ہوۓ سڑک پر  آہستہ آہستہ چل رہے تھے -(shahaabnaamah, p.384).
And are there any izaafats in مفلوک الحال بوڈھا ?
Thanks.


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## Qureshpor

Could it be "mafluuju_lHaal" (paralysed of state...in a state of being paralysed)?

buuRhaa

Same structure as عربی النسل


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## Gope

Qureshpor said:


> Could it be "mafluuju_lHaal" (paralysed of state...in a state of being paralysed)?
> 
> buuRhaa



No, QP SaaHib, both editions of this text say the same. Besides, these God fearing and honest people were carrying on their donkey gold and silver which they found among the debris of the old town of Mirpur and were asking for directions to the Government treasury because they wanted to hand them over to the Government. So they are not paralysed!
It is about these people that shahaab SaaHib admiringly quoted the words made famous by Iqbal, subject of my one of my earlier threads.


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## Qureshpor

OK. In that case "mafluuku_lHaal" means "dressed in tatters".


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## Gope

Qureshpor said:


> OK. In that case "mafluuku_lHaal" means "dressed in tatters".


Thank you.


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## eskandar

Does it necessarily refer to clothing, or is the meaning perhaps more general, as Platts has it: "Stricken of Heaven ... unfortunate; distressed; poor, indigent, destitute, beggarly" ?


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## Qureshpor

^ I did n't check Platts. I am sure it could mean as per your list.


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## marrish

Gope SaaHib: بوڈھا or بوڑھا ?

Re. izaafats: yes there is one! But it is Arabic _izaafat_ (u-l), not the Persian one [-e- (-i-)]. I'm no expert and we have an expert who will be glad to explain it to you (I hope!)


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## fdb

While awaiting the verdict of a real expert, here is my provisional verdict. _mafl__ūku l-__ḥāl_ is yet another example of the “improper annexation” which we discussed on here very recently:

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2800907

_mafl__ūk_ is literally “ill-starred” (from _falak_, “celestial sphere”), like Shakespeare’s “star-crossed lovers”, so _mafl__ūku l-__ḥāl _means “whose situation is ill-starred”.  Platts’s “stricken of heaven” is perfect.


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## Qureshpor

^ Who would be more knowledgeable in these matters than you, fdb SaaHib?

In this case the best common equivalent would be "qismat ke maare".


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## marrish

^ Indeed, fdb SaaHib's contributions are unmatchable. Yes, qismat ke maare fits the bill, I agree.

fdb SaaHib, since the original poster has inquired about _izaafats_, would you be so kind as to drop a few words about this Arabic _izaafat_ construction please?


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## Gope

marrish said:


> Gope SaaHib: بوڈھا or بوڑھا ?
> 
> Re. izaafats: yes there is one! But it is Arabic _izaafat_ (u-l), not the Persian one [-e- (-i-)]. I'm no expert and we have an expert who will be glad to explain it to you (I hope!)



Thanks for pointing out the mistake, its بوڑھا.


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## marrish

Gope said:


> Thanks for pointing out the mistake, its بوڑھا.


Actually QP SaaHib has been before me, in his post No. 2. It is either بُڈّھا _buDDhaa_ or بوڑھا _buuRhaa_.


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## Gope

marrish said:


> ^ Indeed, fdb SaaHib's contributions are unmatchable. Yes, qismat ke maare fits the bill, I agree.
> 
> fdb SaaHib, since the original poster has inquired about _izaafats_, would you be so kind as to drop a few words about this Arabic _izaafat_ construction please?



marrish SaaHib has explicitly stated my unexpresed خواہش , I do look forward to fdb SaaHib's complementing his explanation!


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## Gope

Gope said:


> marrish SaaHib has explicitly stated my unexpresed خواہش , I do look forward to fdb SaaHib's complementing his explanation!





marrish said:


> Actually QP SaaHib has been before me, in his post No. 2. It is either بُڈّھا _buDDhaa_ or بوڑھا _buuRhaa_.


yes indeed, and he had also said "same structure as عربى النسل" which I regretfully overlooked, and which is confirmed by all subsequent discussions.


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## fdb

_maflūku_ is _mu__ḍāfun_(construct state) and _(a)l-__ḥāli_ is _mu__ḍāfun ʼilayhi_ (possessive complement). Together, _mafl__ūku l-ḥāli_ is an _ʼiḍāfatun_(annexation), but since it does not represent a real possessive relation the grammarians call it _al-__ʼiḍāfatu ghayru l-ḥaqīqati_ (improper annexation), whereby the second word seems to qualify in some way the preceding adjective.


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## Gope

fdb said:


> _maflūku_ is _mu__ḍāfun_(construct state) and _(a)l-__ḥāli_ is _mu__ḍāfun ʼilayhi_ (possessive complement). Together, _mafl__ūku l-ḥāli_ is an _ʼiḍāfatun_(annexation), but since it does not represent a real possessive relation the grammarians call it _al-__ʼiḍāfatu ghayru l-ḥaqīqati_ (improper annexation), whereby the second word seems to qualify in some way the preceding adjective.


Thanks, fdb SaaHib, I have retained "the second word seems to qualify in some way the preceding adjective".


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## Gope

fdb said:


> While awaiting the verdict of a real expert, here is my provisional verdict. _mafl__ūku l-__ḥāl_ is yet another example of the “improper annexation” which we discussed on here very recently:
> 
> http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2800907
> 
> _mafl__ūk_ is literally “ill-starred” (from _falak_, “celestial sphere”), like Shakespeare’s “star-crossed lovers”, so _mafl__ūku l-__ḥāl _means “whose situation is ill-starred”.  Platts’s “stricken of heaven” is perfect.



Not in this context, I'm afraid, if you see the context given in post #3. "Poor, destitute, indigent" is what the author is saying here.


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## Qureshpor

marrish said:


> Gope SaaHib: بوڈھا or بوڑھا ?
> 
> Re. izaafats: yes there is one! But it is Arabic _izaafat_ (u-l), not the Persian one [-e- (-i-)]. I'm no expert and we have an expert who will be glad to explain it to you (I hope!)


Gope SaaHib, take a look at # post 4 of the thread below.

http://forum.wordreference.com/showt...afat+Qureshpor 

A name like "3abdu_llaah" is an example of the definite izaafat..."(The) servant of Allah" (cf: Dev-daas)

fii amaani_llaah (the fii which is a preposition changes the u to ani)..in the care of God...said when parting.

There are many such examples in Urdu...e.g daaru_lHukuumat (House/seat of the governemt....Capital) etc


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## Gope

Qureshpor said:


> Gope SaaHib, take a look at # post 4 of the thread below.
> 
> http://forum.wordreference.com/showt...afat+Qureshpor
> 
> A name like "3abdu_llaah" is an example of the definite izaafat..."(The) servant of Allah" (cf: Dev-daas)
> 
> fii amaani_llaah (the fii which is a preposition changes the u to ani)..in the care of God...said when parting.
> 
> There are many such examples in Urdu...e.g daaru_lHukuumat (House/seat of the governemt....Capital) etc


that link refuses to show with an error message "404 not found".


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## Qureshpor

Gope said:


> that link refuses to show with an error message "404 not found".


Try now

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2659398&highlight=izaafat+Qureshpor


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## Gope

Qureshpor said:


> Try now
> 
> http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2659398&highlight=izaafat+Qureshpor



This worked! I did derive some small benefit, given that I have no acquaintance with Arabic and very little with Persian. Thank you.


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## Qureshpor

Gope said:


> This worked! I did derive some small benefit, given that I have no acquaintance with Arabic and very little with Persian. Thank you.


Well, a small benefit is surely better than no benefit.

It is not that we expect you to be learning Persian or Arabic but a bit of knowledge about the izaafat is important as it plays an important part in Urdu.

*dil-i-naadaaN *tujhe hu'aa kyaa hai
aaxir is dard kii davaa kyaa hai

kahuuN kis se main kih kyaa hai, *shab-i-Gham* burii balaa hai
mujhe kyaa buraa thaa marnaa, agar ek baar hotaa

You will no doubt immediately recognise the highlighted constructions as izaafats of the Persian kind.

But if you came across "x-ul-y", now I hope you have become aware that this is the Arabic izaafat.

You saw one example of this in the thread I provided (*amiir-ul-mi'miniin*...which I write as *amiiru_lmu'miniin*). If you came across "*bait-ul-maal*", you will say, "aah....izaafat...of the Arabic kind"!


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