# Urdu, Hindi: zaat ذات



## lafz_puchnevala

Hi,

This has appeared in another thread and an explanation of its meaning will be appreciated. 

*Eg. (from a prev thread): "maaN ki zaat to mujassam mahaabbat hai" * (A mother is indeed a total embodiment of love). 

Does it mean 'a species'? So this would mean 'the Mother species' here? 

Thanks!


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## UrduMedium

Since maaN is the same _species _as the rest of her family, it cannot mean species 

Entity and existence come close.

Another familiar word with similar meaning is _hastii_


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## Alfaaz

> Does it mean 'a species'? So this would mean 'the Mother species' here?


If I remember correctly, you have asked this question before (probably not sure)! In this sense it means the existance, the relationship, or the figure of motherhood. Another example would be the title of a novel by Umera Ahmad and also a Pakistani TV drama : Meri Zaat Zarah-e-Benishaan...My existance/self is like a particle of non-existance...?


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## lafz_puchnevala

Alfaaz said:


> If I remember correctly, you have asked this question before (probably not sure)! In this sense it means the existance, the relationship, or the figure of motherhood. Another example would be the title of a novel by Umera Ahmad and also a Pakistani TV drama : Meri Zaat Zarah-e-Benishaan...My existance/self is like a particle of non-existance...?



How will this be different from 'wujood' then?

Thanks!


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## Alfaaz

> How will this be different from 'wujood' then?


That's a really good question! I'm not sure of how to explain the answer  !

In the sentence above, wujuud could also probably work. I think wujuud is more like the existance as in: material existance, here on earth. Well, kind of..._Main tumharaa wujuud is kamre main bardasht naheeN karsakta hooN! faur-an nikal jaa'o! 

_Platts:


> _A وجود wujūd (inf. n. of وجد 'to be found; to exist,' &c.), s.m. Being found; invention;—being, existence; entity; life: essence, substance;—body; person, individual;—penis:—wujūd pānā, or wujūd pakaṛnā, To come into existence; to take form or shape; to become incarnate:—wujūd ʻadam-wujūd, Existence or non-existence:—wujūd-meṅ lānā (-ko), To bring into existence; to invent; to form, create:—bā-wujūd, or bā-wujūde, Withal; notwithstanding (that, -ki); in despite (of)._






> A _ذات__ ẕāt (fem. of ẕū, q.v.), s.f. Possessor, owner, mistress (in these senses used as a prefixed noun; and often better rendered 'having, possessed of, endowed with'); essence, substance, nature, radical constituent; soul; body, person, self (i.e. a man's self, or a thing's self);_


Confused.....Let's see what other say! 
Edit: Just read UM's reply! Yes you could add hastii to the list for more confusion....(probably all of these words are somewhat synonymous?)


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## UrduMedium

_zaat _and _hastii_ have more permanence, while _wujuud _is transient (can vary with time).


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## greatbear

lafz_puchnevala said:


> Hi,
> 
> This has appeared in another thread and an explanation of its meaning will be appreciated.
> 
> *Eg. (from a prev thread): "maaN ki zaat to mujassam mahaabbat hai" * (A mother is indeed a total embodiment of love).
> 
> Does it mean 'a species'? So this would mean 'the Mother species' here?
> 
> Thanks!



Yes, it does mean species or tribe, as long as you don't take it to be a biological species in this sentence (it could also mean a biological species in another sentence).


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## Faylasoof

lafz_puchnevala said:


> Hi,
> 
> This has appeared in another thread and an explanation of its meaning will be appreciated.
> 
> *Eg. (from a prev thread): "maaN ki zaat to mujassam mahaabbat hai" * (A mother is indeed a total embodiment of love).
> 
> Does it mean 'a species'? So this would mean 'the Mother species' here?
> 
> Thanks!


 I feel here *ذات Zaat *means* essence!* Zaat (i.e. kii Zaat) gets used this way in peotry as well:

ميري نوائے شوق سے شور *حريم ذات* ميں
غلغلہ ہائے الاماں بت کدئہ صفات ميں 

اقبال

_merii nawaa’e shauq se shor *Hariim-e-Zaat* meN _
_ghulghulah-haa’e al-amaaN but-kadah-e-Sifaat meN_

_There is commotion from the epiphany _
_Of my  passion in the *Divine Essence*,_
_Causing fear in the temple of His Attributes _

Iqbal


_Zaat _itself has many (>12 meanings in Urdu) but can also mean ماہیت _maahiyyat_ = quiddity, in philosophy. [From Arabic* ماهية maahiyyah*]


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## lafz_puchnevala

We are looking at 2 interpretations here: Motherkind vs Essence of (being a) Mother.


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## greatbear

lafz_puchnevala said:


> We are looking at 2 interpretations here: Motherkind vs Essence of (being a) Mother.



I differ from most opinions expressed here; in English, it would be odd to say "kind, species" and hence the appropriate translation would be "essence", but that does not make "zaat" essence. There are similar sentences that could be formed:
"karele ki zaat hii kaDvii hai" (karelaa = bitter gourd, kaDvaa = bitter)
This one is the same "zaat" as in "maaN kii zaat": the bitter gourd-kind and the motherkind. In better terms though quite a mouthful, it's in the nature of the bitter gourd to be bitter and the mother to be affectionate.


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## Qureshpor

maanaa jiivan meN 3aurat ik baar muHabbat kartii hai
lekin mujh ko yih to bataa de kyaa tuu *3aurat-zaat* nahiiN

Qateel Shifaa'ii


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## Chhaatr

_bete tum ro ke apnii zaat kyoN xaraab kartii ho_?

How would one translate _*zaat*_ in this sentence?

(My question is about Urdu usage.  Just clarifying as the thread title also has "Hindi")

Thanks!


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## Qureshpor

^ کیا آپ اپنے سوال کے لئےمزید سیاق و سباق پیش کر سکتے ہیں؟


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## Chhaatr

جی ہاں بالکل!


ایک نواسی روتے ہوۓ اپنی نانی سے
کہتی ہے کہ اس کی خوائش تہی کی
اسے بہی کوئئ گہر ملے جسے وہ اپنا
کہ سکے. وہ پوچہتی ہے کہ کیا اس 
کی یہ خوائش غیر مناسب تہی جس
پر اس کی نانی وہ جملہ کہتی ہے
جو میں نے اپنے گزشتہ پوسٹ
میں درج کیا تہا.


مزید سیاق و سیاق کے لۓ شاید
وڈؤ کا لنک بہیجنا پڑے گا.

Pls do read "he" as "dochashmii he" wherever applicable.

is vaqt sabr nahiiN hai iSlaaH kar ne kii. aa'indaah iHtiyaat bartuuN gaa.

My apologies, the sentence should read:

_chup ho jaa'o bete. apnii zaat kaa tamaashah na ban ne do._


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## Qureshpor

Chhaatr said:


> My apologies, the sentence should read:
> 
> _chup ho jaa'o bete. apnii zaat kaa tamaashah na ban ne do._



chup ho jaa'o beTe. apnii zaat kaa tamaashah nah ban_ne do.

Be quiet dear. Don't let this make a spectacle of your (female)-kind.

So, the meaning is as per my post # 11.

Edit:

I am making an addition, very hesitatingly!

Here "zaat" could imply "caste" too. You probably know the story and therefore would be able to make the most appropriate choice.


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## Chhaatr

Thanks, your first meaning fits the bill.


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## Qureshpor

Sometimes "zaat" is used in the sense of "self".

use hameshah apnii hii zaat se ta3alluq rahtaa thaa. ko'ii aur jiye yaa mare, is kii use kuchh parvaa nahiiN thii!


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## Gope

In the following sentence, what would ذات mean among its multitude of senses: اس ملی بھگت کے مقابلہ میں قائدا عظم کی ذات يک و تنہا تھی ۔


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## Qureshpor

^ His being/person


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## Gop

Here is a text in which the word ذات occurs, the meaning of which is not clear to me (from ChaakiivaaRaa meN visaal, Mohammad Khalid Akhtar, p.21):

میں نے پروفیسر سے پوچھا کہ وہ اتنا عرصہ کہاں غائب رہا۔

اس نے انگلی آسمان کی طرفاٹھاتے ہوئے کہا “اس کیذات ابھی بتانے کی اجازت نہیں دیتی”

What does pointing to the sky and saying ‘uskii zaat...? “God”?


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