The word ishq is derived from ashiqa. The ashiqa is a creeper called liblab in Arabic and ishq-pechan in Persian. When this creeper twines itself around a tree, it deprives it of its leaves and fruits. The tree turns yellow and a few days later dries up. Similarly, when love takes its root in the heart of a lover, every one other than the beloved is effaced in the effulgence of the beloved’s beauty; the very being of the lover is annihilated and there remains nothing save the beloved.
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