tar daamani pe shaikh

Interpretation

The shaayar urges the holy preacher to not mock his impurity or moral lapses. The water dripping from the soaked robes (of sweat or blood) is not the foul water of sin, but the essence of genuine passion, devotion, or repentance. And that is so pure and sacred that even angels would use it to purify themselves before prayer. Shaikh here is the preacher, often derided in Urdu poetry as a symbol of rigidity, orthodoxy, and hypocrisy.