جہاں

Urdu

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒə.ɦɑ̃ː/

Etymology 1

Compare coordinate terms کَہاں (kahā̃, “where”, interrogative), یَہاں (yahā̃, “here”), وَہاں (vahā̃, “there”)

Adverb

جَہاں • (jahā̃) (Hindi spelling जहाँ)

1. (relative) where

Etymology 2

Noun

جَہاں • (jahā̃) m (Hindi spelling जहाँ)

1. alternative form of جہان (jahān, “world”)
   • 1904, Muhammad Iqbal, Tarānā-e-Hind :

     سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہَمارا
     ہم بلبلیں ہیں اس کی، یہ گلستاں ہمارا

     sāre jahā̃ se acchā hindostā̃ hamārā
     ham bulbulẽ ha͠i is kī, ye gulistā̃ hamārā

     Better than the whole world, is our Hindustan;
     We are its nightingales, and it is our flower-garden.

2. (figuratively) beloved

Further reading

• “جہاں”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “جہاں”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 240