This paper seeks to examine the Dasht as a spatial metaphor in the works of both classical and modern Urdu Ghazal poets through the theoretical framework of geocriticism, which emphasises the significance of space and place, rather than time and history. It explores how places become integral to literature through human perception, experience, and representation. Urdu poetry employs a variety of spatial metaphors, among which the Dasht (wilderness/desert) offers particularly rich possibilities for interpretation. In the tradition of the Urdu Ghazal, the Dasht is not merely a barren geographical setting; rather, it functions as an active narrative space and a complex semiotic system that often emerges as the antithesis of civilization, represented by the city and the garden. From structuralist and psychological perspectives, the Dasht is not a fixed concept but one that undergoes continuous transformation. In the classical period, it symbolised the arduous trials of love, a refuge for madness (junoon), and a solitary retreat (khalwat-kada) purified of worldly contamination. In the modern era, however, it has evolved into a metaphor for existential loneliness, the trauma of migration, and the haunting silences of the subconscious. The Dasht occupies a prominent place in the poetry of classical Urdu poets such as Mir Taqi Mir, Atish, Ghafil, Ghalib, Momin, and Dagh. Modern poets, including Nasir Kazmi, Munir Niazi, Ahmad Faraz, Shehzad Ahmad, Ahmad Mushtaq, Irfan Siddiqui, and Parveen Shakir, have further reimagined this spatial metaphor in ways that invite geocritical interpretation. In Urdu Ghazal, the Dasht has thus developed into a metaphor that simultaneously reflects the inner landscape of the self and the outer realities of the world.

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