name

Zulekha

zoo-LAY-khah

zuːˈleɪkɑː

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Zuleikha

Origin: Saraiki (Pakistan)
Meaning: a feminine name of Arabic and Persian origin, the name given in Islamic literary tradition to Potiphar's wife who fell in love with the Prophet Yusuf (Joseph), a story told in the Quran's Surah Yusuf and elaborated in Persian and Urdu poetry as one of the great narratives of passionate love and longing; in the Sufi interpretation of this story developed by poets including Jami in his Yusuf and Zulaikha, her love for Yusuf becomes an allegory for the soul's yearning for divine beauty, transforming a story of earthly passion into a map of spiritual ascent; to name a daughter Zulekha in Saraiki culture is to invoke this rich literary and spiritual tradition and to place a girl's life within the frame of a story about the transformative power of love; the name has remained popular across Pakistan and the wider Urdu cultural world for centuries
Gender: female

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