Glossary
فرہنگِ اصطلاحات
The words you need to talk about Urdu poetry.
The parts of a poem
- Misraمصرع
- One line of verse. Two misre make a sher.
- Sherشعر
- A couplet: two misre in the same metre that together complete one thought.
- Matlaمطلع
- The opening sher of a ghazal, in which both misre end with the qafia and radif.
- Husn-e-matlaحسنِ مطلع
- A second matla placed after the first, also rhyming in both lines.
- Maqtaمقطع
- The closing sher of a ghazal, usually containing the poet's takhallus.
- Takhallusتخلص
- The pen name a poet uses in the maqta: Ghalib, Mir, Dagh.
- Radifردیف
- The word or words repeated unchanged at the end of both lines of the matla and the second line of every sher. A ghazal may have no radif (ghair-muraddaf).
- Qafiaقافیہ
- The rhyming word just before the radif. Qafia words change from sher to sher but share their final sounds (dam / kam; davaa / maajraa).
- Harf-e-raviحرفِ روی
- The core letter of the qafia that must be the same in every rhyme.
Forms
- Ghazalغزل
- A lyric of five or more shers in one metre, sharing a radif and qafia, each sher complete in itself.
- Nazmنظم
- A poem developing one theme, with a title, in any stanza form.
- Rubaiرباعی
- A four-line poem in one of the special rubai metres (variants of Hazaj akhrab and akhram); lines 1, 2 and 4 rhyme.
- Qataقطعہ
- Two or more shers that continue one thought; lines 2, 4, 6 rhyme.
- Marsiyaمرثیہ
- An elegy, above all for the martyrs of Karbala; perfected by Anees and Dabeer in six-line stanzas.
- Musaddasمسدس
- A poem in six-line stanzas (bands): four lines rhyming together, then a rhymed couplet. Hali's Musaddas is the famous example.
Metre (Ilm-ul-Aruz)
- Ilm-ul-Aruzعلم العروض
- The science of metre: how lines are measured in feet and matched to the classical bahrs.
- Taqtiتقطیع
- Scansion: breaking a line into syllables and matching them to the feet of a metre.
- Bahrبحر
- A metre: a fixed pattern of long and short syllables, named by its family and its variations.
- Rukn (pl. Arkaan / Af'aal)رکن، ارکان
- A metrical foot such as fa'ūlun (– = =) or mafā'īlun (– = = =).
- Zihaf (pl. Zihaafaat)زحاف
- A recognised change to a foot: fā'ilātun can become fa'ilātun (khabn), fā'ilun, fa'lun and so on.
- Sababسبب
- A two-letter unit. Sabab-e-khafif (a moving letter + a still letter, e.g. dil) is one long syllable (=); sabab-e-saqil is two moving letters.
- Vatadوتد
- A three-letter unit. Vatad-e-majmu' (short + long, e.g. ka-haa) and vatad-e-mafruq (long + short).
- Fasilaفاصلہ
- A four- or five-letter unit, made of shorts followed by a long.
- Mutaharrikمتحرک
- A 'moving' letter: one that carries a vowel.
- Sakinساکن
- A 'still' letter: one with no vowel after it. A mutaharrik + sakin makes a long syllable.
- Mawzoonموزوں
- On metre.
- Na-mawzoonناموزوں
- Out of metre.
- Kast-e-bahrشکستِ بحر
- The point where a line breaks out of its metre.
- Aib-e-taqtiعیبِ تقطیع
- A metrical flaw in a line.
- Aib-e-qafiaعیبِ قافیہ
- A rhyme flaw: a qafia that does not truly match the others.
- Vaslوصل
- Linking: a word-final consonant joins the vowel that begins the next word (khayaal achchhaa → kha-yaa-lach-chhaa).
- Izafatاضافت
- The Persian linking -e (dil-e-naadaañ). It takes the consonant before it and may be scanned long or short.
- Giraana / Ikhfaگرانا
- Shortening a word-final long vowel for the metre (mere scanned me-re with re short).
- Noon-e-ghunnaنونِ غنہ
- Nasalisation (ں). It has no weight in scansion. A full n after a long vowel may also be treated as ghunna.
- Do-chashmi heدو چشمی ہ
- ھ, which marks aspiration (bh, th, kh). It does not count as a letter in scansion.
- Tasbigh / Izalaتسبیغ / اذالہ
- Adding one still letter at the end of a misra; the extra consonant is ignored in scansion.
- Vujooh-e-taqtiوجوہِ تقطیع
- The different possible scansions of one line.
Rhetorical devices
- Tashbeehتشبیہ
- Simile: a comparison made explicit with a word such as saa, sii, jaise, misl.
- Isti'araاستعارہ
- Metaphor: one thing spoken of as another, with no comparison word (the falcon for the free self).
- Talmeehتلمیح
- Allusion to a story, person or tradition (Ibn-e-Maryam, Farhad, Majnun).
- Tazaadتضاد
- Antithesis: opposites placed together (aag / khaak, ibtidaa / intihaa).
- Ihaamایہام
- A word with two meanings, both alive in the line (kaam tamaam karnaa).
- Tajahul-e-arifanaتجاہلِ عارفانہ
- Feigned ignorance: the poet asks what he already knows ('Heart, what has happened to you?').
- Tikraarتکرار
- Repetition of a word for emphasis or music (patta patta buuTa buuTa).
- Mubaalaghaمبالغہ
- Hyperbole.
- Muraa'at-un-naziirمراعات النظیر
- Bringing together a set of related things (leaf, shrub, rose, garden).
- Ta'alliتعلی
- The poet's boast about his own art, usually in the maqta.
Reading and style
- Tashreehتشریح
- Explanation or commentary on a sher.
- Taffuzتلفظ
- Pronunciation.
- Ruzmarra / Muhaviraروزمرہ / محاورہ
- Everyday usage and idiom, the hallmarks of Zauq and Dagh.
- Sahl-e-mumtana'سہلِ ممتنع
- 'The impossibly easy': verse so simple it seems anyone could write it, yet no one can.
- Rangرنگ
- A poet's individual colour or style.