Quiz A collection of interesting questions related to Urdu poetry, prose and literary history. Play Rekhta Quiz and check your knowledge about Urdu!
aaj ik aur baras biit gayā us ke baġhair
jis ke hote hue hote the zamāne mere
Compilation of top 20 hand-picked Urdu shayari on the most sought-after subjects and poets
Rekhta's online crossword puzzle - the world's first Urdu online crossword for free. Developed in collaboration with Amuse Labs, these puzzles are specially designed to improve your knowledge of Urdu language, literature, and culture. Challenge yourself with new crosswords and engage in playful learning.
Start playingmeans
aisā tire firāq meñ bīmār ho gayā
maiñ chārāgar kī jaan ko āzār ho gayā
aisa tere firaq mein bimar ho gaya
main chaaragar ki jaan ko aazar ho gaya
Get latest Urdu books & Hindi books online only on Rekhtabooks.com
Browse Rekhtabooks.comQuiz A collection of interesting questions related to Urdu poetry, prose and literary history. Play Rekhta Quiz and check your knowledge about Urdu!
Celebrated progressive Ghazal writer Majrooh Sultanpuri recited his poems at several Mushairas with Jigar Moradabadi. At a Mumbai Mushaira in 1945 when Majrooh was announced to recite his poetry, many people made light of him considering him an amateur, but when he started with his Ghazal the entire crowd was overwhelmed with awe and Majrooh stole the show. Jigar and Hasrat Mohani, who were also performing there, showered endless praises upon him. At this very Mushaira, film director A.R. Kardar was also present who was working on a film named ‘Shaah Jahaan’. He was so influenced by Majrooh that he requested him to write the songs for this film, Majrooh accepted and music director Naushad composed the songs. Khumar Barabankvi too started his lyric-writing career with this film.
Shamsur Rahman Farooqi (1935-2020), a renowned critic, novelist, author of dozens of books, and a multi-faceted personality, was the shining star of Urdu literature who had an unusual penchant for reading books since childhood. He had glasses on his eyes from the age of twelve only, and was called ‘Bachche Miyan’ at home. Until BA, he was educated in Gorakhpur, where his father was settled and employed. Close to his college, was a book-binding shop, and all the books that came in there, Farooqi Sahib read them then and there. He would often read a book while walking to college with his cousins, and his brothers would save him from cars, bicycles and rickshaws. As he went to Allahabad to do his MA in English, the habit of reading books while walking continued. Seeing his state of engrossment, wayfarers would themselves give way to him. He held senior positions in the Indian Postal Service, and whenever he had some respite from the official files, one would find a book in his hands. During his service, he published a monthly literary magazine called Shab-Khoon, which lasted for forty consecutive years. The magazine helped promote the modernist trend in poetry.
Apart from literature, Farooqi Sahib also took delight in painting and music; especially enamored with Indian classical music. He was also very interested in animals and birds. In Allahabad, he kept different kinds of birds in his house. He could not see any animal dying or being slaughtered. His hometown was Azamgarh but he was born in his maternal house in Pratabgarh.
‘Aab-e-Ravaa.n’ literally means flowing water, but it is also the name of a finely woven cotton cloth. It was the finest muslin of its time and was exported from India by European trading companies, and it was known among the British as Abaron.
Urdu classical poetry abounds in the mention of Dupattas and apparels made of Aab-e-Ravaa.n. In the following couplet by Nazir Akbarabadi, a string of tears finds a novel resemblance with an apparel made out of Aab-e-ravaa.n:
ashko.n ke tasalsul ne chhupaayaa tan-e-uryaa.n
ye ‘aab-e-ravaa.n’ kaa hai nayaa pairahan apnaa
The proverb, “Aab-e-Ravaa.n Mei.n gaaDHe ka paivand”, is also closely related, it means to graft inappropriate stiches or absurd combinations. ‘gaaDHaa’ is the name of a cloth that’s thick and rough.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, freedom fighter and India’s first Minister of Education, wrote his literary masterpiece Ghubar-e-Khatir during his captivity at Qila Ahmad Nagar during 1942-1945 and contains twenty-four letters that he wrote during that time. Maulana had gone to Bombay to preside over a meeting of the All India Congress Committee and was arrested there. All these letters were written in the name of Nawab Sadr Yaar Jang Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Khan Sherwani Raees of Bhikampur District, Aligarh. But these letters, which are based on the events and observations of Qila Ahmednagar and on various topics, ideas and philosophies, could not be posted due to strict bounds of imprisonment.
The letters were private and were not written with the idea that they would be published. But after his release from prison, at the insistence of his secretary Maulana Ajmal Khan, Maulana published them in book form.
These letters are a treasure trove of scholarly and literary information as well as details of his early life and are considered the very peak of Maulana Azad's unique style of writing.
The word ‘Afshan’ refers to golden flakes or filings that women sprinkle in the parting of their hair or foreheads as adornment. Afshan is especially graced upon, or “etched (Chuna Jaana)” into, a bride’s parting of hair. A couplet of Qamar Jalalvi’s reads:
'qamar' afshaa.n chunii hai ruKH pe us ne is saliiqe se
sitaare aasmaa.n se dekhne ko aa.e jaate hai.n
In Urdu, the word Afshan is also used as a suffix in the sense of sprinkling, shedding, or scattering. Girls are commonly named "Mehr Afshan" (She who spreads love) and “Noor Afshan”. In couplets, we see the heavens scattering dew (Shabnam-Afshani) on somebody’s grave, or someone shedding flowers (Gul-Afshani) from their eloquent conversation. Like Ghalib, in this following couplet:
phir dekhiye andaaz-e-gul-afshaanii-e-guftaar
rakh de ko.ii paimaana-e-sahbaa mere aage
In Urdu, another idiom is present for the expression ‘gul-afshaanii-e-guftaar’, namely ‘Phuul JhaDna’. A famous verse by Ahmad Faraz reads:
sunaa hai bole to baato.n se phuul jha.Dte hai.n
ye baat hai to chalo baat kar ke dekhte hai.n
Another Urdu word ‘Ifsha’, means to reveal a secret. In thousands of Urdu couplets, the secret of love is revealed through eyes. Also, interrogation done by the police to solve a crime is called ‘Taftish Karna’.
Essential collection of Iconic poets – a list that goes beyond the realm of fame and populism
Discover books & magazines in the world’s largest online collection of Urdu literature
View More E-Booksहिंदी क्षेत्र की भाषाओं-बोलियों का व्यापक शब्दकोश
Buy Urdu & Hindi books online
A vibrant resource for Hindi literature
A feature-rich website dedicated to sufi-bhakti tradition
A trilingual dictionary of Urdu words
The world's largest language festival
Jashn-e-Rekhta | 2-3-4 December 2022 - Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Near India Gate, New Delhi
GET YOUR FREE PASS