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.
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aap hī markaz-e-nigāh rahe
jaane ko chār-sū nigāh ga.ī
aap hi markaz-e-nigah rahe
jaane ko chaar-su nigah gai
from the Ghazal "KHalish-e-tir-e-be-panah gai" by Ada Jafarey
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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!
Published in the year 1932, Angaare, became one of the most controversial books due to its contents. This collection of short stories inculdes a host of writers such as Sajjad Zahir, Ahmad Ali, Mahmud Ud-Zafar and Rashid Jahaan. These stories criticize Muslim religious leaders and highlight the social oppression of the time. The book caused such an uproar that it was banned by the British colonial government.
Urdu literature saw a new wave of expression after the publication of this book where stories were written with fearless mettle, shortly after which the Progressive Writers Association too set in motion. Many people are also of the opinion that Angare was like a prologue to the Progressive Writers Association.
Nastaleeq is a beautiful script in which Urdu is written, which was designed in Iran in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. ‘Naskh’ is the script in which Arabic is usually written. And Taleeq is a Persian script. Both of them were merged to become Nastaleeq. It is interesting to note that in Urdu the word Nastaleeq is used for a cultured, well mannered and refined person.
Curious to know what’s ‘Ham-Zulf’? It’s a word used in blood relations for which the word "SaaRhu" is commonly used. Basically, the respective husbands of two sisters are ‘Ham-Zulf’ of/to one another.
A word on the same lines which is used to address a relative is ‘Khush-Daaman’, that is a mother-in-law, or Saas.
Similarly, for a husband, the word "KHasm" also comes into common parlance which is not considered a particularly polite expression, and is often pronounced as ‘KHasam’, and in Punjabi, ‘khasam’.
Interestingly, in Arabic, ‘KHasm’ means enemy, from which the word ‘KHusuumat’ (enmity) is derived, which is used in Urdu language and poetry as well. For the expression ‘Jaan Kaa Dushman’ (pain in the neck), Mushafi has used ‘KHasm-e-Jaan’ in the following couplet:
Huaa KHasm-e-Jaa.n Mushafi wo tuu teraa
Na insaa.n ko insaan se bair hove
The proverb ‘Haath Kangan ko Aarsi Kya’ is quite common, but do you know what an Aarsi is exactly? Well, it was a ring worn on the thumb by women of earlier times that had jewels surrounding a mirror in its center. Women used to keep a check on their makeup by looking into it. In Urdu poetry, Aarsi is a theme that’s been extensively explored:
Aaiina saamne na sahii aarsi to hai
Tum apne muskuraane kaa andaaz dekhnaa
Going back to the proverb ‘Haath Kangan ko Aarsi Kya’, it literally means that to check the Kangan (bangles) worn on the hand, there is no need to look into the mirror; for they are right in front of the eyes. Figuratively, the proverb is used to point out something so obvious that there is barely a need to put it out explicitly. Further, the proverb has also been extended into the following:
‘Haath Kangan ko Aarsi Kya, PaDhe likhe ko Farsi Kya’
Interestingly, there is also a ritual in marriages called "Arsi Mus’haf" in which the bride and groom are seated face to face with a dupatta is placed on their head and a mirror is placed in the middle. The two look at each other’s face, reciting a Surah of the Qur'an. Mus’haf refers to the Holy Qur'an itself.
Parveen Shakir began writing poetry at the age of 16, and formerly wrote under the pen-name ‘Biinaa’, But has it occurred to you what her nick-name could be? In a letter written to famous critic Nazir Siddiqui, Parveen brought to light:
“My nick-name is both Paaro and Paara. But, don’t consider this Paara (piece) to be a ‘Shah-Paara’, ‘Mah-Paara’, or something of the kind. Instead, the word is used in its scientific meaning, that is mercury! As a child, I was so mischievous that my family members, considering my mercurial nature, started calling me Paara. That mischievousness is now gone, but the nick-name remains. Thus, some call me Paara, and some, Paaro.” After Parveen Shakir’s death, these letters were published in form of a book in 1997, titled “Parveen Shakir Ke Khuutut, Nazir Siddiqui Ke Naam”. Writing the foreword to this book, Nazir Siddiqui stated, “My acquaintance with Parveen started in January 1978 and lasted some one-and-a-half year. During this time, I received about 25-26 letters of hers. As far as our acquaintance went it was good, but its end was acutely abrupt.”
DEATH ANNIVERSARY
Prominent post-modern poet.
har mausam meñ ḳhālī-pan kī majbūrī ho jāoge
itnā us ko yaad kiyā to patthar bhī ho jāoge
har mausam mein KHali-pan ki majburi ho jaoge
itna us ko yaad kiya to patthar bhi ho jaoge
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