Poetry (Nazm): Tashreeh, Devices and Message
What the Nazm section tests
Prescribed nazm questions test markazi khayal, tashreeh, poetic devices and the poet's paigham. You may be asked to explain a shaer, identify radeef and qafiya, or comment on tashbeeh, istiara and talmih. A tashreeh is not a translation; it explains the lines and then states the idea.
Core concepts
- Misra and shaer: know which line carries the main claim.
- Bahr: metre; scan by reciting the line, not by counting letters mechanically.
- Radeef: the repeated word or phrase after the qafiya. Qafiya: the rhyming word before the radeef.
- Tashbeeh uses 'jaise' or 'ki tarah'; istiara names the image directly without a comparison word.
- Talmih is a brief allusion to a well-known story or figure.
- Paigham is the lesson the poet wants readers to act on.
Worked example
Model couplet, original and not from the prescribed text: 'اک چراغِ امید جلاؤ / اپنے گھر کو بھی روشن کر جاؤ'. Tashreeh: 'Shaer mein ummeed ko chirag se tashbeeh di gayi hai. Chirag andhere ko door karta hai; isi tarah ummeed mushkil mein rahnumai karti hai. Shaer ka paigham yeh hai ke pehle apne ghar ko behtar karo, phir dusron tak roshni pahunchao.' The reasoning is: identify the image, expand its meaning, then state the message. Do not stop at 'chirag means lamp'.
Traps
- Writing a literal translation and stopping there.
- Confusing radeef with qafiya.
- Naming a device without explaining its effect.
- Attributing a model couplet to a prescribed poet.
- Ignoring the poet's purpose in the final line.