Kerala Plus Two Urdu (DHSE) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Matla

The opening couplet of a ghazal, in which both lines carry the qafiya and radif. It sets the rhyme pattern that later couplets follow in their second line.

Maqta

The final couplet of a ghazal, where the poet usually inserts his takhallus (pen name). It often contains a personal address or a concluding reflection.

Radif

The repeated word or phrase that comes after the qafiya and recurs at the end of the second line of every couplet. It must be identical throughout the ghazal.

Qafiya

The rhyming element immediately preceding the radif in a ghazal. All couplets share the same qafiya in the second line, and both lines share it in the matla.

Sher and Misra

A sher is a complete couplet of two lines; each line is called a misra. The first line is misra-e-oola and the second is misra-e-sani.

Takhallus

The pen name a poet adopts and inserts into the maqta of a ghazal. Examples include Mir, Ghalib, Faiz and Firaq.

Tashbeeh

The Urdu term for simile: an explicit comparison using words such as 'jaise' or 'ki tarah'. Both the compared and the compared-to objects are stated openly.

Istiara

Metaphor in Urdu rhetoric, where one object is substituted for another without an explicit comparison word. The resemblance is implied rather than stated.

Mubaligha

Hyperbole or deliberate exaggeration used for poetic effect, common in ghazal openings. It is not meant to be read literally by the reader.

Husn-e-Talil

Aesthetic causation: a device in which the poet invents an imaginative cause for a real effect, producing a pleasing logical surprise in the couplet.

Nazm-e-Mu'arra

Free verse in Urdu poetry, which abandons the fixed radif-qafiya and traditional behr. It relies on internal rhythm, imagery and line breaks instead.

Markazi Khayal

The central idea or theme of a poem or prose lesson. In answers it should be stated in one clear sentence before supporting explanation begins.

Tashreeh

Detailed explanation of a couplet or passage: literal meaning first, then implied meaning, then the poetic device used, then its emotional effect.

Iqbal's Khudi

Iqbal's concept of self-realisation, developed in Asrar-e-Khudi. It denotes disciplined selfhood achieved through love, faith and continuous action rather than passivity.

Bang-e-Dara

A collection of Iqbal's earlier poetry, containing poems such as 'Himalaya' and 'Tarana-e-Hindi'. It reflects patriotic and philosophical themes before his later Persian works.

Progressive Writers' Movement

Founded in 1936 at Lucknow, it gathered writers such as Faiz, Josh and Majaz. It argued that literature should engage with social and political realities.

Rekhta

An early name for Urdu, used especially for its poetry in the Delhi region. Other early names include Hindvi and Dehalvi, reflecting its regional origins.

Wali Dakani

A seventeenth-century Deccani poet whose work reached Delhi and is traditionally credited with shifting the centre of Urdu literary activity northward.

Hali's Musaddas

Altaf Hussain Hali's long poem on the rise and fall of Muslims, written in the musaddas form. It is a landmark of nineteenth-century reformist Urdu poetry.

Mir Taqi Mir

An eighteenth-century Delhi poet celebrated for simplicity and depth of grief. His ghazals are central to the prescribed appreciation syllabus and to the Delhi school.

Marsiya

An elegiac poem, most famously composed on the events of Karbala. Its major practitioners include Mir Anis and Mirza Dabeer in the Lucknow school.

Ism-e-Khas

A proper noun naming a specific person, place or thing, such as 'Kerala' or 'Ghalib'. It does not take a plural in ordinary usage.

Ism-e-Jam

The plural form of a noun. Arabic-origin nouns often use Arabic plural patterns, for example kitab becoming kutub and sabab becoming asbaab.

Fe'l-e-Lazim

An intransitive verb, one that does not require an object to complete its meaning. Its action stays with the subject, as in 'woh soya'.

Fe'l-e-Mutaaddi

A transitive verb that requires an object to complete its meaning, as in 'us ne kitab parhi'. The object receives the action of the verb.

Fe'l-e-Nahi

The prohibitive verb form, used to forbid an action, typically with 'na' before the verb. It contrasts with fe'l-e-amr, which commands an action.

Harf-e-Jarr

A postposition or preposition in Urdu, such as 'mein', 'par', 'se' and 'ko'. Correct choice of harf-e-jarr is a common target in error-correction questions.

Muhavara

An idiom whose meaning is figurative rather than literal. In composition answers it must be used inside a sentence that displays its idiomatic sense.

Darkhwast

A formal application written to an authority. It states the request in the opening paragraph, gives reasons next, and closes with a formal salutation.

Tabsira

A short commentary on a given passage. It contains a summary, the writer's main point, and the candidate's own reasoned opinion.

Khulasa

A summary of a passage, normally reduced to about one-third of the original. It keeps the main argument and drops examples, repetition and illustration.

Fahm-e-Matn

Comprehension of an unseen passage. Answers must be phrased in the candidate's own words rather than copied verbatim from the text.