Radif, Qafiya and a Candidate Who Wants the Ghazal Cancelled
A 6-mark short-answer item asks candidates to identify, from a printed ghazal of five ashaar, the radif, the qafiya, the matla, the maqta and the takhallus. The line-endings of the ghazal, in order, are: dil raha, manzil raha, mahfil raha, qaatil raha, mushkil raha. The first candidate answers: radif = raha (correct); qafiya = raha, dil, manzil, mahfil (wrong - the radif is included and two qafiya words are omitted); matla = the second sher (wrong); maqta = the fifth sher (correct); takhallus = present only in the second sher (wrong). The key awards 2 marks for the radif, 2 for the qafiya, 1 for the matla and maqta together, and 1 for the takhallus, with no partial credit inside each part. A second candidate writes in the margin that the piece is not a proper ghazal at all, because dil, manzil and mahfil 'do not rhyme', and asks for the question to be cancelled.
1. Grade the first candidate under the key, and say whether the key's 'no partial credit inside parts' rule is defensible.
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Under the key:
- Radif: 2/2 - correct.
- Qafiya: 0/2 - the candidate has included the radif, which is a conceptual error, not a slip of memory. The radif is the repeated element; the qafiya is precisely the element that must change. A list containing both shows the distinction has not been grasped.
- Matla and maqta (1, bundled): the maqta is right, the matla is wrong. Under the stated rule, 0; if halves are permitted, 0.5.
- Takhallus: 0/1.
Total: 2/6 (2.5/6 if halves are allowed).
Is 'no partial credit' defensible? Only partly. It is defensible for the qafiya, because a wrong concept should not be rewarded by counting the correct words in the list. It is not defensible for bundling matla and maqta into a single mark: they are two independent facts, and the candidate knows one of them. The bundling penalises knowledge the candidate actually has, which is the opposite of what a mark scheme is for. The head examiner should record the anomaly, and the item should be split in the next moderation cycle.
2. Answer the second candidate's objection. Is the ghazal formally sound?
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Yes, it is formally sound, and the objection should be refused - politely and with the rule.
The candidate is applying the wrong test. A qafiya is not a rhyme of whole words; it is the rhyming unit measured from the ravi, the final consonant of the qafiya word, back through the vowel immediately before it. That unit must be identical across the ashaar, while the letters before it must differ.
Apply it to the list:
- dil → d-i-l
- manzil → z-i-l
- mahfil → f-i-l
- qaatil → t-i-l
The ravi is ل (lam) and the preceding harakat is zer, in every case. The letters before it - d, z, f, t - differ, which is exactly what a qafiya requires. The qafiya is therefore sound, and the repeated raha is the radif standing after it.
The teaching point to give both candidates together: qafiya badalta hai, radif dohrata hai. The second candidate's argument in fact names the very rule the first candidate broke - no word that is part of the radif may be counted as part of the qafiya. Two opposite mistakes, one rule.
3. Write the three-minute board correction you would give after returning these scripts.
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Board, in three lines, in Urdu:
- ردیف وہ ہے جو ہر شعر میں دہرایا جائے - the radif repeats; here, raha. Write it once at the top of the board and circle it.
- قافیہ وہ ہے جو بدلے - the qafiya changes; here, dil, manzil, mahfil, qaatil, mushkil. Underline the shared unit in each word so the class can see -il holding while the first letter moves.
- مطلع پہلا شعر، مقطع آخری شعر - the matla is the opening sher, the maqta the closing one, and the takhallus is the poet's pen-name, normally planted in the maqta. Students should look for the pen-name rather than assume a position; the claim that it appears 'only in the second sher' is wrong on this ghazal and would be wrong as a rule.
Then a 90-second pair exercise: give three more line-endings and ask pairs to separate radif from qafiya aloud. Finish with the one-sentence rule the class writes in the margin of the textbook: radif dohrata hai, qafiya badalta hai - donon ko mila dena ghalati hai.