FSc Part 1 Urdu Chapter 21 Complete Guide Book — Ghazal Ahmed Faraz

This is lesson 21 of Sarmaya-e-Urdu 11. The book's fehrist (contents table) lists this lesson as Ghazal by the poet Ahmed Faraz, starting at book page 136. Nothing beyond that is claimed on this page.

The poet's introduction, the ghazal's verses and the official exercise were all absent from the available copy of the book, so no poet biography and no summary of the unseen ghazal are given here. Writing what the book does not show would be guessing, so it has been left out openly, not hidden.

A good student first knows exactly what they have and what they do not. In this lesson you have: the confirmed lesson name, the confirmed poet name, and six Farhang difficult words. What you do not have — the ghazal text itself — you will get from the original book, and then study it with the guidance on this page.

These six words are taken from the book's own Farhang (pp. 143–148), under entry 21, Ghazal: Ahmed Faraz, in the same order and with the same Urdu meanings as printed there.

In plain English: barpa hona — to be held or established; pabajolan — fettered, in chains, unable to walk freely; pas-e-wafa — keeping one's promise, honouring faithfulness; janan — beloved, dear one; zulmat-e-shab — the darkness of night; marasim — relations, dealings between people.

Learn each word with its Urdu meaning first, then use it in a sentence of your own. Words learned this way stay in memory when the ghazal text itself is in front of you.

A ghazal is a distinct form of Urdu poetry. It is made of several couplets (ash'aar), and each couplet carries a complete thought of its own — yet all the couplets are tied together by the same qafiya and radif. This is true of the ghazal form in general; no claim is made here about any particular verse of this unseen ghazal.

Matla is the ghazal's first couplet, in which both lines rhyme. Maqta is the last couplet, in which the poet uses their takhallus (pen-name). Qafiya is the rhyming word pattern at the end of each couplet, and radif is the word or phrase repeated unchanged after the qafiya in every couplet.

When you get this ghazal's text, first identify these four things: which couplet is the matla, where the takhallus appears in the maqta, what the qafiya is, and what the radif is. Those four identifications open the door to tashreeh — after that, understanding each couplet's meaning one by one becomes much easier.

Step one: read the whole ghazal aloud once, without stopping. The rhythm, qafiya and radif settle in your ear, and the difficult words stand out by themselves. Step two: find the six Farhang words in the text and underline them — you will then see how each word changes its couplet's meaning.

Step three: write each couplet's tashreeh in your own words — first the couplet's plain meaning, then the feeling or idea hidden in it. While writing tashreeh, never invent a meaning for a couplet; for any word you do not understand, ask the Farhang or your teacher. Step four: write the ghazal's central idea in one sentence, and think about how the poet expressed that idea differently across the couplets.

Finally, for exam preparation, revise three things again and again: the six Farhang words with their meanings, the ghazal's form (matla, maqta, qafiya, radif), and each couplet's tashreeh in your own words. A student who does these three things can answer any question on the ghazal with confidence.