achchhe isaa ho mariizo.n kaa Khayaal achchhaa hai
ham mare jaate hai.n tum kahate ho haal achchhaa hai
Ameer Minai

Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi

abhii abhii tumhe.n sochaa to kuchh na yaad aayaa
abhii abhii to ham ek-duusare se bichha.De the

tamaam umr vafaa ke gunaah_gaar rahe
ye aur baat ki ham aadamii to achchhe the

ho chukaa aish kaa jalsaa to mujhe Khat bhejaa
aap kii tarah se mehamaan bulaaye ko_ii
[Daag Dehlvi]

Mehfil-e-Ghazal #817 - alt.language.urdu.poetry

Date: 11-Jun-2002
Poet: Mustafa Zaidi


Gam-e-dauraa.N ne bhii siikhe Gam-e-jaanaa.N ke chalan
vahii sochii hu_ii chaale.n vahii besaaKhtaapan

[Gam-e-dauraa.N = worldly sorrows; besaaKhtaapan = suddenness]

vahii iqraar me.n inkaar ke laakho.n pahaluu
vahii ho.nTho.n pe tabassum vahii abaruu pe shikan

[tabassum = smile; abaruu = eyebrow; shikan = frown/wrinkle]

kis ko dekhaa hai ki pindaar-e-nazar ke baavasaf
ek lamhe ke liye ruk ga_ii dil kii dha.Dakan

[pindaar = pride; baavasaf = in spite of]

kaun sii fasl me.n is baar mile hai.n tujh se
ham ko parvaah-e-girebaa.N hai.n na fikr-e-daaman

[fasl = season/time]

ab to chubhatii hai havaa barf ke maidaano.n kii
un dino.n jism ke ehasaas se jalataa thaa badan

aisii suunii to kabhii shaam-e-Gariibaa.N bhii na thii
dil bujhe jaate hai.n ai tiiragii-e-subah-e-vatan

[shaam-e-Gariibaa.N = evening in an alien land]
[tiiragii-e-subah-e-vatan = pre-dawn darkness in one's (own) country]

an ALUP post

As you point out, poets convey the most marvelous ideas via appropriate comparisons. Especially memorable are the ashaar which use comparisons that are non-obvious, creative, and yet, once you think about it, fit just right!

If I may, I'd like to list some of my favorite 'comparisons':

1. "shaam hi se bujha sa rahta hai
dil hua hai chiraagh muflis ka" (Meer)

The poet compares his sinking heart to the (dim, flickering) light of a
poor man's lamp! could there be a more poignant comparison?!

2. "misaal ye miree koshish ki hai k murgh-e-aseer
kare qafas meN faraaham Khas aashiyaaN ke liye" (Ghalib)

Rough translation: "The struggles of my life are similiar to the efforts
of a caged bird gathering straws for its nest". This has shades of meaning that are simply brilliant.

3. "raat yooN dil meN teree Khoi hui yaad aayee
jaise beemaar ko bevajah qaraar aa jaaye" (Faiz)

A gem! imho, the word "bevajah" makes all the difference here.

4. "zaKhm jab bhi koi zehn.o.dil par paRa, zindagee kee taraf ik dareecha khula
ham bhi goya kisee saaz ke taar haiN, choT khaate rahe, gungunaate rahe" (Rahi Masoom Raza)

The 'comparison' here is (perhaps) not so unusual; but there is a simple beauty that makes it exceptional.

Vasmi Abidi

bhuule haiN rafta rafta unheN muddatoN meN ham
qistoN meN Khud-kushii ka mazaa ham se puuchhiye

nikaat.e.suKhan # 8: Ghalat.ul.awaam aur Ghalat.ul.aam

by Sarwar Raz Sarwar

mahabuub vaadaa kar ke bhii aayaa na dosto
kyaa kyaa kiyaa na ham ne yahaa.N us ke pyaar me.n
murGe churaa ke laaye the jo chaar "Popular"
"do aarazuu me.n kaT gaye, do intazaar me.n"

- Popular Meeruthi

Saagar Khaiyaami's mazaahiya poetry

raftaa raftaa har police vaale ko shaayar kar diyaa
mahafil-e-sher-o-suKhan me.n bhej kar sarakaar ne
ek qaidii subah ko phaa.Nsii lagaa kar mar gayaa
raat bhar Gazale.n sunaa_ii.n us ko thaanedaar ne

ek shaam kisii bazm me.n juute jo kho gaye,
ham ne kahaa bataa_iiye ghar kaise jaaye.nge
kahane lage ke sher sunaate raho yuu.N hii
ginate nahii.n banenge abhii itane aaye.nge

bolaa dukaan-daar ke kyaa chaahiye tumhe.n?
jo bhii kahoge merii dukaan par vo paa_oge
mai.n ne kahaa ke kutte ke khaane kaa 'cake' hai?
bolaa yahii.n pe khaa_oge yaa.N leke jaaoge?

More humourous poetry

A couple of she'rs from a new ghazal by Ahmed Faraz

mere ham_safar puraane mere ab bhii muntazir hai.n
tumhe.n saath chho.Danaa hai to abhii se chho.D jaao

ye judaa_iyo.n ke raste ba.Dii duur tak gaye hai.n
jo gayaa vo phir na lauTaa merii baat maan jaao

from an ALUP post..

Phonology This Website provides a simplified discussion of phonology, or the study of speech-sounds.

The Rosetta Project: Hindi Page

English Phonetic Transcription Workshop - uta.edu There are two kinds of language sounds: consonants and vowels. Consonants involve interrupting the air that comes out of your mouth; vowels are made by opening the mouth and letting air come out freely. Consonants are relatively stable and invariable; vowels are extremely variable and are more difficult to transcribe.

Indo-European and the Comparative Method Kathleen Hubbard's answer to the question "How do we know what we know about Proto-Indo-European and other languages that died out before they were written down? [Kathleen is assistant professor of linguistics at the University of California, San Diego. She describes herself as a "recovering Indo-Europeanist."]

Codes for the representation of names of languages (Library of Congress) ISO 639-2 Language Codes (with corresponding ISO 639-1 code)

The Rosetta Project: The Rosetta Project is a global collaboration of language specialists and native speakers working to develop a contemporary version of the historic Rosetta Stone. In this updated iteration, our goal is a meaningful survey and near permanent archive of 1,000 languages.

Open Language Archives Community OLAC, the Open Language Archives Community, is an international partnership of institutions and individuals who are creating a worldwide virtual library of language resources by:
(i) developing consensus on best current practice for the digital archiving of language resources, and
(ii) developing a network of interoperating repositories and services for housing and accessing such resources.

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Ethnologue, Languages of the World Languages of the world
and a whole lot