Home › Exam notes › OSSC RHT — Regular High School Teacher › Urdu poetry forms

Urdu poetry forms

Urdu — Subject Knowledge (130 marks) · Urdu poetry forms

Useful for: OSSC RHT — Regular High School Teacher

Overview

Urdu poetry includes the ghazal, nazm, qasida, marsiya, masnavi and rubai, each with distinctive structure and themes.

Key points

A ghazal is made of couplets (sher) with a common rhyme (qafiya) and refrain (radif).
The first couplet is the matla; the last, often with the poet’s pen-name (takhallus), is the maqta.
A nazm is a poem on one theme with continuity.
A qasida is a panegyric; a marsiya is an elegy (Mir Anis is famous for marsiyas).
A masnavi is a long narrative poem in rhymed couplets.
A rubai is a four-line poem.

Explanation

Wali Dakhani is called the father of Urdu poetry.
Mir Taqi Mir and Mirza Ghalib are masters of the ghazal.
Allama Iqbal and Faiz Ahmad Faiz wrote influential nazms.
Mushairas are poetry gatherings.
Recitation teaches rhythm and meaning.

Step by step

Identify the form by structure.
Recall a poet or example.
Match the option.

Examples

The last couplet with the pen-name → maqta.
A four-line poem → rubai.
Elegy for martyrs of Karbala → marsiya.

Traps and advanced points

Trap: Mixing matla and maqta.
Trap: Calling a ghazal a single-theme poem.
Trap: Wrong poet–form pairs.

Quick revision

Sher, qafiya, radif.
Matla, maqta, takhallus.
Nazm, qasida, marsiya, masnavi, rubai.

Practice MCQs

A ghazal is made of
1. couplets (sher) with a common rhyme (qafiya) and refrain (radif)
2. one long narrative
3. prose paragraphs
4. four-line stanzas only
Read chapter notes · Similar questions
Show answer
Answer: (a) couplets (sher) with a common rhyme (qafiya) and refrain (radif). Each sher is often complete in itself.
The opening couplet of a ghazal is called the
1. matla
2. maqta
3. radif
4. qafiya
Read chapter notes · Similar questions
Show answer
Answer: (a) matla. Both its lines rhyme.
The last couplet of a ghazal, which usually carries the poet's pen-name (takhallus), is the
1. rubai
2. matla
3. maqta
4. nazm
Read chapter notes · Similar questions
Show answer
Answer: (c) maqta. Ghalib's maqtas mention 'Ghalib'.
A marsiya is
1. a love song
2. an elegy, often on the martyrdom at Karbala
3. a comic poem
4. a travelogue
Read chapter notes · Similar questions
Show answer
Answer: (b) an elegy, often on the martyrdom at Karbala. Mir Anis and Mirza Dabeer are famous for it.
A rubai is a
1. long narrative
2. couplet
3. quatrain (four-line poem)
4. elegy
Read chapter notes · Similar questions
Show answer
Answer: (c) quatrain (four-line poem). Its first, second and fourth lines usually rhyme.
A masnavi is a
1. praise poem
2. four-line poem
3. elegy
4. long poem in rhyming couplets, often narrative
Read chapter notes · Similar questions
Show answer
Answer: (d) long poem in rhyming couplets, often narrative. Each couplet has its own rhyme.

Notes and questions are written by Kundali IQ for practice. They are not official papers; always check the latest official notification for the syllabus and pattern.