Private Opinion

The Sound Of Sounds

phir usii be-vafaa pe marte haiN
phir vohii zindagii hamaarii hai

jaate hu’e kahte ho qayaamat ko mileNge
kyaa Khuub! qayaamat kaa hai goyaa ko’ii din aur

dair nahiiN, haram nahiiN, dar nahiiN, aastaaN nahiiN
baiThe haiN raahguzar pe ham, Ghair hameN uThaaye kyuuN

haaN vo nahiiN Khudaa parast, jaao vo bevafaa sahii
jisko ho diin-o-dil aziiz uskii galii meN jaaye kyuuN

Ghalib-e-Khastaa ke baGhair kaun se kaam band haiN
roiye zaar-zaar kyaa, keejiye haaye-haaye kyuuN

What is common between the above couplets? Okay, you got one right, all these couplets are by Ghalib. But what else?

Each one of these couplets has repetitive words. It is one of those skills which can make an average couplet amazing or an excellent couplet cumbersome. The feeling that zaar-zaar and haaye-haaye conveys to the reader would not have been possible otherwise. This technique is known as ‘takraar-e-lafzii’ or ‘alfaaz kii takraar’ and local dialects have enriched Urdu more in this case than Persian or Arabic.

How a sher turns out while using ‘takraar-e-lafzii’ depends whether the repetitive word is noun, verb, adjective or adverb.

Some examples with nouns (and pronouns):

haath diyaa usne mere haath meN
maiN to valii ban gayaa ek raat meN
(Qateel Shifai)

kuuche ko tere chhoR kar jogii hii ban jaayeN magar
jangal tere, parbat tere, bastii terii, sehraa teraa
(Ibn-e-Insha)

kis kis ko bataayeNge judaa’ii kaa sabab ham
tuu mujhse Khafaa hai to zamaane ke liye aa
(Ahmed Faraz)

ghar se nikle the hauslaa kar ke
lauT aaye Khudaa Khudaa kar ke
(Sudarshan Fakir)

uske dar se uTh ke maiN aan paRaa thaa apne ghar
ek galii kii baat thii aur galii-galii gayii
(Jaun Elia)

ye misraa nahiiN hai, vaziifaa meraa hai
Khudaa hai muhabbat, muhabbat Khudaa hai
(Khumar Barabankvi)

Some couplets with adjectives:

yeh khule khule se gesuu, yeh uRii uRii si raNgat
tirii sub’h keh rahii hai tirii raat ka fasaanaa
(Majrooh Sultanpuri)

hazaar baar zamaanaa idhar se guzraa hai
nayii nayii sii hai terii raahguzar phir bhii
(Firaq Gorakhpuri)

paaraa paaraa hu’aa pairaahan-e-jaaN
phir mujhe chhoR gaye chaaraagaraaN
(Syed Razi Tirmizi)

Some couplets with verbs:

hamaare aage jo teraa kisii ne naam liyaa
dil-e-sitam-zadaa ko ham ne thaam thaam liyaa
(Mir Taqi Mir)

jab tujhe yaad kar liyaa, subh mahak mahak uThii
jab teraa Gham jagaa liyaa, raat machal machal gayii
(Faiz Ahmed Faiz)

paas rahtaa hai, duur rahtaa hai
ko’ii dil meN zaruur rahtaa hai
(Abdul Hameed Adam)

bas mujhe yuuN hii ek Khyaal aayaa
sochtii ho to sochtii ho kyaa
(Jaun Elia)

and some more with adverbs:

baar baar us ke dar pe jaataa huuN
haalat ab iztiraab kii sii hai
(Mir Taqi Mir)

chupke chupke raat din aaNsuu bahaanaa yaad hai
ham ko ab tak aashiqii kaa vo zamaanaa yaad hai
(Hasrat Mohani)

ujRii ujRii huii har aas lage
zindagii Ram ka ban-baas lage
(Jan Nisar Akhtar)

khilnaa kam kam kalii ne siikhaa hai
terii aaNkhoN ki niim-Khvaabii se
(Mir Taqi Mir)

sataa sataa ke hameN ashk-baar kartii hai
tumhaarii yaad bahut be-qaraar kartii hai
(Wafa Roomani)

So these were some of my favorite couplets with takraar-e-alfaaz. How about sharing some of your favorites? Also, if I have made some mistakes while categorizing above couplets, feel free to point them out.

I would leave you with my one of my absolute favorite:

usne apnaa banaa kar chhoR diyaa
kyaa asiirii hai, kyaa rihaa’ii hai!
(Jigar Moradabadi)

——

P.S. Some of the content and couplets have been referenced from ALUP archives.