What is the difference between qaafiya and radif?

The radif is the part that never changes — the exact word or phrase repeated at the end of every second line (“gaya hoon main” above). The qaafiya is the part that must change while still rhyming — the word just before the radif (thahar, kidhar, nikhar). Radif is the anchor; qaafiya is the variation. A ghazal needs a qaafiya; the radif is optional.

What do I say at a mushaira to show I liked a line?

Give daad: “wah wah!”, “kya baat hai!”, or “subhanallah!” are all traditional. If a line truly lands, call “mukarrar!” — the poet will repeat it, and repeating a loved line is considered an honour for everyone present. Sitting silent through a good sher is the only real breach of mehfil manners.

What is a takhallus and why do poets use one?

A takhallus is the pen name a poet weaves into the final sher (the maqta) — a signature written inside the poem, from an era when poems travelled by voice and memory rather than by byline. Many poets are known to history only by their takhallus. The one in our example, “Raahi” (traveller), is illustrative — an invented pen name, not a real poet’s.

What is a sher, and how is it different from a ghazal?

A sher is a single two-line verse, complete in itself. A ghazal is a chain of shers that share one rhyme scheme while each keeps its own meaning. Almost everything shared as "shayari" today is a free-standing sher.

What is the difference between qaafiya and radif?

The qaafiya is the rhyming word, which changes from couplet to couplet; the radif is the fixed word or phrase repeated unchanged right after it. A ghazal keeps both running through every couplet.

What do matla, maqta and takhallus mean?

The matla is a ghazal's opening couplet, where both lines rhyme. The maqta is its closing couplet, where the poet traditionally works in their pen-name — the takhallus.

Do I need to know these words to write shayari?

No — they name the machinery, not the feeling. Knowing that a sher is setup-then-turn is enough to start; this site's composer gives you an original verse to practice the turn on.

Guide

Shayari Words & Meanings: A Reader’s Glossary

Qaafiya, radif, matla, daad — shayari comes with its own vocabulary, and knowing forty of its words turns you from someone who forwards verses into someone who reads them. Every term below, in plain language.

By Banale EditorialUpdated 8 September 2026

You do not need Urdu to love shayari — but a handful of its words unlock the whole tradition. Some name the machinery (what a matla is, what the radif does); some are the emotional vocabulary you will meet inside the verses themselves; and some belong to the mehfil, the living room where poetry is performed and praised.

Skim the groups below in order, or jump to the word that sent you here. Devanagari spellings are given so you can recognise each term when it appears in a verse.

The building blocks

Shayari शायरी: The umbrella word: the art of Urdu-Hindi verse — and, loosely, any poem written in it.
Sher शेर: A two-line poem, complete in itself. The unit of all shayari; the plural is ashaar.
Misra मिसरा: A single line of a sher. The first is the misra-e-oola, the second the misra-e-saani.
Ghazal ग़ज़ल: A set of shers sharing one metre and one rhyme scheme — yet each sher stands alone.
Nazm नज़्म: A poem that develops a single thought from start to finish; freer in form than a ghazal.
Doha दोहा: The classical Hindi two-liner of wisdom — 13+11 matras to a line, made to be memorised.
Matla मतला: The opening sher of a ghazal, in which both lines end with the qaafiya and radif.
Maqta मक़्ता: The closing sher, traditionally carrying the poet’s pen name.
Takhallus तख़ल्लुस: The pen name a poet weaves into the maqta — a signature inside the poem itself.
Rubaai रुबाई: A four-line poem rhyming AABA — one complete thought in four lines.
Deewan दीवान: A poet’s collected ghazals, classically arranged as one volume.
Kalaam कलाम: Literally “words”: a poet’s body of work, as in “us shayar ka kalaam”.

The sound of a sher

Qaafiya क़ाफ़िया: The rhyme word that changes from sher to sher, sitting just before the radif.
Radif रदीफ़: The word or phrase repeated identically at the end of every second line of a ghazal.
Beher बहर: The metre — the rhythmic template every line of a ghazal must fit.
Wazn वज़्न: Literally “weight”: whether a line sits correctly in its metre. A line that doesn’t is be-wazn.
Tarannum तरन्नुम: Reciting a ghazal in a singing style; plain spoken recitation is tahat-ul-lafz.

Words of the heart

Ishq इश्क़: Love at full intensity — the grand, consuming passion of the classical tradition.
Mohabbat मोहब्बत: Love — warmer and more everyday than ishq.
Dil दिल: The heart — shayari’s busiest word, and its favourite address.
Dard दर्द: Pain, ache — often worn in shayari as proof of having truly felt.
Gham ग़म: Sorrow, grief.
Yaad याद: Memory, remembrance — the engine of half of all shayari.
Intezaar इंतज़ार: Waiting — the long kind, that becomes a state of being.
Judaai जुदाई: Separation, parting.
Wafa वफ़ा: Faithfulness — keeping the promise, especially when it costs.
Bewafai बेवफ़ाई: Its betrayal — faithlessness.
Dua दुआ: A blessing-prayer for someone — shayari’s gentlest gift.
Sukoon सुकून: Deep calm; peace of the heart.
Khwaab ख़्वाब: Dream — sleeping or waking.
Tanhai तन्हाई: Solitude, aloneness — sometimes a wound, sometimes a room of one’s own.
Lamha लम्हा: A moment — the raw material of every good sher.
Humsafar हमसफ़र: Fellow-traveller — the beloved as companion for the road.
Mehboob महबूब: The beloved.
Ehsaas एहसास: Feeling; the moment of realising you feel it.

In the mehfil

Shayar शायर: The poet. A woman poet is a shayra.
Mehfil महफ़िल: A gathering for poetry or music — intimate, after-dark, unhurried.
Mushaira मुशायरा: A formal poets’ gathering where shers are performed to a live audience.
Daad दाद: The audience’s appreciation — “wah wah!”, “kya baat hai!”. Giving daad generously is good manners.
Irshad इरशाद: “Please begin” — the call inviting a poet to recite.
Mukarrar मुकर्रर: “Again!” — the audience’s demand that a line that landed be repeated.

All of it in one place: an annotated example

Here are two original shers written as the opening and closing of a tiny ghazal. Between them they demonstrate five of the terms above:

तेरे शहर में आ के ठहर गया हूँ मैं, जो चला था घर से, किधर गया हूँ मैं।

tere shahar mein aa ke thahar gaya hoon main, jo chala tha ghar se, kidhar gaya hoon main.

I came to your city, and somehow I stayed — / the one who left home: where did I go?

‘राही’ को ढूँढते हैं पुराने पते पर लोग, ख़ुद से मिलकर कैसा निखर गया हूँ मैं।

'Raahi' ko dhoondhte hain puraane pate par log, khud se milkar kaisa nikhar gaya hoon main.

People still look for “Raahi” at his old address — / having finally met myself, how I have come into light.

The first sher is the matla — notice that both its lines end the same way.
The repeated tail “gaya hoon main” is the radif: identical in every line that carries it.
Just before the radif sits the changing rhyme — thahar, kidhar, nikhar. That is the qaafiya.
The second sher carries the pen name “Raahi” — a takhallus — which makes it the maqta, the traditional signature-close of a ghazal.

Common questions

What is the difference between qaafiya and radif?: The radif is the part that never changes — the exact word or phrase repeated at the end of every second line (“gaya hoon main” above). The qaafiya is the part that must change while still rhyming — the word just before the radif (thahar, kidhar, nikhar). Radif is the anchor; qaafiya is the variation. A ghazal needs a qaafiya; the radif is optional.
What do I say at a mushaira to show I liked a line?: Give daad: “wah wah!”, “kya baat hai!”, or “subhanallah!” are all traditional. If a line truly lands, call “mukarrar!” — the poet will repeat it, and repeating a loved line is considered an honour for everyone present. Sitting silent through a good sher is the only real breach of mehfil manners.
What is a takhallus and why do poets use one?: A takhallus is the pen name a poet weaves into the final sher (the maqta) — a signature written inside the poem, from an era when poems travelled by voice and memory rather than by byline. Many poets are known to history only by their takhallus. The one in our example, “Raahi” (traveller), is illustrative — an invented pen name, not a real poet’s.

Frequently asked questions

What is a sher, and how is it different from a ghazal?: A sher is a single two-line verse, complete in itself. A ghazal is a chain of shers that share one rhyme scheme while each keeps its own meaning. Almost everything shared as "shayari" today is a free-standing sher.
What is the difference between qaafiya and radif?: The qaafiya is the rhyming word, which changes from couplet to couplet; the radif is the fixed word or phrase repeated unchanged right after it. A ghazal keeps both running through every couplet.
What do matla, maqta and takhallus mean?: The matla is a ghazal's opening couplet, where both lines rhyme. The maqta is its closing couplet, where the poet traditionally works in their pen-name — the takhallus.
Do I need to know these words to write shayari?: No — they name the machinery, not the feeling. Knowing that a sher is setup-then-turn is enough to start; this site's composer gives you an original verse to practice the turn on.

Keep reading

Start reading

Curated original collections by theme — every verse in Devanagari, roman and English meaning.

☀ Good Morning Shayari ☾ Good Night Shayari ❤ Love Shayari ☂ Sad Shayari ✦ Dosti Shayari (Friendship)✸ Motivational Shayari (Zindagi)✿ Maa Shayari (Mother)✺ Birthday Shayari & Wishes ⚜ Attitude Shayari ❧ Barish Shayari (Rain & Monsoon)✧ Yaad Shayari (Missing Someone)❁ Bhai-Behen Shayari (Brother & Sister)All collections →

Write your own shayari