5.2 Classical Urdu Structures

Overview of Classical Urdu Structures

Classical Urdu grew under strong Persian and Arabic influence. Its structures often feel more elaborate and ornamental than everyday spoken Urdu. In this chapter, we focus on characteristic patterns of classical-style sentences, not on poetry itself or historical detail, which are treated elsewhere.

Classical structures appear in old prose, religious texts, literary essays, and formal speeches. Learning them will help you understand and, if needed, imitate a high, dignified register.

Persianized Sentence Architecture

Preference for Nominal and Verbal Nouns

Classical Urdu frequently uses verbal nouns and abstract nouns instead of direct, simple verbs. This creates a more formal, distant tone.

Compare:

Notice patterns like:

• آمد ہونا (arrival take place) instead of آنا (to come)
• رخصتی ہونا (departure take place) instead of جانا (to go)
• جلوس ہونا (procession take place)
• اجلاس ہونا (meeting convene)

These are often noun + ہونا instead of a simple verb.

Examples

• Simple: بادشاہ آیا۔
• Classical: بادشاہ کی آمد ہوئی۔
• Meaning: The king arrived.
• Simple: لوگ گئے۔
• Classical: لوگوں کی رخصتی ہوئی۔
• Meaning: The people departed.
• Simple: اجلاس شروع ہوا۔
• Classical: اجلاس کی ابتدا ہوئی۔
• Meaning: The meeting began.

Abstract Noun Chains

Persian-influenced Urdu loves chains of abstract nouns linked by postpositions, especially کا, کی, کے and سے.

Note the paired nouns with و (and), such as عزت و وقار, حق و باطل, شب و روز.

We will revisit such pairs in idiomatic contexts elsewhere, but observe that in classical prose, nouns cluster more and finite verbs are lighter.

Izafat Construction: ـِ / ِـ

What Izafat Is

The izafat is a Persian linking device, written as a short kasra (ِ) that often is not pronounced fully in Urdu speech but shapes classical written style.

Formally, it links two nouns or a noun and an adjective, roughly equivalent to English “of” or an attributive connection.

Orthography

In Urdu script, you see:

• A connecting ـِ after the first word (often not shown in plain handwriting but implied)
• Sometimes a ی is used as a carrier before the kasra, especially after consonants that cannot directly take certain diacritics.

In Romanization, izafat is often shown as -e- or -i-.

Core pattern

1. Noun 1 + izafat + Noun 2
• کتابِ زندگی
  kitāb-e-zindagī
  “book of life”
• رازِ دل
  rāz-e-dil
  “secret of the heart”
2. Noun 1 + izafat + Adjective
• گلِ سرسبز
  gul-e-sarsabz
  “green flower” (literary)
• باغِ خوباں
  bāgh-e-khobān
  “garden of the beautiful ones”

Common Classical Izafat Phrases

These are typical of classical prose, devotional writing, and especially poetic prose.

Layered Izafat Chains

Often, multiple izafats form a long chain.

Example:

• جلوۂ حسنِ یار
  jalwa-e-husn-e-yār
  “the manifestation of the beloved’s beauty”

Structure:

1. جلوہ (manifestation)
2. حسن (beauty)
3. یار (beloved)

So literally, "manifestation of beauty of the beloved."

Another example:

• میدانِ کارزارِ حیات
  maidān-e-kārzār-e-hayāt
  “the battlefield of life”

Structure:

1. میدان (field)
2. کارزار (battle)
3. حیات (life)

These chains are very characteristic of classical eloquence.

Examples in context

• Classical: وہ اہلِ دل میں شمار ہوتا تھا۔
• Meaning: He was counted among the people of heart.
• Classical: چمنِ ہستی میں ہر شے فانی ہے۔
• Meaning: In the garden of existence, everything is perishable.
• Classical: اس نے رازِ دل افشا کر دیا۔
• Meaning: He revealed the secret of his heart.

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Elevated Connectors and Particles

Classical Urdu uses a set of elevated connectors which differ from colloquial conjunctions. Some overlap with everyday language but are more frequent or more formulaic in classical prose.

Formal Connectors

Examples

• Classical: گو کہ وہ کم عمر تھا، لیکن عقل میں بڑوں سے کم نہ تھا۔
• Meaning: Although he was young, he was in wisdom not less than the elders.
• Classical: اہلِ شہر نے اسے اپنا مقتدا مان لیا، چنانچہ وہ پیشوا قرار پایا۔
• Meaning: The people of the city accepted him as their leader, thus he was declared their guide.
• Classical: اس کی کوششیں ناکام رہیں، پس وہ مایوس ہو کر واپس لوٹ آیا۔
• Meaning: His efforts failed, so he returned in despair.

Paired and Balanced Constructions

Classical style often arranges sentences in balanced pairs, using repetitive structure.

Patterns:

• نہ صرف … بلکہ … بھی
• کبھی … کبھی …
• یا تو … یا …
• اگر … تو … (in rhetoric)

Examples

• Classical: وہ نہ صرف عالم تھا، بلکہ عارف بھی تھا۔
• Meaning: He was not only a scholar, but also a knower (gnostic).
• Classical: انسان کبھی خوشی میں غافل ہو جاتا ہے، کبھی غم میں مایوس۔
• Meaning: A person sometimes becomes heedless in joy, sometimes despondent in sorrow.
• Classical: یا تو وہ خود آئے، یا اپنا سفیر بھیجیں۔
• Meaning: Either he should come himself, or send his envoy.

This fondness for pairing, parallelism, and rhythm is central to classical rhetoric.

Classical Use of Passive, Honorific, and Indirect Style

You will encounter passive and indirect structures in detail elsewhere, but classical Urdu uses them more heavily for formality, humility, and distance.

Passive Preference

Passive structures are common in formal narrative and religious discourse.

Notice again the use of verbal nouns like تالیف (compilation) with passive.

Examples

• Classical: مسجد کی مرمت کی گئی۔
• Meaning: The mosque was repaired.
• Classical: یہ حکم ساری فوج پر نافذ کیا گیا۔
• Meaning: This order was enforced on the entire army.

Honorific and Indirect Attribution

When referring to respected figures, classical Urdu often avoids blunt statements and uses modest, honorific turns of phrase.

The point here is not theology, but the structural pattern of verbs like ارشاد فرمانا, حکم فرمانا and impersonal ہوا / ہوا ہے.

Long, Periodic Sentences

Classical Urdu prose sometimes delays the main verb and piles up qualifiers, creating a “periodic” sentence. As an advanced learner, you will often need to locate the main verb at the end and keep track of subjects and clauses.

Typical Shape

1. Multiple adverbials and relative clauses
2. Subject with long description
3. Main verb placed late

Example

جب میں، جو اس وقت کمسِن تھا اور دنیا کی حقیقتوں سے ناواقف، اپنے باپ کے ساتھ اس شہرِ ناآشنا میں داخل ہوا، تو میرے دل پر ایک عجیب کیفیت طاری ہو گئی۔

Breakdown:

• جب میں
• جو اس وقت کمسن تھا
• اور دنیا کی حقیقتوں سے ناواقف
• اپنے باپ کے ساتھ
• اس شہر ناسنا میں داخل ہوا
• تو
• میرے دل پر ایک عجیب کیفیت طاری ہو گئی۔

Main clause:

• تو میرے دل پر ایک عجیب کیفیت طاری ہو گئی۔

Key ideas:

• Several relative clauses (جو اس وقت کمسن تھا …) before the main verb.
• Prepositional-like phrases (اپنے باپ کے ساتھ، اس شہرِ ناآشنا میں).
• The effect or result expressed only at the end.

Another example:

جس شخص نے، باوجودِ فقر و فاقہ، صبر و شکر کا دامن ہاتھ سے نہ چھوڑا، وہی درحقیقت کامیاب ہے۔

Structure:

• جس شخص نے
• باوجودِ فقر و فاقہ
• صبر و شکر کا دامن ہاتھ سے نہ چھوڑا
• وہی درحقیقت کامیاب ہے۔

Main clause:

• وہی درحقیقت کامیاب ہے۔

Notice also the compound phrase باوجودِ فقر و فاقہ with izafat.

Preposed and Postposed Elements for Emphasis

Classical Urdu often moves elements to the beginning or near the beginning of the sentence for emphasis, especially adverbials of time, place, and condition.

Fronted Time and Condition Clauses

Key feature: elaborated, fronted clauses before the main clause.

Fronted Objects and Phrases

Sometimes objects or idiomatic phrases come early for focus.

Examples

• Classical: اس بات میں کچھ شک نہیں کہ دنیا فانی ہے۔
• Meaning: In this matter, there is no doubt that the world is perishable.
• Classical: یہ حقیقت روزِ روشن کی طرح عیاں ہے۔
• Meaning: This truth is as clear as daylight.
• Classical: اہلِ دانش پر یہ بات مخفی نہیں۔
• Meaning: This matter is not hidden from the people of wisdom.

In each, the highlighted phrase is preposed to give a formal, rhetorical tone.

Classical Relative and Descriptive Phrases

Relative clauses themselves are covered elsewhere, but classical style embellishes noun phrases before you reach the verb.

Layered Noun + Relative Clause

Examples

• Classical: وہ شخص، جو ہر دم ذکرِ الٰہی میں مصروف رہتا تھا، سب کا محبوب تھا۔
• Meaning: The person who was at all times engaged in the remembrance of God was beloved of all.
• Classical: ایسی قوم، جو اپنے ماضی سے سبق حاصل نہ کرے، مستقبل میں کامیاب نہیں ہو سکتی۔
• Meaning: A nation that does not draw lessons from its past cannot succeed in the future.
• Classical: وہ شہر، جس کی گلیاں کبھی چراغاں سے منور رہتی تھیں، اب ویران پڑا تھا۔
• Meaning: The city whose streets were once illuminated with festive lights now lay desolate.

You will notice:

• Rich adjectives and izafat: ذکرِ الٰہی, ماضی, مستقبل.
• The main clause is short and to the point, but the descriptive part is long and ornate.

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Classical Formulaic Openings and Closings

Certain set phrases are characteristic of classical prose. Recognizing them helps you see where the “real” narrative begins.

Openings

Example of an opening segment

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم۔ حمد و ثنا اس ذات کے لئے ہے جو ربِّ کائنات ہے، اور درود و سلام اس کے محبوب پر، اما بعد، اے عزیزِ من، جان لے کہ دنیا فانی ہے۔

Structural points:

• Several clauses of praise and blessing.
• The formula اما بعد marks the transition to the actual topic.
• Vocative اے عزیزِ من introduces the addressee.

Closings

Even secular classical prose sometimes uses formulaic respectful endings like:

• خدا آپ کو سلامت رکھے۔
• یہ چند کلمات بطورِ نصیحت عرض کیے گئے۔

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Classical Parallelism, Antithesis, and Pairs

A hallmark of classical style is juxtaposing opposites and repeating structures.

Stock Oppositional Pairs

Classical prose often arranges sentences so that these pairs appear symmetrically.

Examples

• Classical: دنیا و آخرت دونوں کی کامیابی ایمان سے وابستہ ہے۔
• Meaning: The success of both this world and the hereafter depends on faith.
• Classical: انسان خیر و شر کے درمیان مخیر کیا گیا ہے۔
• Meaning: Man has been given choice between good and evil.

Parallel Clauses

Parallelism appears both in phrasing and rhythm.

Example

نہ وہ دولت پر فخر کرتا ہے، نہ فقر پر شکوہ، بلکہ ہر حال میں شکر ادا کرتا ہے۔

• Clauses:
• نہ وہ دولت پر فخر کرتا ہے،
• نہ فقر پر شکوہ،
• بلکہ ہر حال میں شکر ادا کرتا ہے۔

This kind of rhythmic repetition of structure is very classical.

Reading Strategy for Classical Structures

As you approach classical texts, including early prose or high literary essays:

1. Identify the main verb.
• Look towards the end of the sentence.
• Mark it mentally, then track back to find the subject and objects.
2. Break izafat chains.
• Split phrases like جلوۂ حسنِ یار or رازِ دلِ نادان into smaller links:
• جلوہ (manifestation)
• حسن (beauty)
• یار (beloved)
3. Mark connectors.
• Words such as چنانچہ, گو کہ, اگرچہ, لہٰذا, پس help you see the logical skeleton.
4. Ignore formulaic openings at first reading.
• Recognize Bismillah, hamd, and salawat formulas as traditional openings and focus on where the core narrative begins, often after اما بعد.
5. Note parallelism.
• When you see repeating structures, read them as one rhetorical unit rather than separate statements.

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Sample Classical-style Paragraph with Gloss

Text:

اے عزیزِ من، جان لے کہ یہ دنیا، جو چمنِ ہستی کہلاتی ہے، فانی اور ناپائیدار ہے۔ یہاں عزت و ذلت، فقر و غنا، زندگی و موت سب عارضی ہیں۔ جو شخص باوجودِ فقر و فاقہ صبر و شکر کا دامن ہاتھ سے نہ چھوڑے، وہی درحقیقت کامیاب ہے۔ چنانچہ عقل مند وہی ہے جو دنیائے فانی میں رہتے ہوئے آخرتِ باقی کی تیاری کرے۔

Key structures:

• Vocative: اے عزیزِ من
• Izafat: چمنِ ہستی, دنیائے فانی, آخرتِ باقی
• Parallel pairs: عزت و ذلت، فقر و غنا، زندگی و موت
• Concessive phrase: باوجودِ فقر و فاقہ
• Elevated connectors: چنانچہ

Literal breakdown of a sentence:

• جو شخص باوجودِ فقر و فاقہ صبر و شکر کا دامن ہاتھ سے نہ چھوڑے،
  وہی درحقیقت کامیاب ہے۔

= “The person who, despite poverty and hardship, does not let go of the hem of patience and gratitude, he alone is truly successful.”

Vocabulary List for This Chapter

This chapter has focused specifically on how classical Urdu structures its sentences and phrases, especially through izafat chains, nominalizations, elevated connectors, and long, periodic sentences. Other aspects of classical language such as poetry and historical development are treated in separate chapters.