The literacy layer · 74 verses · 435 words · 37 of 39 letters

The Reading Bridge

You already have the language — the sounds, the words, the order they come in. What you lack is the letters. This is a way across: the script revealed inside words you already use, then real verse — the simplest modern poets first, the Deccan's own voice last — with every word's meaning beside it. Roman and English stay one tap away, on the last screen as on the first.

Part 1 · The letters

  1. 1The first eight letters46 everyday words · naam, kaam, dil, din, kal…ا د ل ن م ک ی ر
  2. 2The next twelve letters115 everyday words · raat, baat, sab, bas, dost…ت ب س آ ہ و ے ں پ ج ش
  3. 3The breathy, the hard and the deep letters153 everyday words · ghar, haath, khaana, bhi, tha…ھ گ چ ٹ ڈ خ ز ف ق ع غ ح
  4. 4The last eight letters91 everyday words · laRka, laRki, baRa, paRhna, saRak…ڑ ص ط ض ظ ذ ث ژ

Part 1½ · The two hands — Naskh and Nastaliq

  1. ·Every letter in both hands, the differences that trip readers, and your words in Nastaliqک گ ی

Part 2 · The book — real verses, read in the original

  1. 2a · Reading Urdu — the simple poets
  2. 1A mother's dreamMuhammad Iqbal · 14 wordsہ ر
  3. 2Let there be lightMuhammad Iqbal · 17 wordsد ل
  4. 3Our HindustanMuhammad Iqbal · 14 wordsگ چ
  5. 4A mountain and a squirrelMuhammad Iqbal · 17 wordsڑ ڈ
  6. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  7. 5A bird's complaintMuhammad Iqbal · 15 wordsغ ذ
  8. 6Chishti and NanakMuhammad Iqbal · 17 wordsق ح
  9. 7A child's prayerMuhammad Iqbal · 16 wordsص
  10. 8A spider and a flyMuhammad Iqbal · 17 words
  11. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  12. 9Aslam's catIsmail Meeruthi · 15 words
  13. 10Speak the truthIsmail Meeruthi · 14 words
  14. 11NightIsmail Meeruthi · 14 words
  15. 12A cow and a goatMuhammad Iqbal · 12 words
  16. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  17. 13The hot seasonIsmail Meeruthi · 12 words
  18. 14The rainsIsmail Meeruthi · 12 words
  19. 15Fellow-feelingMuhammad Iqbal · 11 words
  20. 16Our cowIsmail Meeruthi · 10 words
  21. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  22. 17Bismillah, good ideaDaagh Dehlvi · 15 words
  23. 18May Hyderabad standDaagh Dehlvi · 15 words
  24. 19Urdu comes slowlyDaagh Dehlvi · 14 words
  25. 20All captives of her locksMir Taqi Mir · 14 wordsے م
  26. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  27. 21Unglazed potsNazeer Akbarabadi · 13 wordsن ت
  28. 22Whose mirror is this?Mir Taqi Mir · 14 wordsس ج
  29. 23In praise of breadNazeer Akbarabadi · 15 wordsآ ٹ
  30. 24The rainsNazeer Akbarabadi · 16 wordsف ط
  31. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  32. 25PovertyNazeer Akbarabadi · 16 words
  33. 26ManNazeer Akbarabadi · 15 words
  34. 27The morning of old ageMir Taqi Mir · 14 words
  35. 28See what happens nextMir Taqi Mir · 13 words
  36. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  37. 29Moth-likeMir Taqi Mir · 12 words
  38. 30When the beloved gets upMir Taqi Mir · 12 words
  39. ·Revision — read the last 2 again
  40. ·2b · How Dakhni differs from the Urdu you just read
  41. 2c · The Deccan’s own voice
  42. 31Eid has brought joysMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 12 wordsا ی
  43. 32A wind on every sideMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 14 wordsک و
  44. 33My SanwaliMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 13 wordsں پ
  45. 34One moment of your faceMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 16 wordsب ھ
  46. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  47. 35Fireworks on the earth, a garden in the skyMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 14 wordsش ز
  48. 36Saqi, it is EidMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 16 wordsع خ
  49. 37A sick heart's litanywali-dakani · 13 wordsظ
  50. 38Sun and full moonwali-dakani · 12 wordsض
  51. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  52. 39Rain from the eyesMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 14 words
  53. 40Clamour of nightingaleswali-dakani · 14 words
  54. 41Magic-eyeswali-dakani · 14 words
  55. 42Baqr-Eid, like life itselfMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 13 words
  56. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  57. 43Listen, people, to my tale of loveMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 13 words
  58. 44My cypress the hunterwali-dakani · 13 words
  59. 45Shab-e Barat has comeMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 12 words
  60. 46The season has comeMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 12 words
  61. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  62. 47No companion as beautifulMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 12 words
  63. 48Love's arrowwali-dakani · 12 words
  64. 49A poet of the Deccanwali-dakani · 12 words
  65. 50Weighing sugar in the earIbrahim Adil Shah II · 12 words
  66. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  67. 51Baqr-Eid brings glad newsMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 11 words
  68. 52The monsoon year has come againMuhammad Quli Qutb Shah · 11 words
  69. 53So long I watched the roadIbrahim Adil Shah II · 11 words
  70. 54What poverty loseswali-dakani · 10 words
  71. ·Revision — read the last 4 again
  72. 55I search for my belovedIbrahim Adil Shah II · 9 words
  73. ·Revision — read the last 1 again
  74. ·The whole book, right to left

The letters

اa
آaa
بb
پp
تt
ٹT
ثs
جj
چch
حh
خkh
دd
ڈD
ذz
رr
ڑR
زz
ژzh
سs
شsh
صs
ضz
طt
ظz
ع'
غgh
فf
قq
کk
گg
لl
مm
نn
ںN
وo
ہh
ھh
یy
ےe

Reference, any time: the letters · the lexicon

How it works

Part 1 teaches the 39 letters three at a time, inside everyday words you already know — each word cited to its page in Platts's 1884 dictionary. Part 1½ shows every letter in the two hands, Naskh and Nastaliq. Part 2 is real verse, quoted verbatim from opened public-domain editions: first the simplest modern poets (Iqbal's children's poems, Ismail Meeruthi, Meer, Nazeer, Daagh), then a short chapter on how the Deccan's older Dakhni differs, then the Deccan's own poets — Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, Wali, the Kitab-i Nauras. There are no points, no streaks and no quizzes — revision is reading. Everything you have done is kept in this browser only.