Meaning
The recurring word or phrase repeated at the end of each rhyming line in a ghazal.
Literally: one who rides behind on the same mount
Usage & notes
The radeef gave Iqbal a refrain to hammer a theme home couplet after couplet. Its insistent return turned repetition into emphasis and incantation.
Related words
ARABIC
Qaafiya
The rhyme; the rhyming sound recurring before the refrain in a poem.
ARABIC
Ghazal
A sung form of the Urdu-Persian love lyric, each couplet a self-contained thought.
ARABIC
Matla
The opening couplet of a ghazal, in which both lines share the rhyme and refrain.
ARABIC
Qafia
The rhyming word or syllable that recurs before the radif in each rhyming line of a ghazal or poem.