An Analysis of the Rhetorical Figures (Ilm al-Badiʿ) in the Divan of Showkat Bukhari

Abstract

Showkat Bukhari is among the poets who lived during the Safavid era. His early pen names were Nazok and Tārek, and after his association with Sa‘d al-Dīn, he adopted the pen name Showkat. His poetry reflects the Tarz-e-Khayāl or Nazakatbandi style within the Indian style (Sabk-e-Hindi), which is characterized by elaborate exaggerations and delicate imagery, predominantly in the form of the ghazal. Showkat Bukhari is one of the poets who, through eloquent and expressive language, skillfully employed rhetorical figures (ṣanāye‘-e badī‘)—that is, both phonetic (formal) and semantic figures of speech—to articulate his thoughts and ideas. Accordingly, the present study aims to examine and analyze the phonetic and semantic rhetorical devices found in the Divan of Showkat Bukhari. This research has been conducted using a descriptive–analytical method. The Divan of Showkat Bukhari has been examined and analyzed in terms of phonetic and semantic rhetorical figures using a library-documentary method and the technique of note-taking. The findings indicate that in Showkat Bukhari’s Divan, the figures of perfect paronomasia (jinas-e-tām), approximate paronomasia (jinas-e-muḍāri‘), subsequent paronomasia (jinas-e-lāḥiq), and excess paronomasia (jinas-e-zāyed) occur with high frequency, whereas verbal paronomasia (jinas-e-lafẓ), graphic paronomasia (jinas-e-khaṭṭ), incomplete paronomasia (jinas-e-nāqis), and inverse paronomasia (jinas-e-qalb) appear with minimal frequency. In the section on assonance (tasji‘), balance (mowāzana) is identified as one of the most frequent and prominent phonetic rhetorical devices used in the work. Additionally, in the section on repetition, devices such as letter repetition (ham-ḥarfi or ham-ḥurūfi) and assonance (ham-sedāyi) also exhibit high frequency.