Urdu words are strangely familiar yet foreign at the same time. Some of us feel Urdu more than we understand it. When we hear “jiski zubah Urdu ki tarah”, we immediately get pulled to the idea of that person, we feel the connection to “kuch toh hai tujhse rābta”, even before we’ve Googled rābta and known what it means. Our tongue tastes Urdu, before the mind registers it, and that is the beauty of our relationship with this language.

From reverberating cries for freedom to hushed proclamations of eternal love, Urdu manages to give sense to all with equal finesse and precision. Especially in matters of the heart, we keep running to Urdu to help us communicate our fragile, most vulnerable thoughts.

Here’s a list of 8 Urdu words that can help you express your feelings of love to the last nuance:

1. Uns – infatuation

Aankhon ne kuchh aise chhua, halka halka uns hua
Halka halka uns hua, dil ko mehsoos hua

Gulzar sahib had painted the full spectrum of love with Satrangi re, and one of the colours that he had deftly used was Uns. The word that’s more breath than sound – treads lightly on our hearts, and makes it spring with the vibrancy of youth.

2. Qurbat – closeness

tū qarīb aa.e to qurbat kā yuuñ iz.hār karūñ
aa.ina sāmne rakh kar tirā dīdār karūñ

When you read Nida Fazli write tu qarib aae to qurbat ka yun izhaar karun, there’s no way you won’t feel the longing to be close to your loved one. This two syllable word brings conjures that much electricity in the air.

3. Ba-dastoor – unaltered

Kismat ko hai yeh manzoor kya keeje
Milte rahe hum badastoor kya keeje

Sayeed Qadri had penned, and Arijit Singh had crooned, and we had all lost our hearts once again. In a world driven by change, ba-dastoor stands as a lone warrior, giving refuge to whoever’s seeking stability.

4. Muntazir – awaiting

Main yahaan hoon muntazir
Tum wahaan ho bekhabar

Muntazir has ache wrapped in its imagery. No word can capture the power and powerlessness of waiting for the special someone like it does.

5. Justajoo – quest

Tere bin sooni sooni hain ankhiyaan
Tere bin lamha lamha hain sadiyaan

Whether it’s Jibananda Das writing in his quest for Bonolota Sen, or Roop Kumar Rathod, looking for his saaware, the essence of justajoo lives beyond space and time

6. Iztiraar – Helpless

hairat-farosh-e-sad-nigarānī hai iztirār
sar-rishta chāk-e-jeb kā tār-e-nazar hai aaj

Feeling helpless and powerless by the power of love is like a drug that they don’t sell over the counter. Iztiraar sings this tune beautifully in our ears.

7. Shiddat –Intensity

Itni shiddat se maine tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai …
ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saazish ki hai

The universe aligns for shiddat indeed. Nothing but love inspires such devotion and conviction, and no word other than shiddat does justice to that intensity.

8. Rashk-e-Qamar – Envy of the moon

Mere rashke qamar
Tune pehli nazar jab nazar se milaayi maza aagaya

We may be enthralled by nature’s abundant creations, yet our appreciation of nature’s precision reaches its peak when we find that one soul custom made for ours.

Rashk-e-Qamar is one such word which helps us talk about that particular person who renders us speechless.

Urdu has found our tongues and hearts over and over again because of its nazakat. If not anything it has the power to make us fall in love with the idea of love itself – and that is one affair enough for a lifetime.

Here’s to more of Urdu in our lives, here’s to more of Ishq(another Urdu word) in our lives!