Urdunama Podcast | Ranj: The Quiet Ache Beneath Every Verse

From Sahir to Dagh, poets turned Ranj into art. Grief that breathes, endures, and transforms.

In this episode of Urdunama, Fabeha Syed talks about the word 'Ranj'

Photo: The Quint

What does it mean to live with Ranj, that quiet ache of the heart, the sorrow that never quite leaves, the grief that softens into memory? In Urdu, Ranj is more than sadness; it is the emotional thread that weaves together loss, love, and endurance.

In this episode of Urdunama, Fabeha Syed explores Ranj through the verses of Sahir Ludhianvi, Dagh Dehlvi, Shakeel Badayuni, and Irfan Sattar, poets who transformed their pain into poetry.

Each of them saw Ranj differently: Sahir turned it into empathy, Dagh wrapped it in wit and irony, Shakeel expressed it with romance, and Irfan gave it quiet resilience.