Understanding ‘Rahm’ With a Little Help From Shakespeare

Understand the meaning of ‘mercy’ and the idea of ‘pain’ through Shakespeare’s poem, ‘The Quality of Mercy’.

In this episode, we understand the meaning of ‘mercy’ and the idea of ‘pain’.

Image: Erum Gour/The Quint

Host, Writer, and Audio Editor: Fabeha Syed
Editor: Shelly Walia
Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Any Urdu-to-English dictionary will tell you the meaning of the word, rahm. But, any act of rahm or mercy involves empathy, compassion, and a deep understanding of pain. After all, it is not rahm-dil enough of anyone if the heart is empty of humility.

So, to understand the much-needed virtue of rahm, we turn to poetry, and invoke Shakespeare through his poem, ‘The Quality of Mercy’. And since there is no compassion without the sense of empathy, we also understand the idea of ‘pain’ and ‘illness’ through Javed Akhtar’s nazm, ‘Beemar ki Raat’.

Tune in.