THE publication of Pashto books, ranging from poetry and short stories to current affairs and travelogues, has witnessed a considerable surge in the last decade as the land of Pakhtuns has been focus of world attention.

But it is also a fact that if analysed critically only a few among such books can be termed really useful and worth reading. But 'The Pashto Idioms: A Dictionary', which recently hit the stalls, can be termed a useful addition to study of Pashto language. Written by Abdul Kareem Amir, a lecturer of Pashto literature at Degree College Loralai, Balochistan, the book discusses various terms of linguistics in detail.Usually, linguistics is considered a bit tough and boring as scholars term it 'science' of languages instead of a subject of art. But Kareem Amir, who is also a lyrical poet, has made the book interesting and easy for readers by citing examples of usage of idioms from different classic and contemporary books.

Although the book mainly focuses on Pashto idioms, yet it also sheds light on many aspects of Pashto language. The book can be divided into five parts. The first part consists of a detailed academic discussion about word, term, allusion, proverb, adage, colloquial and idiom.

The author has not only explained these terms but also presented more than a dozen definitions by different linguists and their views about these terms. This part of the book also contains a discussion on difference and relation between idiom and metaphor.

Different kinds of idioms like aquatic, metaphorical, organic, attires, climatic, experimental, analogical, numerical, astronomical, conditional, observatory and psychological, etc are also discussed in detail in this section.

Besides, Kareem Amir has also taken pains to explain and show commonality among the idioms of Pashto, Urdu and Persian languages.

The second section of the book shows usage of Pashto idioms in poetry and perhaps this is the most interesting section of the book for common readers. The author has gone through hundreds of books of classic and contemporary poets and selected couplets from them to explain usage of idioms.

The third part of the book is also about idioms' use but it contains examples from books of prose. The fourth section shows use of idioms in folklore.

The fifth part of the book consists of references and index, which are presented in the style of scientific research. This part is more useful for future researchers as compared to common readers.

The in-depth research carried out by the writer can be judged from the fact that he has consulted more than 124 books of different linguists for the definition and explanation of idioms. Besides, he selected couplets and sentences from 474 other books for usage of idioms. Therefore, the book can be placed in the category of research instead of dictionary. It can be a treasure for the students and researchers of Pashto literature and language.

The preface and foreword on the 364-page book are written by senior writers and researchers Hamesh Khalil and Abdul Kareem Baryalay.

“The worthy effort of Abdul Kareem Amir will facilitate the future researchers of Pashto literature,” says Hamesh Khalil. Mr Baryalay suggests that the book should be included in the syllabus to benefit students of Pashto literature.