Features
69-525: The ghazal is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry . Ghazals often deal with topics of spiritual and romantic love and may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation from the beloved and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The ghazal form is ancient, tracing its origins to 7th-century Arabic poetry. The ghazal spread into the Indian subcontinent in
138-712: A spiritual context, with the Beloved being a metaphor for God or the poet's spiritual master. It is the intense Divine Love of Sufism that serves as a model for all the forms of love found in ghazal poetry. Most ghazal scholars today recognize that some ghazal couplets are exclusively about Divine Love ( ishq-e-haqiqi ). Others are about earthly love ( ishq-e-majazi ), but many can be interpreted in either context. Traditionally invoking melancholy, love, longing, and metaphysical questions , ghazals are often sung by Afghan, Pakistani, and Indian musicians. The form has roots in seventh-century Arabia, and gained prominence in
207-400: A certain number of taf'ilas which the poet has to observe in every verse ( bayt ) of the poem. The measuring procedure of a poem is very rigorous. Sometimes adding or removing a consonant or a vowel can shift the bayt from one meter to another. Also, in rhymed poetry, every bayt has to end with the same rhyme ( qāfiyah ) throughout the poem. Al-Khalīl ibn ʿAḥmad al-Farāhīdī (711–786 CE)
276-483: A form of "light classical" music is a misconception. Classical ghazals are difficult to render because of the varying moods of the "shers" or couplets in the ghazal. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan , Amanat Ali Khan , Begum Akhtar, Talat Mahmood , Mehdi Hassan , Abida Parveen , Jagjit Singh , Farida Khanum and Ustad Ghulam Ali , Moinuddin Ahamed, are popular classical ghazal singers. The ghazal has historically been one of
345-399: A ghazal's couplets do not need a common theme or continuity. Each sher is self-contained and independent from the others, containing the complete expression of an idea. However, the shers all contain a thematic or tonal connection to each other, which may be highly allusive. A common conceit that traces its history to the origins of the ghazal form is that the poem is addressed to a beloved by
414-515: A gradually accepted part of the ghazal form, and by the time of Saadi Shirazi (1210–1291 AD), the most important ghazal poet of this period, it had become de rigueur. The second marked change from Arabian ghazal form in Persian ghazals was a movement towards far greater autonomy between the couplets. The ghazal later spread throughout the Middle East and South Asia. It was famous all around
483-753: A great deal of invective. The tradition continued in a slightly modified form as zajal , in which two groups 'joust' in verse, and remains a common style in Lebanon . Arabic Andalusi poetry in al-Andalus , or Islamic Iberia (Islamic Spain), involved figures such as Ibn Abd Rabbih (the author of the Al-ʿIqd al-Farīd ), Ziryab , Ibn Zaydun , Wallada bint al-Mustakfi , Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad , Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya , Ibn Tufail , Ibn Arabi , Ibn Quzman , Abu al-Baqa ar-Rundi , and Ibn al-Khatib . The rise of poetry in Al-Andalus occurred in dialogue with
552-408: A higher being or for a mortal beloved. Love is always viewed as something that will complete a human being, and if attained will lift him or her into the ranks of the wise or will bring satisfaction to the soul of the poet. Traditional ghazal law may or may not have an explicit element of sexual desire in it, and the love may be spiritual. The love may be directed to either a man or a woman. The ghazal
621-579: A little longer, but ended with the expulsion of the Arabs in 1492. The corpus suffered large-scale destruction by fire in 1499 when Cardinal Jimenez de Cisneros made a public auto-da-fé in Granada , burning 1,025,000 Arabic volumes. Ghaylan ibn 'Uqbah (c. 696 – c. 735), nicknamed Dhu ar-Rumma , is usually regarded as the last of the Pre-Islamic poets. His works had continued the themes and style of
690-403: A long time. Arabic poetry Types Types Features Clothing Genres Art music Folk Prose Islamic Poetry Genres Forms Arabic prosody National literatures of Arab States Concepts Texts Fictional Arab people South Arabian deities Arabic poetry ( Arabic : الشعر العربي ash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy )
759-458: A reliable historical record of the political and cultural life of the time. Poetry held an important position in pre-Islamic society with the poet or sha'ir filling the role of historian , soothsayer and propagandist . Words in praise of the tribe ( qit'ah ) and lampoons denigrating other tribes ( hija' ) seem to have been some of the most popular forms of early poetry. The sha'ir represented an individual tribe's prestige and importance in
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#1732798508725828-579: A spread of the Arabic language in that country. In medieval Spain, ghazals written in Hebrew as well as Arabic have been found as far back as the 11th century . It is possible that ghazals were also written in the Mozarabic language . Ghazals in the Arabic form have also been written in a number of major West African literary languages like Hausa and Fulfulde . However, the most significant changes to
897-473: A tribe or ruler, lampoons, or moral maxims. However, the qaṣīda's opening prelude, called the nasīb , was typically nostalgic and/or romantic in theme, and highly ornamented and stylized in form. In time, the nasīb began to be written as standalone, shorter poems, which became the ghazal. The ghazal came into its own as a poetic genre during the Umayyad era (661–750) and continued to flower and develop in
966-420: Is a mystical interpretation of Islam and it emphasised the allegorical nature of language and writing. Many of the works of Sufi poets appear to be simple ghazal or khamriyyah . Under the guise of the love or wine poem they would contemplate the mortal flesh and attempt to achieve transcendence . Rabia al-Adawiyya , Abd Yazid al-Bistami and Mansur al-Hallaj are some of the most significant Sufi poets, but
1035-413: Is always written from the point of view of the unrequited lover whose beloved is portrayed as unattainable. Most often, either the beloved has not returned the poet's love or returns it without sincerity or else the societal circumstances do not allow it. The lover is aware and resigned to this fate but continues loving nonetheless; the lyrical impetus of the poem derives from this tension. Representations of
1104-547: Is considered the most important Persian ghazal poet of this period, and the founder of classical Persian literature. The Persian ghazal evolved into its own distinctive form between the 12th and 13th centuries. Many of those innovations created what we now recognize as the archetypical ghazal form. These changes occurred in two periods, separated by the Mongol Invasion of Persia from 1219 to 1221 AD. The 'Early Persian poetry' period spanned approximately one century, from
1173-521: Is described as the " golden age of Persian literature in Bengal". Its stature is illustrated by the Sultan's own correspondence with the Persian poet Hafez . When the Sultan invited Hafez to complete an incomplete ghazal by the ruler, the renowned poet responded by acknowledging the grandeur of the king's court and the literary quality of Bengali-Persian poetry. It is said that Atul Prasad Sen pioneered
1242-404: Is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature . Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, but Old Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existed in Arabic writing in material as early as the 1st century BCE, with oral poetry likely being much older still. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed or measured, and prose, with
1311-521: Is pronounced [ˈɣazal] . In English, the word is pronounced / ˈ ɡ ʌ z əl / or / ˈ ɡ æ z æ l / . The ghazal is a short poem consisting of rhyming couplets, called bayt or sher . Most ghazals have between seven and twelve bayts . For a poem to be considered a true ghazal, it must have no fewer than five couplets. Almost all ghazals confine themselves to less than fifteen couplets (poems that exceed this length are more accurately considered as qasidas ). Ghazal couplets end with
1380-532: Is referred to as the Lady. The Hadith Bayad wa Riyad manuscript is believed to be the only illustrated manuscript known to have survived from more than eight centuries of Muslim and Arab presence in Spain. There were several elements of courtly love which were developed in Arabic poetry, namely the notions of "love for love's sake" and "exaltation of the beloved lady" which have been traced back to Arabic literature of
1449-433: Is said that Nuwas struck a bargain with his contemporary Abu al-Alahijah: Abu Nuwas would concentrate on wine and love poems whilst al-Alahijah would write homilies . These homilies expressed views on religion, sin and the afterlife, but occasionally strayed into unorthodox territory. While the work of al-Alahijah was acceptable, others such as the poet Salih ibn 'Abd al-Quddus were executed for heresy . Waddah al-Yaman , now
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#17327985087251518-403: Is the romantic or nostalgic prelude with which pre-Islamic poems would often start. In these preludes, a thematic unit called " nasib ," the poet would remember his beloved and her deserted home and its ruins. This concept in Arabic poetry is referred to as " al-woqouf `ala al-atlal " (الوقوف على الأطلال / standing by the ruins) because the poet would often start his poem by saying that he stood at
1587-611: The Mu'allaqat (meaning "the hung poems", because they are traditionally thought to have been hung on or in the Kaaba ) and the Mufaddaliyat (meaning " al-Mufaddal 's examination" or "anthology"). The Mu'allaqat aimed to be the definitive source of the era's output with only a single example of the work of each of the so-called "seven renowned ones," although different versions differ in which "renowned ones" they chose. The Mufaddaliyat on
1656-549: The Arabian Peninsula , and mock battles in poetry or zajal would stand in lieu of real wars. 'Ukaz, a market town not far from Mecca , would play host to a regular poetry festival where the craft of the sha'irs would be exhibited. Alongside the sha'ir , and often as his poetic apprentice, was the rawi or reciter. The job of the rawi was to learn the poems by heart and to recite them with explanations and probably often with embellishments. This tradition allowed
1725-522: The Ghaznavid era (which lasted until 1187) till a little after the Mongol Invasion. Apart from the movement towards brevity, this period also saw two significant and lasting changes to the ghazal form. The first change was the adoption of the Takhallus , the practice of mentioning the poet's penname in the final couplet (called the ' maqta ' ' ). The adoption of the takhallus became
1794-506: The Petrarchan sonnet . In style and content, due to its highly allusive nature, the ghazal has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation. The word ghazal originates from the Arabic word غزل ( ġazal ). This genre of Arabic poetry is derived from غَزَل (ḡazal) or غَزِلَ (ḡazila) - To sweet-talk, to flirt, to display amorous gestures. The Arabic word غزل ġazal
1863-469: The golden age of Jewish culture in Spain . Most Jewish writers in al-Andalus—while incorporating elements such as rhyme, meter, and themes of classical Arabic poetry—created poetry in Hebrew , but Samuel ibn Naghrillah , Joseph ibn Naghrela , and Ibn Sahl al-Isra'ili wrote poetry in Arabic. Arabic poetry declined after the 13th century along with much of the literature due to the rise of Persian and Turkish literature . Andalusi literature flowered for
1932-441: The 12th century due to the influence of Sufi mystics and the courts of the new Islamic Sultanate , and is now most prominently a form of poetry of many Languages of South Asia and Turkey . A ghazal commonly consists of five to fifteen couplets, which are independent, but are linked – abstractly, in their theme; and more strictly in their poetic form. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of
2001-547: The 9th and 10th centuries. The notion of the "ennobling power" of love was developed in the early 11th century by the Persian psychologist and philosopher , Ibn Sina (known as "Avicenna" in English), in his Arabic treatise Risala fi'l-Ishq ( Treatise on Love ). The final element of courtly love, the concept of "love as desire never to be fulfilled," was also at times implicit in Arabic poetry. Qafiya From Misplaced Pages,
2070-524: The Indian subcontinent in the 18th and 19th centuries Vin bahs bā salāse-ye ghassāle miravad And with the three washers (cups of wine), this dispute goeth. Shekkar-shekan shavand hame tutiān-e Hind Sugar-shattering (excited), have become all the parrots (poets) of Hind , Zin qand-e Pārsi ke be Bangāle miravad. That this Persian candy [ode], that to Bengal goeth. – Jointly penned by Azam Shah and Hafez The ghazal
2139-406: The art of singing or performing the ghazal in the Indian classical tradition, is very old. Singers like Ustad Barkat Ali and many other singers in the past used to practice it, but the lack of historical records make many names anonymous. It was with Begum Akhtar and later on Ustad Mehdi Hassan that classical rendering of ghazals became popular in the masses. The categorization of ghazal singing as
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2208-499: The coming centuries. In ninth century Spain, Paulus Alvarus complained that Christian youths preferred Arabic poetry to Latin works. Hafs ibn Albar , who has been sometimes identified as Paulus' son, translated the psalms into Arabic in rhyme form, using rajaz verses as it resembled the metre used by Christians in the iambic verse. The translation and many other works enjoyed great popularity not only among Christians but also among Islamic and Jewish authors in Spain. Arabic poetry
2277-649: The creation narrative and other biblical or Christian motives. According to the church historian Sozomen , odes composed in Arabic celebrating the victory of queen Mavia over emperor Valens may not only be the earliest account of oral Christian poetry but also the earliest account of Arabic poetry in general. Under Islamic rule, though forced to live with certain restrictions, Arab Christians such as Al-Akhtal al-Taghlibi or Ibn al-Tilmidh continued to use Arabic for their poetry. However, these poets seldom addressed their personal Christian faith in their works. Other ethnicities under Arab rule adapted Arabic poetry over
2346-620: The early Abbasid era. The Arabic ghazal inherited the formal verse structure of the qaṣīda , specifically, a strict adherence to meter and the use of the qafiya , a common end rhyme on each couplet (called a bayt in Arabic and a sher in Persian). The nature of the ghazals also changed to meet the demands of musical presentation, becoming briefer in length. Lighter poetic meters, such as khafîf , ramal , and muqtarab were preferred, instead of longer, more ponderous meters favored for qaṣīdas (such as kâmil , basît , and rajaz ). Topically,
2415-401: The first major poets in the pre-Islamic era is Imru' al-Qais , the last king of the kingdom of Kinda . Although most of the poetry of that era was not preserved, what remains is well regarded as among the finest Arabic poetry to date. In addition to the eloquence and artistic value, pre-Islamic poetry constitutes a major source for classical Arabic language both in grammar and vocabulary, and as
2484-467: The former greatly preceding the latter. The rhymed poetry falls within fifteen different meters collected and explained by al-Farahidi in The Science of ‘ Arud . Al-Akhfash, a student of al-Farahidi, later added one more meter to make them sixteen. The meters of the rhythmical poetry are known in Arabic as "seas" ( buḥūr ). The measuring unit of seas is known as " taf‘īlah ," and every sea contains
2553-817: The 💕 In Persian , Turkic, and Urdu ghazals , the qāfiya (from Arabic قافية qāfiya , lit. ' rhyme ' ; Persian : قافیہ ; Azerbaijani : qafiyə ; Urdu : قافیہ ; Uzbek : qofiya ) is the rhyming pattern of words that must directly precede the radif . The qāfiya is the actual rhyme of the ghazal. References [ edit ] ^ "The history, art and performance of ghazal in Hindustani sangeet" . Daily Times . 2017-12-21 . Retrieved 2020-01-18 . ^ Kanda, K. C. (1995). Urdu Ghazals: An Anthology, from 16th to 20th Century . Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-207-1826-5 . ^ Afroz Taj (2007). The Court of Indar and
2622-408: The ghazal focus also changed from nostalgic reminiscences of the homeland and loved ones, towards romantic or erotic themes. These included sub-genres with themes of courtly love ( udharî ), eroticism ( hissî ), homoeroticism ( mudhakkar ), and as a highly stylized introduction to a larger poem ( tamhîdî ). During the Umayyad and early Abbasid eras, the ghazal blossomed. It inherited the structure of
2691-455: The ghazal occurred in its introduction into Iran in the 10th century. The early Persian ghazals largely imitated the themes and form of the Arabian ghazal. These "Arabo-Persian" ghazals introduced two differences compared to their Arabian poetic roots. Firstly, the Persian ghazals did not employ radical enjambment between the two halves of the couplet, and secondly, the Persian ghazals formalized
2760-534: The influence of Goethe (1749–1832), the ghazal became very popular in Germany during the 19th century; the form was used extensively by Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866) and August von Platen (1796–1835). The Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali was a proponent of the form, both in English and in other languages; he edited a volume of "real Ghazals in English". Ghazals were also written by Moti Ram Bhatta (1866–1896),
2829-515: The introduction of Bengali ghazals. Residing in Lucknow , he was inspired by Persian ghazals and experimented with a stream of Bengali music which was later enriched profusely by the contribution of Kazi Nazrul Islam and Moniruddin Yusuf . "The ghazal was initially composed to a purely religious theme". Now in this era ghazals are more likely to have romantic themes. Can usually be interpreted for
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2898-608: The lover's powerlessness to resist his feelings often include lyrically exaggerated violence. The beloved's power to captivate the speaker may be represented in extended metaphors about the "arrows of his eyes", or by referring to the beloved as an assassin or a killer. Take, for example, the following couplets from Amir Khusro 's Persian ghazal Nemidanam che manzel būd shab : namidanam chi manzil būd shab jayi ke man būdam; be har sū raqs eh besmel būd shab jayi ke man būdam. pari paikar negar eh sarv qaad e lalhaa rokhsar; sarapa afat-e del būd shab jayi ke man būdam. I wonder what
2967-519: The matter being sent by Ibn Burd and Ibn Miskawayh , the poetic brinkmanship of badi led to a certain formality in poetic art, with only the greatest poets' words shining through the complex structures and wordplay. This can make Arabic poetry even more difficult to translate than poetry from other languages, with much of a poet's skill often lost in translation. Already before the arrival of Islam, Arab Christians composed poetry with biblical or Christian topics, such as Adi ibn Zayd who wrote poetry on
3036-463: The most famous poets of the pre-Islamic era are Imru' al-Qais , Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya , al-Nabigha , Tarafa , Zuhayr bin Abi Sulma , and Antarah ibn Shaddad . Other poets, such as Ta'abbata Sharran , al-Shanfara , Urwa ibn al-Ward , were known as su'luk or vagabond poets, much of whose works consisted of attacks on the rigidity of tribal life and praise of solitude. Some of these attacks on
3105-670: The most popular poetic forms across the Middle East and South Asia. Even into the modern era the ghazal has retained its extreme popularity among South Asian royalty and nobility, among whom its education and patronisation has traditionally found shelter, especially with several Indian rulers including several Indian Emperors being profound composers of ghazals. In the 19th century ghazals gained popularity in Germany with Goethe 's translations, as well as with Spanish ghazal writers such as Federico García Lorca . Despite often being written in strong Urdu and rendered with classical Indian Ragas along with complex terminology most usually accessible to
3174-494: The narrator. Abdolhamid Ziaei considers the content of old Persian ghazal to include four elements: love, mysticism, education or excellence, and Qalandari. The Ghazal tradition is marked by the poetry's ambiguity and simultaneity of meaning. Learning the common tropes is key to understanding the ghazal. There are several locations a Urdu sher might take place in: hoon garmi-i-nishat-i-tasavvur se naghma sanj Main andalib-i-gulshan-i-na afridah hoon - Ghalib I sing from
3243-592: The national poet of Yemen , was also executed for his verse, but this was probably due to his over-familiarity with the wife of the caliph Al-Walid I . Court poets were joined with court singers who simply performed works included Ibrahim al-Mawsili , his son Ishaq al-Mawsili and Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi son of caliph al-Mahdi . Many stories about these early singers were retold in the Kitab al-Aghani or Book of Songs by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani . The Sufi tradition also produced poetry closely linked to religion. Sufism
3312-457: The other hand contains a random collection of poetic material. There are several characteristics that distinguish pre-Islamic poetry from the poetry of later times. One of these characteristics is that in pre-Islamic poetry more attention was given to the eloquence and the wording of the verse than to the poem as whole. This resulted in poems characterized by strong vocabulary and short ideas but with loosely connected verses. A second characteristic
3381-494: The persecution Palestinian Christians suffered under caliph al-Hakim . Another medieval Arabic love story was Hadith Bayad wa Riyad ( The Story of Bayad and Riyad ), a 13th-century Arabic love story written in al-Andalus . The main characters of the tale are Bayad, a merchant's son and a foreigner from Damascus , and Riyad, a well-educated girl in the court of an unnamed Hajib of al-Andalus (vizier or minister), whose equally unnamed daughter, whose retinue includes Riyad,
3450-791: The pioneer of Nepali ghazal writing in Nepali . Ghazals were also written by Hamza Shinwari , He is known as the father of Pashto Ghazals. Enormous collections of ghazal have been created by hundreds of well-known poets over the past thousand years in Persian, Turkish, and Urdu as well as in the Central Asian Turkic languages. Ghazal poems are performed in Uzbek-Tajik Shashmakom , Turkish Makam , Persian Dastgah and Uyghur Muqam . There are many published translations from Persian and Turkish by Annemarie Schimmel , Arthur John Arberry and many others. Ghazal "Gayaki",
3519-525: The poet and musician Ameer Khusrow is not only credited as the first Urdu poet but also created Hindustani as we know today by merging braj , khadhi boli , Hindi , Urdu , Persian and other local dialects. During the reign of the Sultan of Bengal Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah , the city of Sonargaon became an important centre of Persian literature , with many publications of prose and poetry. The period
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#17327985087253588-486: The poetry and doctrine of al-Hallaj was eventually considered heretic for saying "I am the Truth," which came to be compared as literal incarnation. Al Hallaj was crucified and later became known as a Martyr. The caliph himself could take on the role of court poet with al-Walid II a notable example, but he was widely disliked for his immorality and was deposed after only a year. An important doctrine of Arabic poetry from
3657-466: The pre-Islamic poets particularly eulogising the harsh but simple desert life, traditionally recited round a campfire. Although such themes continued and were returned to by many modern, urban poets, this poetic life was giving way to court poets. The more settled, comfortable and luxurious life in Umayyad courts led to a greater emphasis on the ghazal or love poem. Chief amongst this new breed of poet
3726-457: The qaṣīda, focusing on meter and end rhymes. With time, it adapted for musical presentation, becoming shorter. Lighter meters were preferred, and themes shifted towards romance and eroticism. With the spread of Islam , the Arabian ghazal spread both westwards, into Africa and Spain , as well as eastwards, into Persia . The popularity of ghazals in a particular region was usually preceded by
3795-596: The ruins of his beloved; it is a kind of ubi sunt . It was the early poems' importance to Islamic scholarship which led to their preservation. Not only did the poems illuminate life in the early years of Islam and its antecedents but they would also prove the basis for the study of linguistics of which the Qur'an was regarded as the pinnacle. Many of the pre-Islamic forms of verse were retained and improved upon. Naqa'id or flytings , where two poets exchange creative insults, were popular with al-Farazdaq and Jarir swapping
3864-408: The same rhyming pattern and are expected to have the same meter. The ghazal's uniqueness arises from its rhyme and refrain rules, referred to as the ' qafiya ' and ' radif ' respectively. A ghazal's rhyming pattern may be described as AA BA CA DA, and so on. In its strictest form, a ghazal must follow a number of rules: Other optional rules include: Unlike in a nazm ,
3933-418: The start was its complexity, but during the period of court poetry this became an art form in itself known as badi` . There were features such as metaphor , pun , juxtaposing opposites and tricky theological allusions. Bashshar ibn Burd was instrumental in developing these complexities which later poets felt they had to surpass. Although not all writers enjoyed the baroque style, with argumentative letters on
4002-685: The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, thanks to such Persian poets as Rumi and Hafiz, and later to Indian poets such as Mirza Ghalib . In the eighteenth century, the ghazal was used by poets writing in Urdu. Among these poets, Ghalib is the recognized master. Ghazals were written by Rumi , Hafiz and Saadi Shirazi of Persia ; the Turkic poets Yunus Emre , Fuzuli and Nasimi in the Ottoman Empire ; Mirza Ghalib and Muhammad Iqbal of North India ; and Kazi Nazrul Islam of Bengal . Through
4071-584: The transmission of these poetic works and the practice was later adopted by the huffaz for their memorisation of the Qur'an . At some periods there have been unbroken chains of illustrious poets, each one training a rawi as a bard to promote his verse, and then to take over from them and continue the poetic tradition. For example, Tufayl trained 'Awas ibn Hajar, 'Awas trained Zuhayr , Zuhayr trained his son Ka`b , Ka`b trained al-Hutay'ah , al-Hutay'ah trained Jamil Buthaynah and Jamil trained Kuthayyir `Azza . Among
4140-787: The upper classes, in South Asia ghazals are nonetheless popular among all ages. They are most popular in Turkey and South Asia, and readings or musical renditions of ghazals—such as at mehfils and mushairas —are well attended in these countries, even by the laity. Ghazals are popular in South Asian film music . The ragas to which ghazals are sung are usually chosen to be in consonance with their lyrical content. The ghazal's beauty goes beyond rich or poor, or where you come from. Whether it's spoken in fancy places or sung in everyday life, its powerful words touch deep inside, staying with us for
4209-552: The use of the common rhyme in both lines of the opening couplet ( matla' ). The imitation of Arabian forms in Persia extended to the qaṣīda , which was also popular in Persia. Because of its comparative brevity, thematic variety and suggestive richness, the ghazal soon eclipsed the qaṣīda , and became the most popular poetry form in Persia. Much like Arabian ghazals, early Persian ghazals typically employed more musical meters compared to other Persian poetry forms. Rudaki (858–941 CE)
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#17327985087254278-451: The values of the clan and of the tribe were meant to be ironic, teasing the listeners only in order finally to endorse all that the members of the audience held most dear about their communal values and way of life. While such poets were identified closely with their own tribes, others, such as al-A'sha , were known for their wanderings in search of work from whoever needed poetry. Some of the most reputable collections of these poems included
4347-576: The warmth of the passionate joy of thought I am the bulbul of a garden not yet created mir un neem-baaz ankhon men saari masti sharab ki si hai - Mir Taqi Mir 'Mir' is in those half-closed eyes all flirtation is a bit like wine The ghazal originated in Arabia in the 7th century, evolving from the qasida , a much older pre-Islamic Arabic poetic form. Qaṣīdas were typically much longer poems, with up to 100 couplets. Thematically, qaṣīdas did not include love, and were usually panegyrics for
4416-399: Was Abu Nuwas . Not only did Abu Nuwas spoof the traditional poetic form of the qasida and write many poems in praise of wine, his main occupation was the writing of ever more ribald ghazal many of them openly homosexual . While Nuwas produced risqué but beautiful poems, many of which pushed to the limit what was acceptable under Islam, others produced more religiously themed poetry. It
4485-537: Was also used for apologetics . As such, the eleventh century Andalusi abu 'qasim ibn Al-Hayyat, originally a Muslim theologian, wrote a poem in defence of his conversion to Christianity. The early eleventh-century bishop Sulayman al-Ghazzi holds a unique place in the history of Arab Christian literature as author of the first diwan of Christian religious poetry in Arabic. The collection consists of over 3,000 lines loosely structured in 97 qaṣīdas which deal with biblical, theological, ascetical, and personal themes such as
4554-537: Was spread from Persia into Indian Subcontinent in the 12th century by the influence of Sufi mystics and the courts of the new Islamic sultanates. This period coincided with the early Islamic Sultanates in India, through the wave of Islamic invasions into the region in that period. The 13th century Chishti Sufi poet Hasan Sijzi is regarded as the originator of the Indo-Persian ghazal. Sijzi's contemporary,
4623-541: Was the first Arab scholar to subject the prosody of Arabic poetry to a detailed phonological study. He failed to produce a coherent, integrated theory which satisfies the requirements of generality, adequacy, and simplicity; instead, he merely listed and categorized the primary data, thus producing a meticulously detailed but incredibly complex formulation which very few indeed are able to master and utilize. Researchers and critics of Arabic poetry usually classify it in two categories: classical and modern poetry. Classical poetry
4692-505: Was the place where I was last night, All around me were half-slaughtered victims of love, tossing about in agony. There was a nymph-like beloved with cypress-like form and tulip-like face, Ruthlessly playing havoc with the hearts of the lovers. Many of the major historical ghazal poets were either avowed Sufis themselves (like Rumi or Hafiz ), or were sympathizers with Sufi ideas. Somewhat like American soul music , but with melancholy instead of funk , most ghazals can be viewed in
4761-445: Was written before the Arabic renaissance ( An-Nahḍah ). Thus, all poetry that was written in the classical style is called "classical" or "traditional poetry" since it follows the traditional style and structure. It is also known as "vertical poetry" in reference to its vertical parallel structure of its two parts. Modern poetry, on the other hand, deviated from classical poetry in its content, style, structure, rhyme and topics. One of
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