urdu poem lesson

30
Forms of Urdu poetry The principal forms of Urdu poetry are: [1] Ghazal , usually a short love lyric , sometimes a poem on a general subject. Strictly speaking it should have the same rhyme throughout. Urdu ghazals for the most part are artificial and conventional. [1] This article is about the poetic form. For other uses, see Ghazal (disambiguation) . Music of Pakistan Genres Classical Ghazal Sufi Folk Qawwali Pop (Filmi ) Rock (Sufi rock ) Hip Hop Specific Forms Religious music Hamd Nasheeds Naat Ethnic music Balochi Kashmiri Pashto Punjabi Sindhi Traditional music Sufi Kafi Bhangra Media and Performance

Upload: piya-sharma

Post on 28-Nov-2014

723 views

Category:

Documents


11 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Urdu Poem Lesson

Forms of Urdu poetry

The principal forms of Urdu poetry are:[1]

Ghazal , usually a short love lyric, sometimes a poem on a general subject. Strictly speaking it should have the same rhyme throughout. Urdu ghazals for the most part are artificial and conventional.[1]

This article is about the poetic form. For other uses, see Ghazal (disambiguation).

Music of Pakistan

Genres

Classical  • Ghazal  • Sufi  • Folk

Qawwali  • Pop (Filmi)  • Rock (Sufi rock)

Hip Hop

Specific Forms

Religious music Hamd  • Nasheeds  • Naat

Ethnic music Balochi  • Kashmiri  • Pashto

Punjabi  • Sindhi

Traditional music Sufi  • Kafi  • Bhangra

Media and Performance

Music awards Lux Style Awards

MTV Awards

Page 2: Urdu Poem Lesson

Music festivals All   Pakistan   Music   Conference

Coke Studio

Music media AAG  • Bandbaja

MTV Pakistan  • PlayTV

TM

National anthem Qaumi Tarana

Regional Music

Local forms Brahui  • Hindko  • Khowar

Shina  • Siraiki

Related areas Persian  • Afghani  • Turkish

The gazal (Arabic/Pashto/Persian/Urdu: غزل; Turkish: gazel) is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century Arabic verse. It is derived from the Arabian panegyric qasida. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet. In its style and content it is a genre which has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation. It is one of the principal poetic forms which the Indo-Perso-Arabic civilization offered to the eastern Islamic world.

The ghazal spread into South Asia in the 12th century under the influence of the new Islamic Sultanate courts and Sufi mystics. Although the ghazal is most prominently a form of Dari and Urdu poetry, today it is found in the poetry of many languages of Indian sub-continent.

Ghazals were written by the Persian mystics and poets Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (13th century) and Hafez (14th century), the Azeri poet Fuzuli (16th century), as well as Mirza Ghalib (1797–1869) and Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), both of whom wrote ghazals in Persian and Urdu. Through the influence of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), the ghazal became very popular in Germany in the 19th century, and the form was used extensively by Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866) and August von Platen (1796–1835). The Kashmiri-American 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".

Page 3: Urdu Poem Lesson

In some ghazals the poet's name is featured somewhere in the last verse (a convention known as takhallus).

Contents[hide]

1 Pronunciation 2 Details of the form 3 Themes

o 3.1 Illicit unattainable love o 3.2 In the context of Sufism

4 Important poets of Urdu ghazal 5 Translations and Performance of Classical ghazal 6 Ghazal and its popularity 7 In English

o 7.1 Ghazals composed in English by notable poets 8 Ghazal singers 9 Notes 10 References

11 External links

[edit] Pronunciation

The Arabic word غزل ġazal is pronounced [ˈɣazal], roughly like the English word guzzle, but with the ġ pronounced without a complete closure between the tongue and the soft palate. In India, the name sounds exotic, as the voiced velar fricative (ġ sound) is not found in native Indic words. In English, the word is pronounced /ˈɡʌzəl/ [1] or pronounced /ˈɡæzæl/.[2]

.

[edit] Details of the form

A ghazal is composed of five or more couplets. The second line of each couplet (or sher) in a ghazal usually ends with the

repetition of a refrain of one or a few words, known as a radif, preceded by a rhyme known as the qaafiyaa. In Arabic, Persian and Turkic the couplet is termed a bayt and the line within the bayt is called a misra. In the first couplet, both lines end in the rhyme and refrain so that the ghazal's rhyme scheme is AA BA CA etc.

Enjambment across lines or between couplets is not permitted in a strict ghazal; each couplet must be a complete sentence (or several sentences) in itself.

All the couplets, and each line of each couplet, must share the same meter. Ghazal is simply the name of a form, and is not language-specific. Ghazals exist,

for example, in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, Kashmiri, Gujarati, Malayalam, Punjabi, Kurdish and Pashtu and many other languages.

Page 4: Urdu Poem Lesson

In languages of Indian sub-continent ghazals occasionally contain no radif. Such ghazals are termed "ġair-muraddaf" ghazal. The pre-Islamic Arabian qasida was in monorhyme; like the rest of the qasida, the ghazal itself did not have a radif.

Although every sher may be an independent poem in itself, the shers may share the same theme or even display continuity of thought. This is called a musalsal ghazal, or "continuous ghazal". The ghazal "chupke chupke raat din aasUU bahaanaa yaad hai" is a famous example of a musalsal ghazal.

In modern Urdu poetry, there are a few ghazals which do not follow the restriction that the same beher must be used in both the lines of a sher. But even in these ghazals, qaafiyaa and, usually, radif are present.

By placing his or her takhallus (pen name) in the maqta or final sher, the poet traditionally attempted to secure credit for his or her work. Poets often made elegant use of their takhallus in the maqta.

[edit] Themes

[edit] Illicit unattainable love

The ghazal not only has a specific form, but traditionally deals with just one subject: love, specifically an illicit and unattainable love. The ghazals from Indian sub-continent have an influence of Islamic Mysticism and the subject of love can usually be interpreted for a higher being or for a mortal beloved. The 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 love 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 is always written from the point of view of the unrequited lover whose beloved is portrayed as unattainable. Most often either the beloved does not return 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 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 Nami danam chi manzil buud shab:

nemidanam che manzel bood shab jayi ke man boodam;be har soo raghse besmel bood shab jayi ke man boodam.pari peykar negari sarv ghadi laleh rokhsari;sarapa afat-e del bood shab jayi ke man boodam.

I wonder what was the place where I was last night,All around me were half-slaughtered victims of love, tossing about in agony.

Page 5: Urdu Poem Lesson

There was a nymph-like beloved with cypress-like form and tulip-like face,Ruthlessly playing havoc with the hearts of the lovers.

[edit] In the context of Sufism

It is not possible to get a full understanding of ghazal poetry without at least being familiar with some concepts of Sufism. All the major historical post-Islamic ghazal poets were either avowed Sufis themselves (like Rumi or Hafez), or were sympathizers with Sufi ideas. Most ghazals can be viewed in 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 of them can be interpreted in either context.

Traditionally invoking melancholy, love, longing, and metaphysical questions, ghazals are often sung by Iranian, Afghan, Pakistani, and Indian musicians. The form has roots in seventh-century Arabia, and gained prominence in the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century thanks to such Persian poets as Rumi and Hafez and later due to Indian poets such as, Mirza Ghalib. In the eighteenth-century, the ghazal was used by poets writing in Urdu, a mix of the medieval languages of Northern India, including Persian. Among these poets, Ghalib is the recognized master.

[edit] Important poets of Urdu ghazal

In Urdu some important and respected ghazal poets are Wali, Aatish, Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Rafi Sauda, Mirza Ghalib, Zauq, Dard, Daagh, and Jigar Moradabadi. Post-partition poets include Firaq Gorakhpuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Jaun Elia, Habib Jalib, Munir Niazi, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Shakeb Jalali, Parveen Shakir, Tanwir Phool, Qamar Jalalabadi, Qateel Shifai, Aghar Gondvi, Nasir Kazmi, Ahmed Faraz, Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Sahir Ludhianvi, Nida Fazli, Gulzar, Ali Arman, Vikram Singh, Raees Warsi, Mir Dard, Hasrat Mohani, Momin Khan Momin, Altaf Hussain Hali

[edit] Translations and Performance of Classical ghazal

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", the art of singing or performing the ghazal in Indian classical tradition, is very old. Singers like Ustad Barkat Ali and many other singers in the past used to

Page 6: Urdu Poem Lesson

practice it, but due to the lack of historical records, many names are anonymous. It was with Begum Akhtar, and later on Ustad Mehdi Hassan, that classical rendering of ghazals became popular amongst the masses. The categorization of ghazal singing as 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. Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Begum Akhtar, Mehdi Hassan, Jagjit Singh, Farida Khanum, and Ustad Ghulam Ali are popular classical ghazal singers.

[edit] Ghazal and its popularity

Understanding the complex lyrics of ghazals required education typically available only to the upper classes. The traditional classical rāgas in which the lyrics were rendered were also difficult to understand. The ghazal has undergone some simplification in terms of words and phrasings, which helps it to reach a larger audience around the world. Most of the ghazals are now sung with various styles which are not limited to khayāl, thumri, rāga, tāla and other classical and light classical genres. However, these forms of the ghazal are looked down on by purists of the Indian Classical tradition. In Pakistan Noor Jehan, Iqbal Bano, Farida Khanum, Ghulam Ali, Ahmed Rushdi, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and Mehdi Hassan are known for Ghazal rendetions . Singers like Jagjit Singh (who first used a guitar in ghazals), Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain, Hariharan, Mohammad Rafi, Pankaj Udhas and many others have been able to give a new shape to the ghazal by incorporating elements of Western music. In India, in addition to Urdu/Hindi, Ghazals have also been very popular in the Gujarati language. For centuries there have been notable Gujarati ghazal writers like Barkat Virani 'Befaam', Aasim Randeri, Shunya Palanpuri, Amrut 'Ghayal', Khalil Dhantejvi and many more. Some of the notable ghazals of these prominent writers have been sung by popular Bollywood Playback Singer of 80's and 90's, Manhar Udhas (who is the elder brother of noted Ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas). These have been released under various album titles and are quite popular. The Canadian classical ghazal singer Cassius Khan has the unusual talent of singing in the recitational style whilst accompanying himself on the tabla. Renowned Ghazal singer, Pioneer of Telugu ghazals, Dr Ghazal Srinivas popularized the Ghazal in Telugu language all over the world. Dr Ghazal Srinivas also introduced ghazal singing in Kannada language and ghazals in Kannada language were written by Markandapuram Srinivas

[edit] In English

After nearly a century of "false starts" -- that is, early experiments by James Clarence Mangan, James Elroy Flecker, Adrienne Rich, Phyllis Webb., etc., many of which did not adhere wholly or in part to the traditional principles of the form, experiments dubbed as "the bastard ghazal"[3] -- , the ghazal finally began to be recognized as a viable closed form in English-language poetry sometime in the early to mid 1990s. This came about largely as a result of serious, true-to-form examples being published by noted American poets John Hollander, W. S. Merwin and Elise Paschen, as well as by acclaimed Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali (d. 2001), who had been teaching and spreading word of the ghazal at various American universities over the previous two

Page 7: Urdu Poem Lesson

decades. Ali, it is worth noting, had also published by this time a collection (The Rebel's Silhouette) of translations of the legendary Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz (b. 1911, d. 1984), and although the selected poems were presented in English in a free verse style, their romantic and revolutionary-Marxist sociopolitical impact was not entirely lost upon Western readers.

Recognizing the growing interest, in 1996 Ali decided to compile and edit the world's first anthology of English-language ghazals. Finally published by Wesleyan University Press in 2000, Ravishing DisUnities: Real Ghazals in English served as material proof that the ghazal had indeed finally arrived in the English-speaking Western world. (Still fewer than one in ten of the ghazals collected in "Real Ghazals in English" observe the constraints of the form.) Sadly, succumbing to brain cancer in December 2001, Ali did not live long enough to witness the book's full impact and further evolution of the Western ghazal.

A ghazal is composed of couplets, five or more. The couplets may have nothing to do with one another, except for the formal unity derived from a strict rhyme and rhythm pattern.

A ghazal in English which observes the traditional restrictions of the form:

Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonight?Whom else from rapture’s road will you expel tonight?

Those “Fabrics of Cashmere--“ ”to make Me beautiful--““Trinket”-- to gem– “Me to adorn– How– tell”-- tonight?

I beg for haven: Prisons, let open your gates–A refugee from Belief seeks a cell tonight.

God’s vintage loneliness has turned to vinegar–All the archangels– their wings frozen– fell tonight.

Lord, cried out the idols, Don’t let us be brokenOnly we can convert the infidel tonight.

Mughal ceilings, let your mirrored convexitiesmultiply me at once under your spell tonight.

He’s freed some fire from ice in pity for Heaven.He’s left open– for God– the doors of Hell tonight.

In the heart’s veined temple, all statues have been smashedNo priest in saffron’s left to toll its knell tonight

God, limit these punishments, there’s still Judgment Day–

Page 8: Urdu Poem Lesson

I’m a mere sinner, I’m no infidel tonight.

Executioners near the woman at the window.Damn you, Elijah, I’ll bless Jezebel tonight.

The hunt is over, and I hear the Call to Prayerfade into that of the wounded gazelle tonight.

My rivals for your love– you’ve invited them all?This is mere insult, this is no farewell tonight.

And I, Shahid, only am escaped to tell thee–God sobs in my arms. Call me Ishmael tonight. (Agha Shahid Ali)

[edit] Ghazals composed in English by notable poets

Agha Shahid Ali , "Ghazal ('...exiles')" Robert Bly , The Night Abraham Called to the Stars and My Sentence Was a

Thousand Years of Joy Francis Brabazon , In Dust I Sing (Beguine Library, 1974). Lorna Crozier , "Bones in Their Wings" Judith Fitzgerald , Twenty-Six Ways Out of This World (Oberon), 1999. Thomas Hardy , "The Mother Mourns" Jim Harrison , Outlyer and Ghazals (Touchstone), 1971 John Hollander , "Ghazal On Ghazals" Galway Kinnell , "Sheffield Ghazal 4: Driving West", "Sheffield Ghazal 5:

Passing the Cemetery" (Mariner Books), 2001 Maxine Kumin , "On the Table" Marilyn Krysl , "Ghazals for the Turn of the Century" Edward Lowbury , "A Ghazel (for Pauline)" (1968); "Prometheus: a ghazel"

(1976); "Remembering Nine (a ghazel for Peter Russell)" (1981) W. S. Merwin , "The Causeway" William Matthews , "Guzzle", "Drizzle" Elise Paschen , "Sam's Ghazal" Robert Pinsky , "The Hall" Spencer Reece , Florida Ghazals Adrienne Rich , Ghazals: Homage to Ghalib John Thompson , "Stilt Jack" (Anansi), 1978. Andrew D. Chumbley , "Qutub" (Xoanon), 1995. Natasha Trethewey , "Miscegenation", 2006. Phyllis Webb , Water and Light: Ghazals and Anti Ghazals (Coach House), 1984. John Edgar Wideman , "Lost Letter" Rob Winger , "The Chimney Stone" (Nightwood Editions), 2010 Sukhdarshan Dhaliwal , "Ghazals at Twilight" (SD Publications), 2009

[edit] Ghazal singers

Page 9: Urdu Poem Lesson

Some notable ghazal singers are:

Ahmed Rushdi Asha Bhosle Ahmed and Mohammed

Hussain Anup Jalota Ataullah Khan Aziz Mian Begum Akhtar Chitra Singh Ghulam Ali Jagjit Singh Salma Agha Yateesh M. Acharya Kiran Ahluwalia Mahwash Ustad Amanat Ali Khan Najma Akhtar Talat Aziz Iqbal Bano Mohammed Rafi Mehdi Hassan Munni Begum Malika Pukhraj

Hariharan

Cassius Khan Ghulam Abbas

Khan Nusrat Fateh Ali

Khan Farida Khanum Runa Laila Master Madan Talat Mahmood Lata Mangeshkar Penaz Masani Habib Wali

Mohammad Nayyara Noor Noorjehan Shishir Parkhie Abida Parveen

Anuradha Paudwal

Reshma Sabri Brothers Mohammad Hussain

Sarahang Mohammad Reza

Shajarian Bhupinder and Mitali

Singh Jasvinder Singh Tahira Syed Manhar Udhas Pankaj Udhas Ahmad Wali ( Ghazal Srinivas)

Many Indian and Pakistani film singers are famous for singing ghazals. These include:

Asha Bhosle Ahmed Rushdi Chitra Singh Jagjit Singh Mehdi Hassan Talat Mahmood Hariharan Mohammad Rafi Noor Jehan Lata Mangeshkar Srilekha Parthasarathy K. L. Saigal Ghulam Abbas Khan Ghulam Ali Khan

[edit] Notes

Page 10: Urdu Poem Lesson

1. ̂ Oxford BBC Guide to Pronunciation2. ̂ Oxford English Dictionary3. ̂ That Bastard Ghazal

[edit] References

Agha Shahid Ali (ed.). Ravishing Disunities: Real Ghazals in English. ISBN 0-8195-6437-0.

Agha Shahid Ali. Call Me Ishmael Tonight: A Book of Ghazals. ISBN 0-393-05195-1.

Bailey, J. O. The Poetry of Thomas Hardy: A handbook and Commentary. ISBN 0-8078-1135-1

Doty, Gene (ed./sitemaster). The Ghazal Page; various postings, 1999—2010. Faiz, Faiz Ahmed. The Rebel's Silhouette: Selected Poems. Translated by Agha

Shahid Ali. University of Massachusetts Press, 1995. Kanda, K.C., editor. Masterpieces of the Urdu Ghazal: From the 17th to the 20th

Century. Sterling Pub Private Ltd., 1991. Mufti, Aamir. "Towards a Lyric History of India." boundary 2, 31: 2, 2004 Reichhold, Jane (ed.). Lynx; various issues, 1996—2000. Watkins, R. W. (ed.). Contemporary Ghazals; Nos. 1 and 2, 2003—2004.

[edit] External links

Urdu poetic forms a ghazalsagar all in one ghazal site A Desertful of Roses The Divan-e Ghalib - in Urdu, with Devanagari and Roman

transliterations. Also includes a collection of concise commentaries on each verse by well-known scholars, as well as other critical information.

The Ghazal Page , an online journal devoted to the ghazal in English.

Qasida (also spelled qasidah), in Arabic: قصيدة, plural qasā'id, قــصــائـد; in Persian: is a form of lyric poetry that originated in pre-Islamic ,(chakameh ,چكامه or) قصیدهArabia. Well known qasā'id include the Qasida Burda ("Poem of the Mantle") by Imam al-Busiri and Ibn Arabi's classic collection "The Interpreter of Desires".

The classic form of qasida maintains a single elaborate meter throughout the poem, and every line rhymes. It typically runs more than 50 lines, and sometimes more than 100. It was adopted by Persian poets, where it developed to be sometimes longer than 100 lines.

Form

Qasida literally means "intention" and the genre found use as a petition to a patron. A qasida has a single presiding subject, logically developed and concluded. Often it is a panegyric, written in praise of a king or a nobleman, a genre known as madīḥ, meaning "praise".

Page 11: Urdu Poem Lesson

In his 9th century "Book of Poetry and Poets" (Kitab al-shi'r wa-al-shu'ara') the Arab writer ibn Qutaybah describes the (Arabic) qasida as formed of three parts;

a nostalgic opening in which the poet reflects on what has passed, known as nasib. A common concept is the pursuit of the poet of the caravan of his beloved: by the time he reaches their campsite they have already moved on.

a release or disengagement, the takhallus, often achieved by describing his transition from the nostalgia of the nasib to the second section, the travel section or rahil, in which the poet contemplates the harshness of nature and life away from the tribe.

the message of the poem, which can take several forms: praise of the tribe (fakhr), satire about other tribes (hija) or some moral maxim (hikam).

While many poets have intentionally or unintentionally deviated from this plan it is recognisable in many.

[edit] Persian variation

After the 10th century Iranians developed the qasida immensely and used it for other purposes. For example, Naser Khosro used it extensively for philosophical, theological, and ethical purposes, while Avicenna also used it to express philosophical ideas. It may be a spring poem (Persian بهاريه, baharieh) or autumn poem (Persian خزانيه, khazanieh). The opening is usually description of a natural event; the seasons, a natural landscape or an imaginary sweetheart. In the takhallos poets usually address themselves by their pen-name. Then the last section is the main purpose of the poet in writing the poem.

Persian exponents include;

Farrokhi Sistani , the court poet of Mahmoud Ghaznavi (11th century), especially his 'Hunting Scene' (in Persian: شكارگاه قصيده ),

Masud Sa'd Salman (12th century) who was wrongfully imprisoned on the suspicion of treason

Anvari Abiverdi , (12th century) especially his petition for help against the invasion of Mongols

Khaghani Shervani (12th century) and in the 20th century, Mohammad Taghi Bahar with his innovations in using

the qasida for political purposes.

From the 14th century CE Persian poets became more interested in ghazal and the qasida declined. The ghazal developed from the first part of qasida in which poets praised their sweethearts. Mystic poets and sufis used the ghazal for mystical purposes.

[edit] The Urdu Qasida

Page 12: Urdu Poem Lesson

Qasida in Urdu poetry is often panegyric, sometimes a satire, sometimes dealing with an important event. As a rule it is longer than the ghazal but follows the same system of rhyme.[1]

Marsiya (Marsia) (Persian: ہمرثی ) is an elegiac poem written (especially in Persia and India) to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain and his comrades of the Karbala.[1] They are essentially religious.[1] Background

The word ‘Marsiya’ is derived from the Arabic word ‘Risa’, meaning a great tragedy or lamentation for a departed soul.[2]

Marsiya (or elegy), is nearly always on the death of Hasan and Husain and their families, but occasionally on the death of relatives and friends. It is usually in six-lined stanzas with the rhyme aaaabb. The recitation of these elegies in the first ten days of Muharram is one of the greatest event in Muslim life. A fully developed marsiya is always an epic.[3]

This form found a specially congenial soil in Lucknow, chiefly because it was one of the centres of Shia Muslim communities in Indian sub-continent, which regarded it an act of piety and religious duty to eulogies and bemoan the martyrs of the battle of Karbala. The form reached its peak in the writing of Mir Babar Ali Anis. Marsia is a poem written to commemorate the martyrdom of Ahl al-Bayt, Imam Hussain and Battle of Karbala. It is usually a poem of mourning. and Even a short poem written to mourn the death of a friend can be called marsia. Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem 'In Memoriam' can rightly be called marsia. The sub-parts of marsia are called noha and soz which means lamentation and burning of (heart) respectively.[4]

The famous marsia writers in Urdu are Mir Babar Ali Anis, Mir Moonis, Salamat Ali Dabeer, Mir Zameer.[2]

Mir Babar Ali Anis a renowned Urdu poet, composed salāms, elegies, nauhas, quatrains. While the length of elegy initially had no more than forty or fifty stanzas, it now was beyond one hundred fifty or even longer than two hundred stanzas or bunds, as each unit of marsia in musaddas format is known. Mir Anis has drawn upon the vocabulary of Arabic, Persian, Urdu/Hindi/Awadhi in such a good measure that he symbolizes the full spectrum of the cultural mosaic that Urdu has come to be.[5] [2]

Muharram and Mir Anis have become synonymous among Urdu lovers of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.

The first major and still current critical articulation about Mir Anis was Muazna-e-Anis-o-Dabir (1907) written by Shibli Nomani in which he said "the poetic qualities and merits of Anis are not matched by any other poet".

Page 13: Urdu Poem Lesson

Formation

Urdu poetry forms itself with following basic ingredients:

Sher

(Couplet). It consists of two lines (misra); first line is called 'misra-e-oola' and the second is called 'MISRA-E-SANI'. Each verse embodies a single thought or subject (sing): Sher, Shero, Shayari, Shyari, Shayri.

[edit] Bait-ul-Ghazal

The best Sher in a Ghazal.

Example- a Shēr (couplet by poet Majrooh Sultanpuri as given below.

mai.N akelā hī chalā thā zānīb-ē-manzīl magar lōg sāth ātē gayē aur kāravā banatā gayā

(I started all alone towards the goal but people kept joining and it began to turn into a caravan)[2]

[edit] Urdu Ghazal

The Ghazal is an ode. The literal meaning of the word "ghazal" is "to converse with the beloved". Etymologically, it comes from the Arabic word Ghizaal, meaning gazelle. It is a poem containing a minimum of 5 verses and maximum 25. The opening verse of the ghazal is called matla and both hemistiches rhyme with one another. The last verse of the ghazal is a maqta, which usually contains the penname of the poet. Most of Persian and Urdu writers have earned fame as ghazal writers. Ghazal is the soul of Urdu literature and most popular form of Urdu poetry.

The following is an example of sher, composed by Mirza Ghalib:

nahii.n ki mujhko qayaamat kaa etiqaad nahii.nshab-e-firaaq se roz-e-jazaa ziyaad nahii.nIt is not that I do not have faith in (the pains of) the day of judgementBut the night of separation is not less than the day of judgement.

What the poet is trying to say is that he trusts that the day of judgement would be very painful, as it has been described in Qur'an and Hadith; however, this night of separation from his beloved is not less painful than the day of judgement.

A better example of ghazal is shown below from two couplets of Baqa Akbarabadi*, a contemporary of Meer Taqi Meer, from a ghazal written in the classical conversational

Page 14: Urdu Poem Lesson

form, that is, a dialogue between the lover and the beloved. This traditional form, as seen in Hafiz Shirazi's works in old Persian poetry, does seldom appear in contemporary Urdu works.Today we have only few good ghazal writers it includes dr asif husain Tahir faraz,Iqbal ashar,Naseem nikhat ETC.

Kaha main ne! Sila meri wafa ka tujhsey kya nikla?Kaha us ne! Nateeja dil lagane ka, bura nikla?

Kaha main ne! Wajah koi teri is be-wafaai ki?Kaha us ne! Fida mujhpar koi, tujhsey siwa nikla! Said I! What return did my love get back from you?Said she! Did indeed your heart have a bad experience?

Said I! What caused this unfaithfulness of yours?Said she! Someone more enchanted than you has shown up!

*Diwaan e Baqa Akbarabadi, Nizami Press Kanpur India 1932. Kutubkhana Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu. Hyderabad. India.

[edit] Fard

Composition of only a single SHER, Shero-Shayari, Shyari, Shayri is called FARD.

[edit] Hamd

These are works written in praise of Allah.

[edit] Hijv

(Satire). A poem written to condemn or to abuse a person. This form of poetry is considered of low type and which is usually avoided by reputed poets. The exact opposite of HIJV is MADAH which is a poem written in praise of Kings and Patrons.

[edit] Matla

Rhyming of the first two lines of a GHAZAL is called HUSN-E-MATLA.

[edit] Madah

Poem written in praise of Kings and Patrons.

[edit] Manqabat

Page 15: Urdu Poem Lesson

Poem written in praise of Ahle-E-Bait (the members of the family of Prophet Muhammad) or Sahaaba (companions of the Prophet)

[edit] Maqta

The last line of a GHAZAL or a poem which generally contains the poet's pen-name.

[edit] Masnawi

A long epic poem describing the battles fought long ago and past events. It may also contain philosophical or ethical themes. The most famous MASNAWIS are Shah-Namah of Firdosi, Masnavi-E-Roomi in Persian language and Zehar-E-Ishq in Urdu. (Tarekh-E-Islam-AZ-Quran) by Allama Dr.Syed Ali Imam Zaidi (Gauher lucknavi) published by Nizami Press Lucknow.226003

[edit] Matla

The opening SHER of a GHAZAL.

[edit] Misra

One line of a couplet, or verse.

[edit] Munajat

A lyrical poem as prayer to Allah. i agree with this

[edit] Musaddas

Each unit consists of 6 lines (Misra). Most famous writer of this type of poem is Maulana Altaf Husain Hali.

[edit] Naat

Verses written in praise of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)

[edit] Nazm

The literary meaning of Nazm is Poetry (cf. Nasr, or Prose) A poem fully dealing with a single subject or thought.

[edit] Qafia

Page 16: Urdu Poem Lesson

Rhyming of the last words of a poem. I agree with this

[edit] Qasida

(Ballad). It is a long poem in Urdu, Persian or Arabic which usually describes battles or written in praise of kings; princes or the poet's patron. There is no limit of verses; it may even go beyond hundred lines.

[edit] Qat'a

(Fragments). It has two Ashaar and has a one complete subject. Plural Qita'at.

[edit] Radeef

(End rhyme). Each SHER or couple of GHAZAL in addition to QAFIA may also have RADEEF which is rhyming of more than the last two or three words.

[edit] Ruba'i

Persian word for Quatrain. Contains only 4 lines, the third one being different from the other three as it should not have QAFIA and RADEEF. RUBA'I deals with social, philosophical and romantic subjects. In Persian language Umar Khayyam is supposed to be a great poet of RUBAIYY A T whereas in Urdu Yagana, Firaq and Josh are leading poets of this time and Anis, an old time poet.

[edit] Salam

(Literal meaning Salutation) It is a kind of poem in which the incidents of Karbala i.e. hardships of Imam Husain and his followers are described It is also written in praise of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and is recited by standing up.

[edit] Sehra

A song sung at the time of tying Sehra during wedding ceremony, praising the bride or the bridegroom and their relatives.

[edit] Shehr Ashob

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

[edit] Tah-Tul-Lafz

Page 17: Urdu Poem Lesson

The manner of reciting a poem; like rhythmic prose i.e. without singing; word for word. And, when a poem is sung, its tune is called TARANNUM.

[edit] Takhallus

A name adopted by a poet, by which he is known in the literary world.

[edit] Wasokht

Literal meaning 'displeasure' or 'disgust'. A kind of poem in which the displeasure and carelessness of a lover is narrated; while relinquishing the beloved.

[edit] Geet

Song or hymn.

[edit] Qawwali

Sufi music expressing the love and oneness with God or Prophet Muhammad and his companions sung by a group of people to the accompaniment of musical instruments. Nowadays, it has taken popular form covering subjects of romance, liquor, etc.

Beher in Urdu poetry is the meter of a sher (a form of poetry in Urdu, essentially a couplet). It can be considered as the length of the sher. Both the lines in the sher, the couplet, must be of same beher. And all the shers in one ghazal (a poetic form consisting of couplets which share a rhyme and a refrain) must be of the same beher. There are 19 kinds of beher. However, generally beher is categorized in three classes: Short, medium, long, depending upon the length of the misra (first line of the sher)

For a ghazal, all the shers in the ghazal should be of the same of beher. The example of this is this ghazal of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Notice the length and meter of the ashaars in this ghazal: it is same throughout.

shaiKh saahab se rasm-o-raah na kiishukr hai zindagii tabaah na kiitujh ko dekhaa to ser-e-chashm huetujh ko chaahaa to aur chaah na kiitere dast-e-sitam kaa ajz nahii.ndil hii kaafir thaa jis ne aah na kiithe shab-e-hijr kaam aur bahutham ne fikr-e-dil-e-tabaah na kiikaun qaatil bachaa hai shahar me.n 'Faiz'jis se yaaro.n ne rasm-o-raah na kii

Page 18: Urdu Poem Lesson

Diwan (Arabic: ديوان, Diwan) (Persian: ديوان, Divan) is a collection of poems.

Etymology

The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan ( which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register.[1] The Persian ,(دیوانword derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe. Diwan was also borrowed into Armenian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish [2] In Persian, Turkish and other languages the term diwan came to mean a collection of poems by a single author, as in selected works, or the whole body of work of a poet. Thus Diwan-e Mir would be the Collected works of Mir Taqi Mir and so on. The first use of the term in this sense is attributed to Rudaki.[citation

needed]

The term divan was used in titles of poetic works in French, beginning in 1697,[1] but was a rare and didactic usage, though one that was revived by its famous appearance in Goethe's West-Östlicher Divan (Poems of West and East), a work published in 1819 that reflected the poet's abiding interest in Middle Eastern and specifically Persian literature.

This word has also been applied in a similar way to collections of Hebrew poetry and to poetry of al-Andalus.[citation needed]

[edit] Mode

An Ottoman garden party, with poet, guest, and winebearer; from the 16th-century Dîvân-ı Bâkî

Ottoman Divan poetry was a highly ritualized and symbolic art form. From the Persian poetry that largely inspired it, it inherited a wealth of symbols whose meanings and

Page 19: Urdu Poem Lesson

interrelationships—both of similitude ( نظير مراعات mura'ât-i nazîr / تناسب tenâsüb) and opposition (تضاد tezâd)—were more or less prescribed. Examples of prevalent symbols that, to some extent, oppose one another include, among others:

the nightingale (بلبل bülbül) — the rose (گل gül) the world (جهان cihan; عالم ‘âlem) — the rosegarden (گلستان gülistan; گلشن

gülşen) the ascetic (زاهد zâhid) — the dervish (درويش derviş)

As the opposition of "the ascetic" and "the dervish" suggests, Divan poetry—much like Turkish folk poetry—was heavily influenced by Sufi thought. One of the primary characteristics of Divan poetry, however—as of the Persian poetry before it—was its mingling of the mystical Sufi element with a profane and even erotic element. Thus, the pairing of "the nightingale" and "the rose" simultaneously suggests two different relationships:

the relationship between the fervent lover ("the nightingale") and the inconstant beloved ("the rose")

the relationship between the individual Sufi practitioner (who is often characterized in Sufism as a lover) and God (who is considered the ultimate source and object of love)

Similarly, "the world" refers simultaneously to the physical world and to this physical world considered as the abode of sorrow and impermanence, while "the rosegarden" refers simultaneously to a literal garden and to the garden of Paradise. "The nightingale", or suffering lover, is often seen as situated—both literally and figuratively—in "the world", while "the rose", or beloved, is seen as being in "the rosegarden".

Divan poetry was composed through the constant juxtaposition of many such images within a strict metrical framework, thus allowing numerous potential meanings to emerge. A brief example is the following line of verse, or mısra (مصراع), by the 18th-century judge and poet Hayatî Efendi:

خارسز عالمده گلشن بو وار مى گل برBir gül mü var bu gülşen-i ‘âlemde hârsız[3]

("Does any rose, in this rosegarden world, lack thorns?")

Here, the nightingale is only implied (as being the poet/lover), while the rose, or beloved, is shown to be capable of inflicting pain with its thorns (خار hâr). The world, as a result, is seen as having both positive aspects (it is a rosegarden, and thus analogous to the garden of Paradise) and negative aspects (it is a rosegarden full of thorns, and thus different to the garden of Paradise).

As for the development of Divan poetry over the more than 500 years of its existence, that is—as the Ottomanist Walter G. Andrews points out—a study still in its infancy;[4] clearly defined movements and periods have not yet been decided upon. Early in the

Page 20: Urdu Poem Lesson

history of the tradition, the Persian influence was very strong, but this was mitigated somewhat through the influence of poets such as the Azerbaijani Nesîmî (?–1417?) and the Uyghur Ali Şîr Nevâî (1441–1501), both of whom offered strong arguments for the poetic status of the Turkic languages as against the much-venerated Persian. Partly as a result of such arguments, Divan poetry in its strongest period—from the 16th to the 18th centuries—came to display a unique balance of Persian and Turkish elements, until the Persian influence began to predominate again in the early 19th century.

Despite the lack of certainty regarding the stylistic movements and periods of Divan poetry, however, certain highly different styles are clear enough, and can perhaps be seen as exemplified by certain poets:

Fuzûlî (1483?–1556), a Divan poet of Azeri origin Fuzûlî (1483?–1556); a unique poet who wrote with equal skill in Ottoman

Turkish, Persian, and Arabic, and who came to be as influential in Persian as in Divan poetry

Bâkî (1526–1600); a poet of great rhetorical power and linguistic subtlety whose skill in using the pre-established tropes of the Divan tradition is quite representative of the poetry in the time of Süleyman the Magnificent

Nef‘î (1570?–1635); a poet considered the master of the kasîde (a kind of panegyric), as well as being known for his harshly satirical poems, which led to his execution

Nâbî (1642–1712); a poet who wrote a number of socially oriented poems critical of the stagnation period of Ottoman history

Nedîm (1681?–1730); a revolutionary poet of the Tulip Era of Ottoman history, who infused the rather élite and abstruse language of Divan poetry with numerous simpler, populist elements

Şeyh Gâlib (1757–1799); a poet of the Mevlevî Sufi order whose work is considered the culmination of the highly complex so-called "Indian style" ( سبك(sebk-i hindî هندى

The vast majority of Divan poetry was lyric in nature: either gazels (which make up the greatest part of the repertoire of the tradition), or kasîdes. There were, however, other common genres, most particularly the mesnevî, a kind of verse romance and thus a variety of narrative poetry; the two most notable examples of this form are the Leylî vü Mecnun ( مجنون و ليلى ) of Fuzûlî and the Hüsn ü Aşk ( عشق و حسن ; "Beauty and Love") of Şeyh Gâlib.

Page 21: Urdu Poem Lesson

[edit] Urdu variation of Diwan

Diwanin Urdu poetry a collection of poems, chiefly gazals.[5]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ a b Alain Rey et al., Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, new ed. (Robert, 1995), vol. 1, p. 617.

2. ̂ Dīvān Encyclopaedia Iranica, VOLUME 7 FASCICLE 43. ̂ Pala, İskender (1995) Divân Şiiri Antolojisi: Dîvânü'd-Devâvîn Akçağ Yayınları,

Kızılay, Ankara, p. 425, ISBN 975-338-081-X4. ̂ Andrews, Ottoman Lyric Poetry: An Anthology, 22–235. ̂ A History of Urdu literature by T. Grahame Bailey; Introduction

[edit] See also

Arabic literature Persian literature Anthology Ottoman poetry Poetic meter of Ottoman Turkish Category:Ottoman divan poets

[edit] External links

with many examples of Ottoman Divan poetry , in Turkish, from Internet Archive Divan-Full Text-Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism , in Turkish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Urdu_poetry