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Urdu Alphabets
Common Terms in Urdu Poetry
asaatiizaa A collective term used to refer to the great masters of Urdu poetry. Most of the well known poets of Urdu fall into this category – Meer, Ghalib, Zauq, Sauda, et al. husn-e-Gazal The best sher in a ghazal. It is also called ‘bait ul Ghazal’. misraa A line of a couplet or verse is called a misra. In ... Read More »
Elements of a Ghazal
bahr This is the metre of the poem. This can loosely thought of as the length of the sher. Both the lines of a sher MUST be of the same ‘bahr’ or ‘metre’. Also, all the ashaar of a Gazal MUST be of the same bahr. There are 19 different metres that are used in Urdu poetry. In simple terms, ... Read More »
Different Forms of Urdu Poetry
The following forms of Urdu poetry are known, some more popular than others: fard A composition consisting of only one sher. Gazal (pronounced “guzzle”) Ghazal is a collection of couplets (shers or ashaar) which follow the rules of ‘matla’, ‘maqta’, ‘bahar’, ‘qafiya’ and ‘radeef’. The couplets are complete in themselves. All the couplets of a ghazal must be of the ... Read More »
What is Urdu?
Urdu is an important South Asian language spoken by nearly 250 million people in India, Pakistan and other neighbouring countries. Urdu is the national langua ge of Pakistan, and one of the official languages of India. Urdu communities thrive in many countries around the world. The word Urdu has a Turkish origin which means ‘camp’. It emerged ... Read More »
Bah’r :: The Backbone of Shaayari
Author: Irfan ‘Abid’ Before I started writing this article, I thought several times if I had the knowledge and expertise to dwell on a subject as vast and complex as ‘shaayari’. After all, I have taken only the first step towards learning this great art. But then I thought that my experience might help those who are yet to take ... Read More »
Courtesans of Lucknow and Urdu Poetry
As Mughal rule in Delhi declined, the Nawabs of Avadh came into their own, of course with the help of English, who were more than eager to help. Many courtesans moved from Delhi and surrounding areas to Lucknow, and Urdu poets and the seat of Urdu poetry went with them, to Lucknow where easy money was available in abundance, thanks ... Read More »
Progressive Movement and Urdu Poetry
Author: Ali Sardar Jafri The Progressive Movement widened the horizon of Urdu poetry; liberated it from the classical cliche, and added fresh modern imagery structure to the poem; used the rhyming scheme with fresh vigour and introduced and developed new forms like free verse, dramatic and allegorical poems, with experiments in meters; gave it an ideological content and used it ... Read More »
Urdu Ghazal :: An Introduction
Ghazal originated in Iran in the 10th century A.D. It grew from the Persian qasida, which verse form had come to Iran from Arabia. The qasida was a panegyric written in praise of the emperor or his noblemen. The part of the qasida called tashbib got detached and developed in due course of time into the ghazal. Whereas the qasida ... Read More »
Urdu Nazm :: An Introduction
The ghazal in Urdu represents the most popular form of subjective poetry, while the nazm exemplifies the objective kind, often reserved for narrative, descriptive, didactic or satirical purposes. Under the broad head of the nazm we may also include the classical forms of poems known by specific names such as masnavi (a long narrative poem in rhyming couplets on any ... Read More »
