ghazal
In poetry (and as the lyrics in songs), the ghazal (Arabic:
???; Turkish gazel) is a poetic form consisting of couplets
which share a rhyme and a refrain. (The word "ghazal"
is of Arabic origins, and is pronounced roughly like the English
word "guzzle", but with a different first consonant.)
Ghazal in Arabic literally means "speaking with women".
The form is ancient, originating in 10th century Persian
verse. It is derived from the Persian qasida, which in turn
derived from a pre-Islamic Arabian form. The ghazal spread
into India in the 12th century under the influence of the
Mughals. Although the ghazal is most prominently a form of
Urdu poetry, today, it has influenced the poetry of many languages.
A Ghazal, in short, is a collection of couplets (called sher)
which follow the rules of Matla, Maqta, Beher, Qaafiyaa, Radif,
Khayaal and Wazan. The traditional complete ghazal has a matla,
a maqta, and three other shers in between. The first two shers
of a ghazal have the form of a qatha (a specific variation
of which is a ruba'ee; most familiar to modern readers from
Khayyám's Rubayyat).
Ghazals were written by the Persian mystics and poets Jalal
al-Din Muhammad Rumi (13th century) and Hafez (14th century),
the Turkish poet Fuzuli (16th century), as well as Mirza Ghalib
(1797–1869) and Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), who
both 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".
The ghazal is a common song form in India and Pakistan today.
Strictly speaking, it is not a musical form, but a poetic
recitation. Today, however, it is commonly conceived of as
an Urdu song, with prime importance given to the lyrics.
In some modernized ghazals the poets name is hidden somewhere
in the last verse. Usually between the front and end of a
word.
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