Ghazal
In poetry (and as the lyrics in songs), the ghazal is a poetic form consisting of couplets which share a rhyme and a refrain. (The Arabic word "ghazal" is pronounced roughly like the English word "guzzle" and 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 an Arabian form that can be traced back to the 8th century. 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.
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 used the Persian as well as the Urdu language. 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.
Details of the form
- The second line of each couplet in a ghazal ends with the repetition of a refrain of one or a few words, preceded by a rhyme (though in a less strict ghazal the rhyme does not need to precede the refrain immediately). In the first couplet, which introduces the theme, both lines end in the rhyme and refrain.
- There can be no enjambment across the couplets 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.
See also
References
- Agha Shahid Ali (ed). Ravishing Disunities: Real Ghazals in English. ISBN 0819564370.
- Agha Shahid Ali. Call Me Ishmael Tonight: A Book of Ghazals. ISBN 0393051951.
