Ghazals

The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. 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 ghazal form is ancient, tracing its origins to 7th-century Arabic poetry. The ghazal spread into South Asia in 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 the Indian subcontinent 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 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.

Postmodern Ghazal refers to a literary movement that began in the 1990s in Iran, claiming to mix postmodern ideas and traditional Persian poetry arrangements.

Etymology and pronunciation

The word ''ghazal'' originates from the Arabic word (''ġazal''). The root syllables Gh-Z-L have three possible meanings in Arabic:

# (ḡazal) or (ḡazila) - To sweet-talk, to flirt, to display amorous gestures.https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%84
# (ḡazaal) - A young, graceful doe (this is the root of the English word gazelle).
# (ḡazala) - to spin (thread or yarn).

The poetic form derives its name from the first and the second etymological roots, One particular translation posits a meaning of ''ghazal'' as ''the wail of a wounded deer'', which potentially provides context to the theme of unrequited love common to many ghazals.

The Arabic word ''ġazal'' is pronounced , roughly like the English word ''guzzle'', but with the ''ġ'' pronounced without a complete closure between the tongue and the soft palate. In English, the word is pronounced or .

Poetic form

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 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 '' qaafiyaa'' 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:

# ''Matla'a'': The first ''sher'' in a ghazal is called the ''matlaa''. Both lines of the ''matla'' must contain the ''qaafiyaa'' and ''radif''. The ''matlaa'' sets the tone of the ghazal, as well as its rhyming and refrain pattern. .
# '' Radif'': The refrain word or phrase. Both lines of the ''matlaa'' and the second lines of all subsequent ''shers'' must end in the same refrain word called the ''radif''.
# '' Qaafiyaa'': The rhyming pattern. The ''radif'' is immediately preceded by words or phrases with the same end rhyme pattern, called the ''qaafiyaa''.
# ''Maqta'a/Maktaa'': The last couplet of the ghazal is called the ''maqtaa''. It is common in ghazals for the poet's ''nom de plume'', known as '' takhallus'' to be featured in the ''maqtaa''. The ''maqtaa'' is typically more personal than the other couplets in a ghazal. The creativity with which a poet incorporates homonymous meanings of their ''takhallus'' to offer additional layers of meaning to the couplet is an indicator of their skill.
# ''Bahr/ Behr'': Each line of a ghazal must follow the same metrical pattern and syllabic (or morae) count.

''Misra-e-uulaa''
The first line of each verse must be a statement.

''Misra-e-sani''
The second line of each verse must be the proof of statement given in the first line.

Unlike in a '' nazm'', 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 the narrator.

Interpreting a ghazal

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 ''sher'' might take place in the Urdu/South Asian tradition:

* The Garden, where the poet often takes on the personage of the bulbul, a songbird. The poet is singing to the beloved, who is often embodied as a rose.

hoon garmi-i-nishat-i-tasavvur se naghma sanj

Main andalib-i-gulshan-i-na afridah hoon

- Ghalib

''I sing from the warmth of the passionate joy of thought''

''I am the bulbul of a garden not yet created''

* The Tavern, or the ''maikhana'', where the poet drinks wine in search of enlightenment, union with God, and desolation of self.

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''

History

Origins in Arabia

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 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 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 Qaafiyaa, 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, 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'').

Spread of the Arabian ghazal

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 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.

Dispersion into Persia

Early Arabo-Persian ghazals (10th to 11th century)

However, the most significant changes to 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 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) is considered the most important Persian ghazal poet of this period, and the founder of classical Persian literature.

Early Persian ghazal poetry (12th to early 13th century)

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 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 pen-name in the final couplet (called the ''maqta''). The adoption of the ''takhallus'' became 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.

Late Persian poetry in the Early Mongol Period (1221–)

The ghazal later spread throughout the Middle East and South Asia. It was famous all around the Indian subcontinent in the 18th and 19th centuries

Introduction into Indian subcontinent

The ghazal was spread from Persia into South Asia 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 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

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