Mathnawi ( ar, مثنوي ''mathnawī'') or masnavi ( fa, مثنوی) is a kind of

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

written in

rhyming couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...

s, or more specifically "a poem based on independent, internally rhyming lines". Most mathnawī poems follow a

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

of eleven, or occasionally ten,

syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

s, but had no limit in their length. Typical mathnawi poems consist of an indefinite number of

couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...

s, with the

rhyme scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB r ...

aa/bb/cc. Mathnawī poems have been written in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, Turkish,

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Rumi’s '' Masnavi-e Ma’navi'', have had a special religious significance in

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

Arabic mat̲h̲nawī

Arabic mathnawi poetry, also known as ''muzdawidj'' ( ar, مزدوج, literally "doubled," referring to the internal rhyme scheme of the lines), emerged and was popularized during the Abbasid era. Unlike the older poetic styles in Arabic, mathnawi verses are not monorhymes. Instead, they include an internal rhyme scheme within each bayt with an extensive use of

alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

and follow a specific meter. Arabic mathnawi (or muzdawidj) poetry is very similar to the Persian, Urdu, and Turkish equivalents, though with one major difference: most muzdawidj poems follow an aaa/bbb/ccc pattern, while the other mathnawi poems follow an aa/bb/cc pattern.

Persian masnawī

In Persian masnawī (), the poems strictly adhere to a meter of 11 syllables, occasionally ten. While the length of a masnawī is not prescribed and is therefore unlimited, most of the better known masnawī are within a range of 2,000–9,000 bayts ( verses). The first known masnawī poem was written in the Sāmānid period (4th/10th century). Despite certain dates indicating a possibility otherwise, modern scholars believe it is a continuation of an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian

verse form Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

, not of its Arabic counterpart (there is some debate in view of the fact that the word masnawī is derived from Arabic, but most scholars believe that the Persians coined the word themselves). Masnawī are usually associated with the didactic and romantic genres, but are not limited to them. There is a great variety among Persian masnawī, but there are several conventions that can help a reader recognize a masnawī poem. Most masnawī have a distinction between the introductory and body

paragraph A paragraph () is a self-contained unit of discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea. Though not required by the orthographic conventions of any language with a writing system, paragraphs are a conventional means of organizing e ...

s (although it is not always easy to determine where that is), praise of the one God and prayers, a

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a ...

of the Prophet, reflections on the value of poetry, and occasionally a description of an object as a significant

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

. Certain Persian masnawī have had a special religious significance in

, such as Rumi’s '' Masnavi-i Ma’nawi'', which consists of 6 books/25,000 verses and which has been used in

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

among many Sufi’s, such as the

Whirling Dervishes The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya ( tr, Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; fa, طریقت مولویه) is a Sufism, Sufi order that originated in Konya (a city now in Turkey; formerly capital of the Sultanate of Rum, Seljuk Sultanate) and which was founded ...

. While some

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic legalists find the practice unconscionable, the Sufi scholar and jurist

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian polymat ...

supported the use of poetry as

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...

. In the 21st century,

Ahmad Niktalab Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

has been one of the expert poets of Persian masnawi.

Turkish mat̲h̲nawī

Turkish mathnawi began developing in the 8th/14th century. Persian mathnawi influenced Turkish authors as many Turkish mathnawī were, at first, creative

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

s and adaptations of Persian mathnawī. The oldest known Turkish mathnawī is a

didactic poem Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need t ...

called ''

Kutadgu Bilig The ''Kutadgu Bilig'' or ''Qutadğu Bilig'' (; Middle Turkic: ), is an 11th century work written by Yūsuf Balasaguni for the prince of Kashgar. The text reflects the author's and his society's beliefs, feelings and practices with regard to quite ...

''. Turkish mathnawī are strongly driven by their plot, and are usually categorized into three

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

s—''mutaḳārib'' (heroic), ''ramal'' (religio-didactic), and ''hazadj'' (romantic). Some mat̲h̲nawī were written with an understanding that the audience would appreciate the importance of the subject of the poem, but some were also written purely for

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

purposes. Mat̲h̲nawī remained prominent in

Turkish literature Turkish literature ( tr, Türk edebiyatı) comprises oral compositions and written texts in Turkic languages. The Ottoman and Azerbaijani forms of Turkish, which forms the basis of much of the written corpus, were highly influenced by Persian la ...

until the end of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, when it began to transform into more conversational and rhetorical literature. Few Turkish mat̲h̲nawī have been translated into another

modern language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...

Urdu masnawī

Urdu masnawī are usually divided into three categories- early, middle, and late. Early Urdu masnawī began in the 11th/17th century. In the beginning of this period, many masnawī were religious in nature, but then grew to include romantic, heroic, and even

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

stories. Early Urdu masnawī were influenced by Dakkanī literature, as well as Persian mat̲h̲nawī. Because of this influence, many early Urdu masnawī were translations of Persian masnawī, although there are some original early Urdu masnawīs. Middle Urdu masnawī became prominent in the 12th/18th century, when

Urdu literature Urdu literature ( ur, , ) is literature in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal '' غزل and ''nazm '' نظم, it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of t ...

broke away from the Dakkanī tradition. In the 12th/18th century, romantic masnawī became very popular. Another new convention that appeared in middle Urdu masnawī was authors using their own personal experiences as a subject for their poem. Modern Urdu masnawī began in the 13th/19th century, during a time of literary reform. Masnawī as a whole became much shorter, and the traditional meters stopped being observed. These masnawī deal more with everyday subjects, as well as providing a medium for children's poetry. A well-known masnavi-writer in Urdu in recent times was Allama Dr. Syed Ali Imam Zaidi "Gauhar Lucknavi" (great-grandson of Mir Baber Ali Anees).

References

Literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masnavi (Poetic Form) Arabic and Central Asian poetics Pakistani poetics * Iranian inventions Arabic poetry forms Literary genres Mathnawi