Islamic poetry

Islamic poetry is a form of spoken word and written literature composed by adherents of Islam. The tradition is fundamentally rooted in Arabic, the foundational language of Islamic literature, and has subsequently flourished in many other languages such as Persian, Urdu, Bengali, and Turkish.

Genres of Islamic poetry trace their origins to classical forms. Key genres include the qasida, a highly structured classical poem or "ode" that spread globally alongside the Arab Muslim expansion; the Ghazal, which evolved historically from the qasida to become a distinct poetic expression of the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love; Ginans, devotional hymns recited by Ismailis; and blank verse (shi'r musal).