There are several locations a sher might take place in the Urdu/South Asian tradition: Learning the common tropes is key to understanding the ghazal. The Ghazal tradition is marked by the poetry's ambiguity and simultaneity of meaning. 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. However, the shers all contain a thematic or tonal connection to each other, which may be highly allusive. Each sher is self-contained and independent from the others, containing the complete expression of an idea. Unlike in a nazm, a ghazal's couplets do not need a common theme or continuity.
Bah 'r/ Behr: Each line of a ghazal must follow the same metrical pattern and syllabic (or morae) count. 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. The maqtaa is typically more personal than the other couplets in a ghazal. It is common in ghazals for the poet's nom de plume, known as takhallus to be featured in the maqtaa. Maqta'a/Maktaa: The last couplet of the ghazal is called the maqtaa. The radif is immediately preceded by words or phrases with the same end rhyme pattern, called the qaafiyaa. Both lines of the matlaa and the second lines of all subsequent shers must end in the same refrain word called the radif. The matlaa sets the tone of the ghazal, as well as its rhyming and refrain pattern. Both lines of the matla must contain the qaafiyaa and radif. Matla'a: The first sher in a ghazal is called the ' matlaa '. In its strictest form, a ghazal must follow five rules: A ghazal's rhyming pattern may be described as AA BA CA DA, and so on. The ghazal's uniqueness arises from its rhyme and refrain rules, referred to as the ' qaafiyaa ' and ' radif ' respectively. Ghazal couplets end with the same rhyming pattern and are expected to have the same meter. Almost all ghazals confine themselves to less than fifteen couplets (poems that exceed this length are more accurately considered as qasidas). For a poem to be considered a true ghazal, it must have no fewer than five couplets. Most ghazals have between seven and twelve bayts. The ghazal is a short poem consisting of rhyming couplets, called Bayt. In English, the word is pronounced / ˈ ɡ ʌ z əl/ or / ˈ ɡ æ z æ l/. The Arabic word غزل 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. 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. غَزَلَ (ḡazala) - to spin (thread or yarn). غزال (ḡazaal) - A young, graceful doe (this is the root of the English word gazelle). غَزَل (ḡazal) or غَزِلَ (ḡazila) - To sweet-talk, to flirt, to display amorous gestures. The root syllables Gh-Z-L have three possible meanings in Arabic: The word ghazal originates from the Arabic word غزل ( ġazal). 9.1 Notable poets who composed ghazals in English. 7 Translations and performance of classical ghazal. 4.3 Introduction into Indian subcontinent. 4.2.3 Late Persian poetry in the Early Mongol Period (1221–). 4.2.2 Early Persian ghazal poetry (12th to early 13th century). 4.2.1 Early Arabo-Persian ghazals (10th to 11th century). 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. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet. Ī 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 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. The ghazal form is ancient, tracing its origins to 7th-century 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 ( Arabic: غَزَل, Bengali: গজল, Hindi-Urdu: ग़ज़ल/ غزَل, Persian: غزل, Azerbaijani: qəzəl, Turkish: gazel, Uzbek: gʻazal, Gujarati: ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. An illustrated headpiece from a mid-18th century collection of ghazals and rubāʻīyāt