Urdu words
- By Ulema uddin
- Published 05/28/2008
- Glossary
- Unrated
| Ghazal (pronounced as "ghuzzle") |
Ghazal is a collection of couplets (shers or ashaar) which follow the
rules of 'matla', 'maqta', 'bahar', 'qafiya' and 'radeef'. The couplets
are complete in themselves. All the couplets of a ghazal must be of the
same bahar, end in the same words (radeef) and have the same rhyming pattern (qaafiyaa). Every ghazal MUST have a matla. A ghazal may or may not have a maqta but if it does, it has to be the last sher of the ghazal.
Ghazals which do not have a radeef are called Gair-muraddaf
ghazals. In such cases, the rule of qafiya is strictly followed. These
type of ghazals are very rare. Ghazals with the same radeef are called ham-radeef ghazals.
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Hamd |
Poem written in praise of God. |
| Manqabat | A poem written in praise of members of the family of the holy Prophet. |
| Munaajaat | A lyrical poem written as a prayer to God. |
| Mushaira |
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| Naat | A poem written in praise of the holy Prophet. |
| Nazm | In a broad sense, nazm is a term used to define all kinds of Urdu poetry which do not fall into any other category. However, in a literary sense, a nazm is a well organized, logically evolving poem where each individual verse serves the need of the central concept or theme of the poem. Though a nazm is traditionally written in rhymed verse, there are many examples of nazms written in unrhymed verse, or even in free verse. |
| Qasida (pronounced "quh-see-daa") | A panygeric, or poem written in praise of a king or a nobleman, or a benefactor. As in a ghazal, the opening couplet of a qasida, is a rhyming couplet, and its rhyme is repeated in the second line of each succeeding verse. The opening part of the qasida, where the poet may talk in general about love and beauty, man or nature, life or death, is called the 'tashbib' or 'tamheed'. Interestingly, the ghazal has evolved from the qasida. Over time, the tashbib got detached and developed into what we today know as Gazal. A qasida is usually quite long, sometimes running into mor than a 100 couplets. A Gazal is seldom more than 12 couplets long, averaging about 7 couplets. |
| Qawaalli | Traditionally a devotional song expressing love and oneness with God
sung by a group of people to the accompaniment of musical instruments. |
| Salaam | A salutory poem written in praise of the holy Prophet. |
