Urdu poetry ( ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the culture of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. According to Naseer Turabi, there are five major poets of Urdu:

Mir Taqi Mir Mir Muhammad Taqi (February 1723 – 20 September 1810), known as Mir Taqi Mir (also spelled Meer Taqi Meer), was an Urdu poetry, Urdu poet of the 18th century Mughal Empire, Mughal India and one of the pioneers who gave shape to the Urdu ...

(d. 1810),

Mirza Ghalib Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (27 December 179715 February 1869), commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet. Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, he also produced a significant body of work in Persian. Ghali ...

(d. 1869),

Mir Anees Mir Babar Ali Anees (, 1800-1874), also known as Mir Anees was an Indian Urdu poet. He used his pen-name (takhallus) of Anees (Urdu: , ''Anees'' means "close friend, companion") in poetry. Anees used Persian, Urdu, Arabic, and Sanskrit words in ...

(d. 1874),

Muhammad Iqbal Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

(d. 1938) and

Josh Malihabadi Josh Malihabadi (born Shabbir Hasan Khan; 5 December 1898 – 22 February 1982) popularly known as Shayar-e-Inqalab (poet of revolution) was Indian born Pakistani Urdu poet. Known for his liberal values and challenging the established o ...

(d. 1982). The language of Urdu reached its pinnacle under the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, and it received official status. All famous writers of Urdu language including Ghalib and Iqbal were given British scholarships. Following the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947, it found major poets and scholars were divided along the nationalistic lines. However, Urdu poetry is cherished in both the nations. Both the

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

from across the border continue the tradition. It is fundamentally performative poetry and its recital, sometimes impromptu, is held in Mushairas (poetic expositions). Although its tarannum saaz (singing aspect) has undergone major changes in recent decades, its popularity among the masses remains unaltered. Mushairas are today held in metropolitan areas worldwide because of the cultural influence of the

South Asian diaspora The South Asian diaspora, also known as the Desi diaspora, is the group of people whose ancestral origins lie in South Asia, but who live outside the region. There are over 44 million people in this diaspora. Endonyms South Asians in the diaspo ...

Ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

singing and

Qawwali Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...

are also important expository forms of Urdu poetry.

Forms

The principal forms of Urdu poetry are: *

(غزل): a set of two liner couplets, which strictly should end with the same rhyme and should be within one of the predefined meters of ghazals. There has to be a minimum of five couplets to form a ghazal. Couplets may or may not have the same thought. It is one of the most difficult forms of poetry as there are many strict parameters that one needs to abide by while writing ghazal. It is important to think about the topic as well as the theme of a ghazal before starting to write it. The first line of a ghazal must include a refrain, which is a word or a phrase that can be easily fitted into the other couplets. Each couplet of a ghazal is known as Sher (شعر ). The first Sher is called Matla' (مطلع ). The last Sher is called Maqta' (مقطع ), but only if the poet uses his " Takhalus (تخلص )". *

Hamd Hamd () is a word that exclusively praises God - whether written or spoken. Thus, The word "Hamd" is always followed by the name of God (Allah) - a phrase known as the Tahmid - "al-ḥamdu li-llāh" (Arabic: ) (English: "praise be to God"). The ...

(حمّد): a poem in praise of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

. The word "hamd" is derived from the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

, its English translation is "Praise". * Manqabat (منقبت): a

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

devotional poem, in praise of

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, or of any Sufi saint. *

Marsiya A marsiya (; ) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali, his family, and his companions at the tragedy of Karbala. Marsiyas are essentially religious lamentations. Background The word ''Marsiya'' is d ...

(مرثیہ): an

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

typically composed about the death of

Hasan Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

, Husayn, their relatives, and their companions. Each stanza has six lines, 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 rh ...

AAAABB. The famous marsia writers who inherited the tradition of Mir Anis among his successive generations are Mir Nawab Ali 'Munis', Dulaha Sahab 'Uruj', Syed Mohammed Mohsin (Jaunpuri), Mustafa Meerza urf Piyare Sahab 'Rasheed', Syed Muhammad Mirza Uns, Ali Nawab 'Qadeem', Syed Sajjad Hussain "Shadeed" Lucknavi, Allama, Dr.Syed Ali Imam Zaidi, "Gauher" Luckhnavi the great-grandson of Mir Babber Ali Anis, Syed Karrar Hyder (Jaunpuri) and Syed Yadullah Haider (son of Syed Karrar Hyder). *

Masnavi The ''Masnavi'', or ''Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi'' (, DIN 31635, DMG: ''Mas̲navī-e maʻnavī''), also written ''Mathnawi'', or ''Mathnavi'', is an extensive poem written in Persian language, Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, also known as Rumi. I ...

(مثنوی): a poem written in

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

s in

bacchic In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Greek ...

tetrameter In poetry, a tetrameter is a line of four metrical feet. However, the particular foot can vary, as follows: * '' Anapestic tetrameter:'' ** "And the ''sheen'' of their ''spears'' was like ''stars'' on the ''sea''" (Lord Byron, " The Destruction ...

with an iambus for last foot. The topic is often romance.

and

Sauda Sauda ''()'' is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sauda, where most of the population lives. Other villages in the municipality include Saudasjøen and Amdal. Despite being ...

wrote some of this kind. The Religious Masnavi History of Islam (Tarikh-e-Islam Az Quran) written by Dr Syed Ali Imam Zaidi Gauher Lucknavi. * Na`at (نعت):

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

that specifically praises the Islamic prophet Muhammad. *

Nazm ''Nazm'' () is a major part of Urdu and Sindhi poetry that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose-style poems. is a significant genre of Urdu and Sindhi poetry; the other one is known as ghazal. is significantly written ...

(نظم): the basic type of Urdu poetry. It can be written on any topic, and so a wide host of Nazm exist. From Nazeer Akbarabadi, Iqbal, Josh, Firaq, Akhtarul Iman to down the line Noon Meem Rashid,

Faiz ''Faiz'' () is a male Arabic name meaning overflowing, plenty. People with the name * Faiz Mohammad Katib Hazara (1862/63–1929), a Hazara people, Hazara historian, writer and intellectual * Faiz El-Ghusein (1883–1968), an official of the Tur ...

Ali Sardar Jafri Ali Sardar Jafri (29 November 1913 – 1 August 2000) was an Indian writer of Urdu language. He was also a poet, critic and film lyricist. Biography Early life and education Ali Sardar Jafri was born in Balrampur (in present-day Uttar Prad ...

and

Kaifi Azmi Kaifi Azmi (born Athar Husain Rizvi; 14 January 1919 – 10 May 2002) was an Indian Urdu poet. He is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jaun Elia and others he participa ...

, Urdu poets have covered common life, philosophical thinking, national issues and the precarious predicament of an individual human being. As a distinct form of

many

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

poets influenced by English and other European poets took to writing sonnets in the Urdu language. Azmatullah Khan (1887–1923) is believed to have introduced this format to Urdu Literature. The other renowned Urdu poets who wrote sonnets were Akhtar Junagarhi, Akhtar Sheerani, Noon Meem Rashid, Zia Fatehabadi, Salaam Machhalishahari and Wazir Agha. *

Qasida The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; plural ''qaṣā’id'') is an ancient Arabic word and form of poetry, often translated as ode. The qasida originated in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry and passed into non-Arabic cultures after the Arab Mus ...

(قصیدہ): usually an

ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

to a benefactor, a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

, or an account of an event. It uses the same rhyme system as the ghazal, but is usually longer. *

Ruba'i A ''rubāʿī'' (, from Arabic ; plural: ) or ''chahārgāna(e)'' () is a poem or a verse of a poem in Persian poetry (or its derivative in English and other languages) in the form of a quatrain, consisting of four lines (four hemistichs). ...

(رُباعی): a poetry style, the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

term for "

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...

". The plural form of the word, ''rubāʿiyāt'', often anglicised ''rubaiyat'', is used to describe a collection of such quatrains. * Tazkira (تذکرہ): a

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

Collection forms

The principal collection forms of Urdu poetry are: * Diwan: a collection of ghazals. * Kulliyat: a complete collection of poems by one author.

Formation

Urdu poetry forms itself with following basic ingredients: * Bait (بیت) * Bait-ul-Ghazal (بیت الغزل) * Beher (بحر) * Diwan (دیوان) * Husn-E-Matla (حسنِ مطلع) *

Kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...

(کلام) * Kulyat (کلیات) *

Maqta In Persian, Turkic and Urdu poetry, the maqta (from Arabic ; ; ; ; ; ) is the final '' bayt'', or couplet, of a ''ghazal''. In this sense, it is the opposite of the '' matla. The poet's '' takhallus'', or pen name, is usually employed in the '' ...

(مقطع) * Matla (مطلع) * Mavra (ماوراء) *

Misra Misra or Mishra may refer to: * Motor Industry Software Reliability Association * MISRA C, a software development standard for the C programming language * Misra', half of a bayt in Arabic, Persian, Turkic and Urdu poetry * Mishra or Misra, an ...

(مصرع) * Mushaira (مشاعرہ) * Qaafiyaa (قافیہ) *

Radif In Persian poetry, Persian, Turkic, and Urdu poetry, Urdu ghazals, the ''radīf'' (from Arabic ; ; ; ; ; ) is the word which must end each line of the first couplet and the second line of all the following couplets. It is preceded by a ''qafiya'' ...

(ردیف) * Sher (شعر) * Shayar (شاعر) * Tah-Tul-Lafz (تحت اللفظ) *

Takhallus In Persian language, Persian, Turkic languages, Turkic, Hindustani language, Hindustani and Punjabi language, Punjabi, the word ''takhallus'' (from Arabic , ; ; ; ; , ) means a pen name. Pen names were widely adopted by Persian, Turkic, Urdu and Pu ...

(تخلص) * Tarannum (ترنم) * Triveni (تریوینی)

Genres

The major genres of poetry found in Urdu are: * ''

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

'' (دوہا) * ''

Fard ' () or ' () or fardh in Islam is a religious duty commanded by God in Islam, God. The word is also used in Turkish language, Turkish, Persian language, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali language, Bangla (''spelled farz or faraz''), and Mal ...

'' (فرد) * '' Geet'' (گیت) * ''

'' (غزل), as practiced by many poets in the Arab tradition.

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

Ghalib Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (27 December 179715 February 1869), commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet. Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, he also produced a significant body of work in Persian. Ghali ...

, Dagh are well-known composers of ''ghazal''. * ''

'' (حمد) * ''

Hazal Chazal or Ḥazal () are the Jewish sages of the Mishnaic and Talmudic eras, spanning from the final 300 years of the Second Temple period until the 7th century, or . Their authority was mostly in the field of ''Halakha'' (Jewish law) and less ...

'' (ہزل) * '' Hijv'' (ہجو) * '' Kafi'' (کافی) * '' Madah'' (مدح) * ''Manqabat '' (منقبت) * '' Marsia'' (مرثیہ) * ''

'' (مثنوی) * '' Munajat'' (مناجات) * '' Musaddas'' (مسدس) * '' Mukhammas'' (مخمس) * '' Na`at'' (نعت) * ''

'' (نظم) * ''

Noha A Nowheh, Nohay or Noha ( ''nowheh'', ; translit. ''nūḥa/nawḥa''; ), when interpreted in light of Shia views, is an elegy about the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali and his family and companions in the Battle of Karbala. Marsiya and Nowheh hav ...

'' (نوحہ) * ''

'' (قصیدہ) * '' Qat'ã'' (قطعہ) * ''

'' (قوالی) * '' Rubai'' (رباعی) (a.k.a. Rubayyat or Rubaiyat) (رباعیات) * '' Salam'' (سلام) * '' Sehra'' (سہرا) * '' Shehr a'ashob'' (شہر آشوب) * '' Soz'' (سوز) * '' Wasokht'' (وسوخت)

Pen names

In the Urdu poetic tradition, most poets use a

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

called the ''

'' (تخلص). This can be either a part of a poet's given name or something else adopted as an identity. The traditional convention in identifying Urdu poets is to mention the takhallus at the end of the name. The word ''takhallus''A Brief History of Persian Literature
by the Iran Chamber Society. is derived from Arabic, meaning "ending". This is because in the Ghazal form, the poet would usually incorporate his or her pen name into the final couplet () of each poem.

Scripts used in poetry

and Deccan region of

, Urdu poetry is written in the standard Nasta'liq calligraphy style of the

Perso-Arabic script The Persian alphabet (), also known as the Perso-Arabic script, is the right-to-left script, right-to-left alphabet used for the Persian language. It is a variation of the Arabic script with four additional letters: (the sounds 'g', 'zh', ' ...

. However, in north India, where Urdu poetry is very popular, the

Perso-Arabic The Persian alphabet (), also known as the Perso-Arabic script, is the right-to-left script, right-to-left alphabet used for the Persian language. It is a variation of the Arabic script with four additional letters: (the sounds 'g', 'zh', ' ...

is often found transliterated into the Devanāgarī script, as an aid for those Hindī-speakers, who can comprehend Urdu, but cannot read the

. With the dawn of the internet and globalization, this poetry is often found written in

Roman Urdu Roman Urdu is the name used for the Urdu language written with the Latin script, also known as Roman script. According to the Urdu scholar Habib R. Sulemani: "Roman Urdu is strongly opposed by the traditional Arabic alphabet, Arabic script lo ...

as well as in Hindi script.

Example of Urdu ghazal

The following is a verse from an Urdu

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

by Syed Khwaja Mir Dard:

: : :

: :''Dōstō, dēkhā tamāśhā yaāhan kā bas.'' :''Tum raho; ab hum tō apne ghar chalē'' English translation: :Friends, I've seen the spectacle of this place enough :You stay here; I'm heading home. Note Dard's use of the royal ''we'' in this couplet, a technique characteristic of formal Urdu poetry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urdu Poetry Pakistani literature Indian poetics Poetry by language Pakistani poetics Indian literature