Different forms of Urdu poetry

Urdu poetry follows a series of strict rules that give way to its unique poetic structure. These rules govern the set of change lines used in each Urdu poem and indicate their meter, rhythm, rhyming pattern, ending words, and the position of the poet's signature. Despite these strict rules, Urdu poetry has evolved into an incredibly colorful art with many forms of expression.

Each form of Urdu poetry has unique characteristics that distinguish them from other poems. Although we can't cover every form in this article, we'll look at some of the more popular forms:

Ghazal. from

  Ghazal is a collection of many couples [called "shers"], or lining verses that match the rules of Bahar, radeef, matla, maqta and qafiya. Each of Ghazal's coups should express a single idea, or focus on a topic to make it independent. Every coup of Ghazal must have the same instrument, bahar, the same rhyming pattern, qafiya, and must end with the same words, radeef. Each pair must also have an open pair called matla. Some of Ghazals in Urdu's poetry incorporated the poet's pen name into the last pair, later known as maqta.

Marsiya. from

  Marsiya is an elegant poem whose purpose is to express the sadness of the death of a great or loved one. From a historical point of view, the traditional Marsiya of Urdu poetry is to commemorate the self-sacrifice of Hazrat Imam Husain and his troops in the Battle of Karbala. This type of Marsiya describes how Hazrat Imam Husain and his comrades fought against Yazid's army on the Karbala Plain.

Masnawi. from

  Masnawi is an episode of a long narrative depicting the stories of the great battles that have been cooked in the past. They usually include philosophical or ethical ideas. Masnawi is much longer than Ghazal and it contains rhyming couplets. However, each couplet has a different rhyme pattern and ends with a different word.

Qasida. from

  Qasida is a long folk song used to praise the American king or nobleman. It also sometimes describes great battles. It is not uncommon to find Qasida with a length of more than 100 pairs. Like Ghazal, Qasida begins with a rhyming coup and uses the same qafiya or rhyme pattern through this poem. Ghazal, which we know today, originally came from Qasida.

Nazm. from

  In Urdu poetry, the term "Nazm" is used to describe a poem that cannot be classified in any particular form. From a literary point of view, each verse of the Nazis is based on a central theme rather than the subjective variation of the couplets in Ghazal. Another way the traditional Nazis adhered to the same rhyming model, but more modern Nazis may have been written in free poetry.

As you can see from a short description of some of the different forms of Urdu poetry, this theme is a very complex and extensive theme. It usually takes a dedicated student to master the art of Urdu poetry for many years and years. However, this knowledge should not prevent you from reading and admiring this very special art form of fantasy poetry.

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