*Genres of Poetry — Part 1*


*1) Ghazal*

Ghazal is the most popular genre of Urdu. It came into Urdu from Persian. Several Urdu poets experimented within the ghazal. Even those poets who strongly opposed the ghazal also composed poetry in the ghazal form — Hali, Josh, etc., who were against the ghazal, still created verses in the ghazal’s embrace.


The literal meaning of ghazal is to converse with women, or to talk about women, or to speak of love and romance with the beloved.


Structurally, in a ghazal both _misras_ of the first _sher_ are _ham-qafiya_, _ham-radif_, and _ham-wazan_.[with same refrain][in same meter] All subsequent couplets follow the _qafiya_, _radif_, and meter of the first _sher_.[rhyming]


In terms of meaning, every _sher_ of a ghazal is a complete unit and conveys a separate idea. If an entire ghazal is written on a single theme, it is called a _ghazal-e-musalsal_.


The first _sher_ of a ghazal is called the _matla_. If, after the _matla_, both _misras_ of the second _sher_ also rhyme and share the _radif_, it is called _husn-e-matla_. The last _sher_ of a ghazal is called the _maqta_, in which the poet usually uses a _takhallus_ [pen name]. Even if the poet does not use his _takhallus_ in the last _sher_, it is still called a _maqta_.


*2) Marsiya*

The word _marsiya_ is derived from _risa_, which means to weep or mourn. Originally, _marsiya_ referred to a poem in which the virtues of a deceased person are described and grief is expressed. But in Urdu, _marsiya_ has taken on a specific meaning — it is used only for a poem that mentions the martyrdom of Hazrat Husain and other martyrs of Karbala.


Poems written on the death of other people are called _shakhsi marsiya_ [personal elegy], e.g., Hali’s _Marsiya-e-Ghalib_, Daagh’s _marsiya_, etc.


*3) Qata*

Like a _rubai_, a _qata_ is also a poem of four _misras_. But there are two fundamental differences between a _rubai_ and a _qata_:


First, a _rubai_ must be in a specific meter, whereas a _qata_ can be composed in any _bahr_.

Second, in a _rubai_ the first, second, and fourth _misras_ must have the same _qafiya_, while in a _qata_ there is no such condition — usually the second and fourth _misras_ rhyme.


The reason is that _qata_ is classical poetry and is generally found within a ghazal itself.

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