Ghazal....Love frozen in a tear

A ghazal is a mystical blend of ‘shers’ or couplets and melody. It is usually a combination of about five to twelve shers, put together, with the main theme usually explained in the first sher itself. Ghazal is characterized by a repetition of a rhyme and a refrain, with the rhyme, immediately presenting itself in front of the refrain .It is essential that all the lines in a ghazal follow the same meter. The Ghazal in essence, is regarded as poetry, though; with time it has achieved prominence as a genre of music.

 It is important to note that, each couplet or sher is a complete piece of poetry in itself, and that traditionally, the shair or the poet tries to introduce his name in the final sher or couplet of the ghazal, either in the first, second or the third person. The themes of ghazal usually center around love and longing, sorrow for ones beloved, which usually culminates with heartbreak.

It is commonly believed that the most ancient form of Ghazal can be traced back, In Arabia in the 8^th century. The fore bearer of modern-day Ghazal can be found in Persia or Iran and was known as the Qasida. A traditional Ghazal adheres to a number of rules of Matla, Maqta, Beher, Qafiya, Radif, Khayal, and Wazan.

A Ghazal, in short, is a collection of couplets (called sher) which follow the rules of Matla, Maqta, Beher, Qafiya, Radif, Khayaal and Wazan. The traditional complete ghazal has a matla, a maqta, and three other shers in between. The first two shers of a ghazal have the form of a qatha (a specific variation of which is a ruba'ee; most familiar to modern readers from Khayyám'sRubayyat).

 Ghazal became famous in India during the Mughal era around the 12^th century. Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869), Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) Altaf Hussein Haali (1837-1914) were names to reckoned with in the Indian Ghazal scenario.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) was instrumental in taking the ghazal outside the perimeters of India. He was primarily instrumental in popularizing ghazal to Europe and during his time in the 19^thcentury, ghazal became quite popular in Germany. Friedrich Ruckert (1788-1866) and August Von Platen (1796-1835) were other Europeans who highlighted the beauty of Ghazal to Europe. Agha Shahid Ali, the Kashmiri-American poet was instrumental in making the Ghazal popular in America.


Author: Jayeeta Sinha Roy