Different Forms of Urdu Poetry

The following forms of Urdu poetry are known, some more popular than others:fard
Gazal
hamd
hazal
hijv
madah
manqabat
marsiiya
masnavii
munaajaat
musaddas
naat
nazm
qasiidaa
qataa
qavaallii
rubaayii
salaam
sehraa
vaasoKht
fard
A composition consisting of only one sher.
Gazal (pronounced “guzzle”)
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.
hamd
Poem written in praise of God.
hazal
Humourous poetry, also known as ‘mazaahiyaa’ or ‘mazaakiyaa’ shaayari. Some examples of humourous Urdu poetry can be viewed here.
hijv
A satirical poem written to condemn or abuse a person. This type of poetry is considered inferior and generally avoided by reputed poets. The opposite of a hijv is a madah which is written in praise of patrons.
madah
Poem written in praise of royalty, patrons, etc.
manqabat
A poem written in praise of members of the family of the holy Prophet.
marsiiyaa (muhr-see-yaa)
An elegy written to mourn the death of a great man or a dearly loved person. In its stricter sense, traditionally accepted in Urdu, a marsiya is an elegy written specifically in honour of the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Husain and his comrades at Karbala. It describes the battle fought on the plains of Karbala by Hazrat Imam Husain against the army of Yazid. The most well known writers of Marsiya in Urdu are Mir baber Ali Anees and Salamat Ali Dabir. Sub-parts of the marsiya are called Nauha and Soz.
masnavii(pronounced “mus-na-vee”)
A long narrative poem - much longer than the ghazal - embodying religious, romantic or didatic stories. It is written in rhyming couplets, with each couplet having a different rhyme and radeef. The most famous masnavis are Masnavi-e-Rumi in Persian, Shah Namah of Firdausi, and Zehar-e-Ishq in Urdu.
munaajaat
A lyrical poem written as a prayer to God.
musaddas
A poem in which each unit consists of 6 lines. The most well known poet of this style of writing was Maulana Altaf Husain Hali.
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.
qasiidaa (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.
qataa
A poem consisting of four lines, in the form of two shers. However, unlike shers in a ghazal, the subject of the two shers is the same. It is believed that the qataa was invented for occasions when poets felt that they were unable to express their thoughts completely and satisfactorily in a single sher.
qavaalii
Traditionally a devotional song expressing love and oneness with God sung by a group of people to the accompaniment of musical instruments. Nowadays, qawaallis cover popular topics like love and wine.
rubaayii(pronounced “ru-baa-ee”)
A self-sufficient quartrain, rhyming (a, a, b, a) and dealing generally with a single idea, which is customarily introduced and developed with the aid of similes in the first three lines, and concluded, with concentrated effort and impact, in the fourth line.The most well known rubaayis in Persian were written by Omar Khayyam. In Urdu, some of the most well known practitioners of this form were Firaq, Josh and Yagna Yaas Changezi.
salaam
A salutory poem written in praise of the holy Prophet. It can also be a poem describing the incidents of Karbala. It is recited standing up.
sehraa
A song sung at the time of tying the seharaa during the wedding ceremony. It is usually in praise of the bride/groom and their relatives.
vaasoKht
A poem describing the displeasure and carelessness of a lover

Related Information of Interest:

Poetic Love versus Commercial Love
Am I the last romantic? This is a very tough question for me! I remember the times when love seemed more pure and diaphanous. A boy saw a girl, he liked her, she smiled shamefaced at him, giving him hope. Desire was fed by hope, and time was the perfect cook for a romantic love recipe. It all continued with peaceful thoughts at night, while looking at the stars and making wishes, sweet love wishes! Days were passing, the boy can’t get his thoughts back on the track, charmed by his beautiful princess. Another glimpse, a few days after, would keep the fire burning, until the boy can’t take it anymore, and moves to the next step:a romantic poem and roses, maybe even chocolate candy. Beautiful! I’m not going to exaggerate this, by inserting a balcony in this act.. But let’s admit it, those were the good old days of love and poetry.

Today, everything seems so empty and meaningless. The media is always showing us more and more violence and sex, pushing love away from our lives, replacing it only with desire. Now women are more and more interested of the bank account and limousine the boy drives, and probably would take poetry and candy as an offence or as unimportant; they would very much rather an expensive perfume or necklace. The boy, on the other hand, doesn’t have that shiver anymore in his voice, he’s a stable person that shouldn’t let loose his lack of confidence. He’s driving his luxury car, dressed up after the latest fashions, perfumed and everything, with sunglasses to give himself a superior attitude. He goes to her home, gives a horn and then takes his partner to the most expensive places to impress her. And he probably succeeds in most of the times. Very beautiful, some may say.

Well, I am very sorry, but I am one of the fellows who won’t give into this „new era love”. I stick with the poetic love that used to be once upon a time, the incurable romantic. You may contradict me if you wish, everybody’s free to have an opinion, but I remain the last mohican stuck to the idea that love and poetry come together as a blessing, and shouldn’t be torn apart.

By Alexandru Ionescu - If you feel that you have something to say in poetry, just join this love poem contest - If you join this poetry contest, you could get your poem published!

Who Wrote The Most Famous Love Poem
The Most Famous Love Poem

Love poems have been written for centuries to inspire lovers and create romance. When you give your special someone a love poem, you can express your feelings through eloquent words in a memorable way. Many famous love poems are written by classical poets, such as Lord Byron, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Shakespeare. But a famous love poem by a modern poet may appeal to a younger person who likes a less formal tone.

The poet e.e. cummings wrote what is probably the most famous love poem currently. It has been featured in other books and movies, used as inspiration for other writers.

i carry your heart with me
by e. e. cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

The poet e.e. cummings is quite a unique writer in that he used new methods of creating mood and setting the words to paper. He explored the use of white space on the page and made the words’ appearance just as important as their sound when the poem was read aloud.

This poem is a perfect example of his use of parentheses and unusual stanza variation. He found a wonderful way of expressing very abstract ideas with some concrete grammatical forms. Use this poem to express to your loved one just how much they mean to you.

Visit to find out more about famous love poems.

Art Hill is an internet poet who operates an independant poetry publishing company.

The Easy Way to Define Poetry...
Poetry is a form of expression. Whether it is spoken or written, it is the manifestation of thoughts, feelings, and intellect. It is a way of communicating. With poetry one can effectively communicate opinion, desire, ideas, cleverness, and most of all state of mind. Although poetry is a supreme form of expression, it is not the most efficient form of expression. It is subject to the reader's or listener's interpretation. A poet may want to express certain notions but the interpretive elements of poetry can sometimes keep the meaning of a poem from being clearly articulated. We all see and feel things differently.

Most poets want to evoke emotion in the reader or listener. They'll often use rhythm and rhyme with a swarm of other literary devices to create such an effect. Poetry is like music! Actually, one could reason that poetry is music. It is the art of arranging sound to create a thought-provoking effect.

Therefore, poetry is also defined as literature that focuses on the aesthetic beauty of words and sound. It is artistic writing in metrical form. It takes skill and technique to produce this art-an art that seems to define itself as its definitions come across as being somewhat poetic.

Poetry is the science of versification. It is creative expression at its finest, which is why sharing, writing, or reciting poetry can be a deeply personal experience. It is truly an art form.

BlackIsrael The Poet BlackIsrael