Ghazal

Ghazal is a form of poetry which originated in Persian. This form of poetry has rhyming words and paragraphs. It later became widely written in Urdu. Ghazal is usually a form of poetry which expresses love, beauty, grief of love and sensuality. Ghazal came into existence somewhere in the 12th century. However, there is very little historic evidence backing the claim. Ghazal was and is usually written and composed into a music form to present it. Ghazal was brought to South East Asia and in countries like India and Pakistan during the reign of the Mughal Emperors in the Medieval Era. This form of poetry gained a lot of popularity thereafter.
Ghazal is a series of couplets or “Sher” which end with rhyming words of the previous or the following couplet. A Ghazal is a set of three or four couplets usually.

Ghazal became popular with poets like Mirza Ghalib who is considered to be one of the greatest Shayars (Ghazal poet) of all time. Ghazal was one of the leading forms of music entertainment in the courts of the Sultans in the Indian subcontinent. The style of Ghazal singing or Ghazal Gayaki is also unique. It was initially sung in the classical manner. Ragas were the basis of Ghazal Gayaki or presentation of Ghazals. However, the classical style of Ghazal singing was and is very difficult. Hence there are very few known artists who could compose such difficult music for the rendition of Ghazals. Begum Akhtar, Ghulam Ali, Mehdi Hassan are some of the popular classical Ghazal singers.

Ghazal is considered to be the music or poetry of the intellectuals because of its rich writing and rendition. However, this art of Ghazal singing is popular among most Urdu and Hindi speaking regions of the world. This form of poetry consists of soft and rich words without the use of any harsh or poor language.

Linus Orakles
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