Definition: Ghazal, Nazm

Definitions of "ghazal" and "nazm" as I read them on some website years ago.

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GHAZAL
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A poem of five to fifteen couplets, a Ghazal is a collection of 'sher' which follow the rules of 'matla', 'maqta', 'behar', 'qafiya' and 'radeef'. So to know what a Ghazal is, it's necessary to know what these terms mean.

Sher (shey-r) - a two line poem. This is a deceptive definition as it does not convey the complexity of thought that can be conveyed in two lines. Each is a "complete" poem in itself. It stands by itself and can be quoted as such, and often is.

Thus, a Ghazal is a collection of 'ashaar' (plural of sher) which are complete in themselves and each may deal with topics/ subjects completely unrelated to each other.

Behar (be-huhr) - behar is the metre of the poem. This can loosely thought of as the length of the sher. Both the lines of a sher MUST be of the same 'behar' or 'metre'. Also, all the ashaar of a Ghazal MUST be the same behar.

There are 19 different metres that are used. In simple terms, they are divided into three categories - short, medium and long.

Radeef (ra-dee-f) - word or phrase that is repeated at the end of the second line in EVERY sher. The SAME word(s) are repeated.

Qafiya (qaa-fee-yaa) - the rhyming pattern of the word(s) just before the radeef in the second line of a sher. This is a necessary requirment, followed even in the absence of other rules.

Thus, a Ghazal is a collection of two-lined poem called sher, having the same behar, ending with the same radeef and having the same qafiya.

Matla (muh-ta-laa) - This is the first sher of a Ghazal, and both lines of the sher must end in the radeef. Usually a Ghazal has only one matla. If a Ghazal has more than one matla, then the second matla is called 'matla-e-saani'.

Maqta (mak-taa) - A shaayar (poet) usually had a pen-name under which he wrote. The pen-name is called 'taKhallus' (takh-ul-lus). The sher in which the taKhallus is included is called the maqta. It is the last sher of the Ghazal.

This is what a ghazal looks like:

Couplet one:
---------------------------------------------rhyme A + refrain
---------------------------------------------rhyme A + refrain
Couplet Two, Three, & so on:
---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------rhyme A + refrain

Example A:
I say That, after all, is the trick of it all
When suddenly you say "Arabic of it all."
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For Shahid too the night went quickly as it came.
After that, O Friend, came the music of it all.

Example B:
What will suffice for a true love knot? Even the rain?
But he has bought grief's lottery, bought even the rain.
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They've found the knife that killed you, but whose prints are these?
No one has such small hands, Shahid, not even the rain.

Example C:
Suspended in the garden, Time, bit by bit, shines-
As you lean over this page, late and alone, it shines.
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Mark how Shahid returns your very words to you.
It's when the heart, still unbriefed, but briefly literature, shines.

Example D:
Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonight
Before you agonize him in farewell tonight?
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And I, Shahid, only am escaped to tell thee-
God sobs in my arms. Call me Ishmael tonight.

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NAZM
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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.