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Want to try your hand at writing a ghazal? Pronounced roughly like English guzzle
, this centuries-old form of poetry and song hails from Persia (Iran), Pakistan, and India. [1]
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This fun and interesting poem is easy to write once you've nailed down the different rules and parts—and we're here to help you do just that! Read on for an in-depth look at how to draft your very own ghazal.
Would you like to learn to write a ghazal? We will teach you!
Though at first the rules may seem a puzzle, we will teach you!
Glossary
(These terms are from Arabic unless otherwise noted.)
- Bahr (بحر "sea") — Refers to the meter of the poem. In Arabic, the meter is often quite strict. In English, for our purposes, it refers to the number of syllables in a line.
- Ghazal (غَزَل) — An ancient form of Arabic poetry, now diffused to many languages and cultures, and still actively written in our time. Read on to find out how to do this!
- Maqta (مقطع "division, part, section") — The last sher (couplet) of a ghazal. Typically it includes the poet's takhallus (pen name).
- Matla (مطلع "beginning") — The first sher (couplet) of a ghazal. It tells the reader the radif (refrain) and qaafiya (rhyme).
- Qaafiya (قافیہ "rhyme") — The rhyme, discussed in Step 2.
- Radif (ردیف "row, order") — The refrain, discussed in Step 1.
- Sher (شعر "poem") — Any couplet of a ghazal. (As noted below, each couplet constitutes a mini-poem.) This is the Persian term, and the one used in this article. The Arabic term is bayt (بیت "house").
- Takhallus (تخلص "liberated", hence "ending") — The poet's pen name or nom de plume , typically included in the maqta as a sort of sign-off.
Steps
Expert Q&A
Video
Tips
- If you write a ghazal you're proud of, why not send it to one of the Internet's many poetry sites for possible publication and peer review? The Ghazal Page is now defunct (as of 29 October 2019) but there are still many sites (not specialising in any one form) that just might take your poem.Thanks
Example Ghazal
In this example, the radif is "I do not know", while the qaafiya (the rhyme preceding it) is -ate, as in slate, fate, depreciate , etc. In the example, each line contains 14 syllables, but any length is fine - it's up to you.
Stranger at the Gate
Who cares about the stranger at the gate? I do not knowThe poor orphan, abandoned to his fate? I do not know
Where once I had the answers, now my mind is full of doubtHow do these certainties depreciate? I do not know
From noon till night our ardent looks would scandalize the townWhy is it that your eyes are filled with hate? I do not know
It used to be that man respected man for what he didThese days are we just numbers on the slate? I do not know
The wisdom of the years is something valued now by noneThe butt of standing jokes, this balding pate? I do not know
The saqi 1
turns his back; how many skins will be required,
oh my love, this unholy thirst to sate? I do not know
Once upon a time Amir was counted a believerTo every question now I simply state, I do not know
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Saqi: a wine-server in a medieval Persian tavern
Released to Creative Commons by the author
