Compositions - Ghazals
Ghazals are not musical compositions - they are
basically rhyming couplets following a particular meter. They have
neither a raaga nor a taala associated with them.
Ghazal is an Arabic word which literally means talking
to women. Ghazal originated in Iran in the 10th century A.D. It grew
from the Persian qasida, which verse form had come to Iran from Arabia.
The qasida was a panegyric written in praise of the emperor or his
noblemen. The part of the qasida called tashbib got detached and
developed in due course of time into the ghazal. Whereas the qasida
sometimes ran into as many as 100 couplets or more in mono rhyme, the
ghazal seldom exceeded twelve, and settled down to an average of seven.
Because of its comparative brevity and concentration, its thematic
variety and rich suggestiveness, the ghazal soon eclipsed the qasida
and became the most popular form of poetry in Iran.
The ghazal is a poetic form comprising a collection of
shers, independent two-lined poems. Thus each couplet, or sher, is a
virtually autonomous expression of ideas. However a collection of sher
does not necessarily constitute a ghazal. The couplets have to be in
the same meter and the lines have to be rhyming.
A ghazal is always introduced with a matla, a
mono-rhyming couplet (sher) whose pattern is repeated in the closing
line of each successive couplet. This couplet was considered in Persian
as a single line interrupted by a long pause. Thus a portion of the
first line -- comprising not more than two or three words --
immediately preceding the rhyme-word at the end, should rhyme with its
counterpart in the second line of the opening couplet, and afterwards
alternately throughout the poem.
Consider the following ghazal by Wali Mohammad, the
father of urdu ghazals. The first line of matla ends with "hai kaam
tujh lab kaa" and the second line with a rhyming "hai naam tujh lab
kaa". The second lines of all the following couplets not only end with
"tujh lab kaa" but have a rhyming word before that - naam, jaam,
kalaam, payaam, davaam and shaam.
ruuh baKhshii hai kaam tujh lab kaa
dam-e-isaa hai naam tujh lab kaa
husn ke khizr ne kiyaa labarez
aab-e-haivaa.N so.n jaam tujh lab kaa
ma.ntaq-o-hikmat-o-maanii par
mushtamil hai kalaam tujh lab kaa
rag-e-yaquut ke qalam so.n likhe.n
Khat parastaaN payaam tujh lab kaa
sabzaa-o-barg-o-laalaa rakhate hai.n
shauq dil me.n davaam tujh lab kaa
Gurq-e-shukar hue hai.n kaam-o-zabaa.N
jab liyaa huu.N mai.n naam tujh lab kaa
hai "Wali" kii zabaa.N ko.n lazzat baKhsh
zikr har sub_h-o-shaam tujh lab kaa
The opening couplet of the ghazal is always a
representative couplet: it sets the mood and tone of the poem and
prepares us for its proper appreciation. The last couplet of the ghazal
called makta often includes the pen-name of the poet (like wali in the
above ghazal), and is more personal than general in its tone and
intent. Here the poet may express his own state of mind, or describe
his religious faith, or pray for his beloved, or indulge in poetic
self-praise. The different couplets of the ghazal are not bound by the
unity and consistency of thought. Each couplet is a self-sufficient
unit, detachable and quotable, generally containing the complete
expression of an idea.
Some poets including Hasrat, Iqbal and Josh have
written ghazals in the style of a nazm, based on a single theme,
properly developed and concluded. But such ghazals are an exception
rather than a rule, and the traditional ghazal still holds sway.
However, we do come across, off and on, even in the works of classical
poets, ghazals exhibiting continuity of theme or, more often, a set of
verses connected in theme and thought. Such a thematic group is called
a qita, and is presumably resorted to when a poet is confronted with an
elaborate thought difficult to be condensed in a single verse. Although
the ghazal deals with the whole spectrum of human experience, its
central concern is love.
Compositions Pg 1
Carnatic Compositions
Compositions
