Urdu poetry

It is fundamentally performative poetry, and its recital, sometimes impromptu, is held in Mushairas (poetic expositions). Although its tarannum saaz (singing aspect) has undergone major changes in recent decades, its popularity among the masses remains unaltered. Mushairas are today held in metropolitan areas worldwide because of the cultural influence of the South Asian diaspora. Ghazal singing and Qawwali are also important expository forms of Urdu poetry.

Forms

The principal forms of Urdu poetry are:

• Ghazal (غزل): a set of two-liner couplets, which strictly should end with the same rhyme and should be within one of the predefined meters of ghazals. There has to be a minimum of five couplets to form a ghazal. Couplets may or may not have the same thought. It is one of the most difficult forms of poetry as there are many strict parameters that one needs to abide by while writing a ghazal. It is important to think about the topic as well as the theme of a ghazal before starting to write it. The first line of a ghazal must include a refrain, which is a word or a phrase that can be easily fitted into the other couplets. Each couplet of a ghazal is known as Sher (شعر). The first Sher is called Matla' (مطلع). The last Sher is called Maqta' (مقطع ), but only if the poet uses his "Takhallus (تخلص)".
• Hamd (حمّد): a poem in praise of God. The word "hamd" is derived from the Qur'an; its English translation is "Praise".
• Manqabat (منقبت): a Sufi devotional poem, in praise of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law of Muhammad, or of any Sufi saint.
• Marsiya (مرثیہ): an elegy typically composed about the death of Hasan, Husayn, their relatives, and their companions. Each stanza has six lines, with the rhyme scheme AAAABB. The famous marsiya writers who inherited the tradition of Mir Anees among his successive generations are Mir Nawab Ali 'Munis', Dulaha Sahab 'Uruj', Syed Mohammed Mohsin (Jaunpuri), Mustafa Meerza urf Piyare Sahab 'Rasheed', Syed Muhammad Mirza Uns, Ali Nawab 'Qadeem', Syed Sajjad Hussain "Shadeed" Lucknavi, Allama, Dr. Syed Ali Imam Zaidi, "Gauher" Luckhnavi, the great-grandson of Mir Babber Ali Anees, Syed Karrar Hyder (Jaunpuri) and his son Syed Yadullah Haider.
• Masnavi (مثنوی): a poem written in couplets in bacchic tetrameter with an iambus for last foot. The topic is often romance. Mir Taqi Mir and Sauda wrote some of this kind. The Religious Masnavi History of Islam (Tarikh-e-Islam Az Quran) was written by Dr Syed Ali Imam Zaidi Gauher Lucknavi.
• Na`at (نعت): poetry that specifically praises the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
• Nazm (نظم): the basic type of Urdu poetry. It can be written on any topic, and so a wide host of Nazm exists. From Nazeer Akbarabadi, Iqbal, Josh, Firaq, Akhtarul Iman to down the line Noon Meem Rashid, Faiz, Ali Sardar Jafri and Kaifi Azmi, Urdu poets have covered common life, philosophical thinking, national issues and the precarious predicament of an individual human being. As a distinct form of Nazm, many Urdu poets influenced by English and other European poets took to writing sonnets in the Urdu language. Azmatullah Khan (1887–1923) is believed to have introduced this format to Urdu Literature. The other renowned Urdu poets who wrote sonnets were Akhtar Junagarhi, Akhtar Sheerani, Noon Meem Rashid, Zia Fatehabadi, Salaam Machhalishahari and Wazir Agha.
• Qasida (قصیدہ): usually an ode to a benefactor, a satire, or an account of an event. It uses the same rhyme system as the ghazal, but is usually longer.
• Ruba'i (رُباعی): a poetry style, the Arabic term for "quatrain". The plural form of the word, rubāʿiyāt, often anglicised rubaiyat, is used to describe a collection of such quatrains.
• Tazkira (تذکرہ): a biographical anthology of poetry.

Collection forms

The principal collection forms of Urdu poetry are:

• Diwan: a collection of ghazals.
• Kulliyat: a complete collection of poems by one author.