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Explore the Craft of Writing Arabic Verse Qasida, (purpose poem) sometimes spelled kasida, is an ode that dates back to pre-Islamic Arabia and the Bedouins of the desert. It was originally sung in praise of a tribe or to denigrate an enemy. The poem is made up of a long string of complete couplets called shers and can be as long as 100 couplets. It is a multi-sectional, poly-thematic poem. Over centuries it developed into a courtly poem of praise of a patron and expanded into elegies, satire and more philosophical subjects. The form has endured to the present, although it has taken a back seat to its descendant the shorter, ghazal. It was brought to English literature by Lord Tennyson in Locksley Hall. The elements of the Qasida are: narrative poetry. It tells a story. stanzaic, written in a string of shers (complete couplets), the poem is usually long and may be as long as 100 shers, length is optional. metered optional, the lines should be equal length. rhymed. There are various opinions on rhyme scheme. Some sources say it should be mono-rhymed, all couplets carrying the same rhyme aa aa aa. . . another source shows rhyme scheme aa bb cc dd. . . , it carries a "running incremental refrain" reappearing in each even line, but the most common suggestion is that, the couplets have a running rhyme aa xa xa xa xa xa. . . originally written as a desert poem in 4 units each can be one or several couplets long. opening setting describes or recalls ancient times. tale of lost love or things left behind. the struggles of the journey and its endurance. plea for honor or praise. Inspired by the desert origins of the qasida I wrote a short adaptation: Grit Between My Toes by Judi Van Gorder The gritty grains of sand that seep through cracks of time fall deep. I'm forever severed from the rock of certainty where I've gone to weep. I recall running barefoot on the dunes in days gone, now I can barely creep. Sand shifts beneath my sandaled feet the ascent is weighted, hot and steep. Each ridge conquered leads to descent and another hill, more sand piled in a heap. How many have I climbed this life and how many more are mine to reap? Middle Eastern Poetic Genres and Forms Ghazal Marisya Mukhammas Mussades Muwashsha Nazm Qasida Rubai Shair Sher & its Meters Soaz Urjuza Zajal

Explore the Craft of Writing Arabic Verse The Ghazal, (sounds like guzzle or in the English world pronounced gu ZAHL) Arabic - "talking to women", another translation is "talk of boys and girls" The Ghazal is popular pre-Islamic Persian poetry whose roots could stretch back to the 7th century but was certainly recognized since the 10th century and has easily crossed over into today's Western literary world. The form is thought to have developed from Persian street challenges and is a shorter, single themed descendant of the Qasida. The predominant theme is love both earthly and spiritual which the ghazal explores with imagination and fantasy. The poetry is often defined by the theme of constant longing. It is a stanzaic form written in couplets or shers, each couplet is an independent poem linked to the adjacent couplets by meter, rhyme and refrain. The poem as a whole is a collection of thoughts or images and does not tell a story therefore it should not follow a natural progression.. It is more like a patchwork quilt, each patch is related to the other patches but not in any particular or logical sequence. There appears to be a loosening of the traditional format in the transition from the Urdu or Hindi to English. The traditional ghazal has an intricate rhyme and refrain pattern which has been dumbed down a bit in some more modern English ghazals. The looser version uses a simple rhyme scheme aa xa xa without reference to refrain and some are without rhyme or refrain altogether. It is certainly up to the poet how intricate or simple they care to make it. As with all form, the poem comes first, then the structure. But to be fair to the classical traditions of the form, I believe some structural link must be evident between shers. The elements of the Ghazal are metric at the discretion of the poet. All lines should be of equal length and meter. made up of 5 to 15 shers. The sher is the couplet of the traditional ghazal when it includes a "main rhyme" (qaafiyaa) established somewhere in the 2nd half of L1 of the opening sher (matla), and is repeated in L2 immediately before the refrain (radif), which is the last word or phrase of L2. This main rhyme and refrain is repeated in L2 of ALL subsequent shers in the ghazal. written with the opening sher (matla) establishing the tone, main rhyme (qaafiyaa) and refrain (radif). a = main rhyme; R = refrain xxxxxx a xx R xxxxxx a xx R Subsequent shers (maqta) carry the main rhyme and refrain in the 2nd line. L1 of all subsequent shers has no restrictions other than to be the same length or meter as L2. xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxa xx R xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxaxx R The last sher (maqta) often includes the (takhallis) name or pen name of the poet. Even the Rain by Ahga Shahid Ali Ghazal by John Hollander from his book Rhyme's Reason (One of my favorite books on form in which Hollander describes the form in the example poem itself.) For couplets, the ghazal is prime; at the end Of each one’s a refrain like a chime: “at the end.” But in subsequent couplets throughout the whole poem, It’s this second line only will rhyme at the end. On a string of such strange, unpronounceable fruits, How fine the familiar old lime at the end! All our writing is silent, the dance of the hand, So that what it comes down to’s all mime, at the end. Dust and ashes? How dainty and dry! we decay To our messy primordial slime at the end. Two frail arms of your delicate form I pursue, Inaccessible, vibrant, sublime at the end. You gathered all manner of flowers all day, But your hands were most fragrant of thyme, at the end. There are so many sounds! A poem having one rhyme? - A good life with a sad, minor crime at the end. Each new couplet’s a different ascent: no great peak, But a low hill quite easy to climb at the end. Two-armed bandits: start out with a great wad of green Thoughts, but you’re left with a dime at the end. Each assertion’s a knot which must shorten, alas, This long-worded rope of which I’m at the end. Now Qafia Radif has grown weary, like life, At the game he’s been wasting his time at. THE END. Arabic Poetic Genres and Forms Ghazal Marisya Mukhammas Mussades Muwashsha Nazm Qasida Rubai Shair Sher & its Meters Soaz Urjuza Zajal

Life is nothing but a suspended state ; We all are suspended by strings of fate. Someone else will take away your reaping ; Your eyes will dry ; waiting for rebate. What's now- won't be then ; what was-won't be now ; Life's uncertainty - we cannot negate. Life is nothing but a suspended state..... Ephemeral - vulnerable we all are ; Is intelligent design worth a debate. He left us in hunger - on creation ; How can our creator be called so great. Someone likes my wealth; my possessions ; When all is gone - with whom should i relate. Life is nothing but a suspended state..... Stop repenting ! O besotted lover ; That girl ain't a claim that you can probate. '' Rohit '' sees life's truth in those porous eyes ; Whose state - life did not reciprocate ... Life is nothing but a suspended state ; We all are suspended by strings of fate.....

So soon it had started ; So soon it has ended Thanks heavens ! life's perilous deceit has ended . Man peeps back in his past ! frowns on his foot prints ; Why repent now ?? life's long lonely street has ended . Life is a possession granted by god ; We surrender our rights , when permit has ended. Vulgar and obscene the lyrics have become ; The era of morals and merit has ended. Shrewd banker is plotting new ways of fraud ; Since the era of cheaper credit has ended. Knowledge will remain clumped behind firewalls ; For us the founder of Reddit has ended. Vietnam - afghan - is Teheran the next ?? its long since the war in Tikrit has ended . As life ! You too betrayed me ! My dear ghazal ; Fulfilling your demands , your ''Rohit'' has ended

background saki is a persian word for a girl / boy who serves wine , but in ghazal terminology , its the epitome of beauty , intoxication , zeal and pursuit of love , loneliness and everything else . many wonderful and immortal ghazals have been woven around the theme of saki . the ideal place for a (lesser mystic ) ghazal poet is the tavern , where his companion is loneliness , glass of wine and saki .... perhaps , the greatest definition of saki is described in a famous song of hindi banaaya hé mainé tujhé apna saaki rahé kis tarah phir mere hosh baaki (having made you my saaki , how can my worldly consciousness be left ??) Like a homeless Bird searching for a tree , saki To quench my sorrows i have come to thee , saki Which one is more scarlet ? Your lips or this red wine dark past ! red has been color of my glee , saki Adrift i was , extended pause , mundane was life Now embrace me like wind does to the sea , saki Your glances make my heart dance till it gets tired Pardon my tender heart , accept its plea , saki Fortune never favored me , i have been tormented my hopes are on you , please no treachery , saki Let your golden locks dangle on your full moon face let them dance , with your fragrance , set them free , saki "rohit " is mad , he wanted to write something else ; Your beauty makes many ghalibs awry , saki .....