Urdu poetry

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Urdu poetry (Urdu: اردو شاعری, Urdu Shayari) is one of the most dominant and prominent poetries of times and has many different colours & types. It has generated its root from Arabic and mainly from Persian and is an important part of Indian culture. Urdu Poetry has two main types i.e. Ghazal (Urdu: غزل) and Nazm (Urdu: نظم).

Like other languages, the history of Urdu Poetry does not have a firm starting point and shares origins and influences with other linguistic traditions within the Urdu-Hindi-Hindustani mix. Literary figures as far back as Kabir (1440 - 1518) and even Amir Khusro (1253-1325 AD) deserve mention as influences later Urdu poets draw on for inspiration as well as intellectual and linguistic sources. Meer, Dard, Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz Ahmed Faiz are among the greatest poets of Urdu. The tradition is centered in the Indian subcontinent. Following the Partition of India in 1947, it found major poets and scholars residing primarily in modern Pakistan and India. Mushairas (or poetic expositions) are today held in almost every major metropolitan area in the world. Over this period, Urdu poets have produced a large number of primarily poetic works.

Contents

[edit] Genres

The major genres of poetry found in Urdu are:

[edit] Pen names (Takhallus)

In the Urdu poetic tradition, most poets use a pen name called the takhallus. This can be either a part of a poet's given name or something else adopted as an identity. The traditional convention in identifying Urdu poets is to mention the takhallus at the end of the name. Thus, Ghalib, whose given name was Mirza Asadullah Beg (the prefix Mirza and suffix Beg identifying him as a Chughtai) and official name and title was Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan is referred to formally as Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, or, in common parlance, as just Mirza Ghalib. An interesting sidebar to this is that some poets end up having a part of their name repeated; thus, Faiz Ahmad Faiz.

The word takhallus is derived from Arabic, meaning "ending". This is because in the ghazal form, the poet would usually incorporate his or her pen name into the final couplet (maqta) of each poem as a type of 'signature'.

[edit] Poets

The most acclaimed pre-partition Urdu poets include Mir,Ghalib, Dard, Daagh Daag, Momin, Wali, Jigar Moradabadi and Iqbal. Post-partition poets include Josh, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Sardar Jafri, Makhdoom, Akhtar ul Iman, Kaifi Azmi, Faiz, Sahir, Tabish Dehlvi, Safi Lakhnavi, Jon Elia, Parveen Shakir,Ghulam Muhammad Qasir, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Munir Niazi, Ahmed Faraz, Murtaza Birlas, Majeed Amjad and Mustafa Zaidi.


A verse by Sardar Jafri

Usne kaha dil mai hai kya
Maine kaha hasrat Teri
Usne kaha takta hai kya
Maine kaha soorat Teri
Usne kaha chahta hai kya
Maine kaha khidmat Teri
Usne kaha pachtaega
Maine kaha kismat Meri

See List of Urdu poets for a more comprehensive list.

[edit] Scripts used in Poetry

In both India and Pakistan, Urdu poetry is written in the beautiful Nasta'liq calligraphy style of the Perso-Arabic script. However, in India, where Urdu poetry is very popular, the Perso-Arabic is often found transliterated into the Devanāgarī script, as an aid for those Hindī-speakers, who can comprehend Urdu, but cannot read the Perso-Arabic script. With the dawn of the internet and globablisation, this poetry is often found written in Roman Urdu today.

[edit] Example

The following is a verse from an Urdu ghazal by Sher Khwaja Mir Dard:

Roman Urdu:

dostoṃ dekhā tamāśā yahāṃ kā bas.
tum raho ab hum to apne ghar chale

English translation:

My friend, we've seen enough fine sights, through which we loved to roam.
You stay on to enjoy them; we are ready to go home.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Poetry of Different Cultures and Languages

[3] Sher-o-shayri emotions through expression.

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