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Concept
Ghazal
Summary
The ghazal is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. Ghazals often deal with topics of spiritual and romantic love and may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation from the beloved and the beauty of love in spite of that pain.
The ghazal form is ancient, tracing its origins to 7th-century Arabic poetry. The ghazal spread into South Asia in the 12th century due to the influence of Sufi mystics and the courts of the new Islamic Sultanate, and is now most prominently a form of poetry of many languages of the Indian subcontinent and Turkey.
A ghazal commonly consists of five to fifteen couplets, which are independent, but are linked – abstractly, in their theme; and more strictly in their poetic form. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet. In style and content, due to its highly allusive nature, the ghazal has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation.
Postmodern Ghazal refers to a literary movement that began in the 1990s in Iran, claiming to mix postmodern ideas and traditional Persian poetry arrangements.
The word ghazal originates from the Arabic word غزل (ġazal). The root syllables Gh-Z-L have three possible meanings in Arabic:
غَزَل (ḡazal) or غَزِلَ (ḡazila) - To sweet-talk, to flirt, to display amorous gestures.
غزال (ḡazaal) - A young, graceful doe (this is the root of the English word gazelle).
غَزَلَ (ḡazala) - to spin (thread or yarn).
The poetic form derives its name from the first and the second etymological roots. One particular translation posits a meaning of ghazal as the wail of a wounded deer, which potentially provides context to the theme of unrequited love common to many ghazals.
The Arabic word غزل ġazal is pronounced ˈɣazal, roughly like the English word guzzle, but with the ġ pronounced without a complete closure between the tongue and the soft palate. In English, the word is pronounced ˈɡʌzəl or ˈɡæzæl.
Official source
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