On Jan. 27, 2024, 3:50 p.m. hamed:
Did you know that Persian poetry has a long and rich history that spans over a thousand years? Persian poetry is one of the most distinctive and influential aspects of Persian literature and culture, and it has influenced many other poetic traditions around the world.
Persian poetry is based on a variety of poetic forms, each with its own rules and conventions. Some of the most common forms are:
- Qaṣīdeh: A long poem of praise or elegy, usually consisting of more than 15 distichs (couplets) that share the same rhyme and a refrain (radīf) at the end of each half-line. The qaṣīdeh often begins with a prelude (nasīb) that describes the poet's mood or situation, followed by the main theme (madīh) that praises the patron or the beloved, and ends with a personal signature (taḥallus) that mentions the poet's name and sometimes a request or a wish.
- Ghazal: A short lyric poem of love or mysticism, usually consisting of 5 to 15 distichs that share the same rhyme and a refrain at the end of each line. The ghazal is one of the most popular and widely read forms of Persian poetry, and it has been adapted by many poets in different languages, such as Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, and English. The ghazal often expresses the emotions and experiences of the lover or the seeker, using metaphors and symbols such as wine, rose, nightingale, and moon.
- Masnawi: A narrative poem that tells a story, usually of a moral or spiritual nature, in rhyming couplets that have a different rhyme for each distich. The masnawi can be of any length, from a few lines to thousands of verses, and it often incorporates dialogue, description, and allegory. The masnawi is considered the highest form of Persian poetry, and the most famous example is the Mathnawī-ye Maʿnawī (Spiritual Couplets) by the 13th-century poet and mystic Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, which is regarded as one of the greatest works of world literature.
- Robāʿī: A quatrain that expresses a witty or profound thought, usually in a humorous or ironic way. The robāʿī has two patterns of rhyme: aaba or aaaa. The robāʿī is one of the oldest and simplest forms of Persian poetry, and it has been used by many poets to convey their wisdom, humor, or criticism. The most famous robāʿī poet is the 11th-century philosopher and scientist Omar Khayyam, whose quatrains are known as the Rubáiyát and have been translated into many languages.