Editing Ghazal (section)

{{Short description|Poetic form in many languages, originating in Arabic poetry and developed in Persian tradition}}
{{About|the poetic form|other uses|Ghazal (disambiguation)}}
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[[File:Ljs44.jpg|thumb|An illustrated headpiece from a mid-18th century collection of ghazals and [[Rubaʿi|rubāʻīyāt]] ]]

'''''Ghazal'''''{{efn|({{langx|ar|غَزَل}}, {{langx|bn|গজল}}, [[Hindi-Urdu]]: {{lang|hi|ग़ज़ल}}/{{Nastaliq|غَزَل}}, {{langx|fa|غزل}}, {{langx|az|qəzəl}}, {{langx|tr|gazel}}, {{langx|tk|gazal}}, {{langx|uz|gʻazal}}, {{langx|gu|ગઝલ}}, {{langx|pa|ਗ਼ਜ਼ਲ}})}} is a form of amatory poem or ode,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/fallon/|title=A new Hindustani-English dictionary|website=dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu|year=1879 |access-date=9 September 2018}}</ref> originating in [[Arabic poetry]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Meaning of ghazal in English |url=https://www.rekhtadictionary.com/meaning-of-gazal |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=Rekhta Dictionary |language=en}}</ref> that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It 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.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ghazal|title=Ghazal|date=9 September 2018|website=Poetry Foundation|access-date=9 September 2018}}</ref>

The ghazal form is ancient, tracing its origins to 7th-century Arabic poetry. It spread into the [[Indian subcontinent]] in the 12th century due to the influence of [[Sufi]] mystics and the courts of the new [[Ghurid Sultanate|Islamic Sultanate]], and is now most prominently a form of poetry of many [[languages of South Asia]] and [[Languages of Turkey|Turkey]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ghazalpage.net/prose/notes/short_history_of_the_ghazal.html|title=A Short History of the Ghazal|last=Jalajel|first=David|website=The Ghazal Page Journal|access-date=26 March 2019|archive-date=17 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517040244/http://ghazalpage.net/prose/notes/short_history_of_the_ghazal.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A poem of 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 ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the [[Petrarchan sonnet]].<ref>[https://www.urdumark.com/ "Types of Urdu mark: Ghazal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102061226/https://www.urdumark.com/ |date=2020-11-02 }},"Urdu Mark",August 8, 2012</ref> In style and content, due to its highly allusive nature, ghazal has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation.