Editing Ghazal (section)

== History ==
=== Origins in Arabia ===
The ghazal originated in Arabia in the 7th century,<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/ghazal|title=Ghazal – Islamic literature|access-date=9 September 2018}}</ref> evolving from the ''[[qasida]]'', a much older pre-Islamic Arabic poetic form.<ref name="Kanda" /> ''Qaṣīdas'' were typically much longer poems, with up to 100 couplets. Thematically, ''qaṣīdas'' did not include love, and were usually [[panegyric]]s for a tribe or ruler, lampoons, or moral maxims. However, the ''qaṣīda's'' opening prelude, called the ''[[Nasīb (poetry)|nasīb]],'' was typically nostalgic and/or romantic in theme, and highly ornamented and stylized in form. In time, the ''nasīb'' began to be written as standalone, shorter poems, which became the ghazal.<ref name=":1" />

The ghazal came into its own as a poetic genre during the Umayyad era (661–750) and continued to flower and develop in the early Abbasid era. The Arabic ghazal inherited the formal verse structure of the ''qaṣīda'', specifically, a strict adherence to meter and the use of the [[qafiya]], a common end rhyme on each couplet (called a ''bayt'' in Arabic and a ''sher'' in Persian).<ref name=":1" />

The nature of the ghazals also changed to meet the demands of musical presentation, becoming briefer in length. Lighter poetic meters, such as ''khafîf'', ''ramal'', and ''muqtarab'' were preferred, instead of longer, more ponderous meters favored for ''[[Qasida|qaṣīdas]]'' (such as ''kâmil'', ''basît'', and ''rajaz''). Topically, the ghazal focus also changed from nostalgic reminiscences of the homeland and loved ones, towards [https://www.quotencaptions.com/sunset-quotes-instagram-best-romantic-sunrise-and-sunset-captions/ romantic] or erotic themes. These included sub-genres with themes of courtly love (''udharî''), eroticism (''hissî''), homoeroticism (''mudhakkar''), and as a highly stylized introduction to a larger poem (''tamhîdî'').<ref name=":1" /><ref>Dayf, Shawqî. ''Târîkh al-Adab al-Islâmî: 2 – al-`Asr al-Islâmî'' (A History of Arab Literature: 2- The Islamic Era). Cairo: Dâr al-Ma`ârif. 1963. (pp. 347–348)</ref>

During the Umayyad and early Abbasid eras, the ghazal blossomed. It inherited the structure of the qaṣīda, focusing on meter and end rhymes. With time, it adapted for musical presentation, becoming shorter. Lighter meters were preferred, and themes shifted towards romance and eroticism.

==== Spread of the Arabian ghazal ====
With the spread of [[Islam]], the [[Arabia]]n ghazal spread both westwards, into [[Africa]] and [[Al-Andalus|Spain]], as well as eastwards, into [[Persia]]. The popularity of ghazals in a particular region was usually preceded by a spread of the [[Arabic language]] in that country. In medieval Spain, ghazals written in [[Hebrew]] as well as [[Arabic]] have been found as far back as the [[11th century]]. It is possible that ghazals were also written in the [[Mozarabic language]]. Ghazals in the Arabic form have also been written in a number of major West African literary languages like [[Hausa language|Hausa]] and [[Fula language|Fulfulde]].<ref name=":1" />

=== Dispersion into Persia ===

==== Early Arabo-Persian ghazals (10th to 11th century) ====
However, the most significant changes to the ghazal occurred in its introduction into Iran in the 10th century.<ref name="Kanda" /> The early Persian ghazals largely imitated the themes and form of the Arabian ghazal. These "Arabo-Persian" ghazals introduced two differences compared to their Arabian poetic roots. Firstly, the Persian ghazals did not employ radical enjambment between the two halves of the couplet, and secondly, the Persian ghazals formalized the use of the common rhyme in both lines of the opening couplet (''[[matla']]'').<ref name=":1" /> The imitation of Arabian forms in Persia extended to the ''qaṣīda'', which was also popular in Persia.

Because of its comparative brevity, thematic variety and suggestive richness, the ghazal soon eclipsed the ''qaṣīda'', and became the most popular poetry form in Persia.<ref name="Kanda" /> Much like Arabian ghazals, early Persian ghazals typically employed more musical meters compared to other Persian poetry forms.<ref name=":1" /> [[Rudaki]] (858–941 CE) is considered the most important Persian ghazal poet of this period, and the founder of classical Persian literature.

==== Early Persian ghazal poetry (12th to early 13th century) ====
The Persian ghazal evolved into its own distinctive form between the 12th and 13th centuries. Many of those innovations created what we now recognize as the archetypical ghazal form. These changes occurred in two periods, separated by the Mongol Invasion of Persia from 1219 to 1221 AD.

The 'Early Persian poetry' period spanned approximately one century, from the [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid era]] (which lasted until 1187) till a little after the Mongol Invasion. Apart from the movement towards brevity, this period also saw two significant and lasting changes to the ghazal form.

The first change was the adoption of the ''[[Takhallus]]'', the practice of mentioning the poet's penname in the final couplet (called the {{'}}''maqta{{'}}''{{'}}). The adoption of the ''takhallus'' became a gradually accepted part of the ghazal form, and by the time of [[Saadi Shirazi]] (1210–1291 AD), the most important ghazal poet of this period, it had become ''de rigueur.''<ref name=":1" /> The second marked change from Arabian ghazal form in Persian ghazals was a movement towards far greater autonomy between the couplets.

==== Late Persian poetry in the Early Mongol Period (1221–) ====
The ghazal later spread throughout the Middle East and South Asia. It was famous all around the Indian subcontinent in the 18th and 19th centuries {{Unreliable source?|date=February 2018}}

=== Introduction into Indian subcontinent ===
{{Further|Urdu ghazal}}
[[File:Amir Khusro.jpg|thumb|Amir Khusrow teaching his disciples in a miniature from a manuscript of ''Majlis al-Ushshaq'' by [[Husayn Bayqarah]]. Amir Khusrow is considered the first Urdu poet]]
{{Quote box
| title = Excerpt from [[The Divān of Hafez|Divan-e-Hafez]]
| quote = <poem>Vin bahs bā salāse-ye ghassāle miravad
''And with the three washers (cups of wine), this dispute goeth.''
Shekkar-shekan shavand hame tutiān-e [[India|Hind]]
''Sugar-shattering (excited), have become all the parrots (poets) of [[Al-Hind|Hind]],''
Zin qand-e Pārsi ke be Bangāle miravad.
''That this [[Farsi|Persian]] candy [ode], that to [[Bengal]] goeth.''</poem>
| source = {{snds}}Jointly penned by [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah|Azam Shah]] and [[Hafez]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Persian |title=Persian - Banglapedia |publisher=En.banglapedia.org |date=2015-02-15 |access-date=2017-09-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911055911/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Persian |archive-date=11 September 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
| align = right
| qalign = 
| salign = left
}}

The ghazal was spread from [[Persia]] into [[Indian Subcontinent]] in the 12th century{{Unreliable source?|date=February 2018}} by the influence of [[Sufi]] mystics and the courts of the new Islamic sultanates{{Unreliable source?|date=February 2018}}.   This period coincided with the early Islamic Sultanates in India, through the wave of Islamic invasions into the region in that period.

The 13th century [[Chishti]] Sufi poet [[Hasan Sijzi]] is regarded as the originator of the [[Indo-Persian culture|Indo-Persian]] ghazal.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gould |first1=Rebecca Ruth |title=Hasan Sijzi of Dehli and the Persian Ghazal |journal=The Sufi Journal |date=April 19, 2016 |issue=90 (Winter 2016) |pages=46–51 |url=https://ssrn.com/abstract=2767030 |access-date=9 September 2023}}</ref> Sijzi's contemporary, the poet and musician [[Amir Khusrow|Ameer Khusrow]] is not only credited as the first Urdu poet but also created [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] as we know today by merging [[Braj Bhasha|braj]], [[Khadi boli|khadhi boli]], [[Hindi]], [[Urdu]], [[Persian language|Persian]] and other local dialects.

During the reign of the [[Sultan of Bengal]] [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]], the city of [[Sonargaon]] became an important centre of [[Persian literature]], with many publications of prose and poetry. The period is described as the "[[golden age]] of [[Persian literature]] in Bengal". Its stature is illustrated by the Sultan's own correspondence with the Persian poet [[Hafez]]. When the Sultan invited Hafez to complete an incomplete ghazal by the ruler, the renowned poet responded by acknowledging the grandeur of the king's court and the literary quality of Bengali-Persian poetry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Persian|title=Persian – Banglapedia|url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170102112117/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Persian|archive-date=2 January 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

It is said that [[Atul Prasad Sen]] pioneered the introduction of Bengali ghazals.<ref name="garland">{{cite book|first=Alison|last=Arnold|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2000|isbn=0-8240-4946-2|page=851}}</ref> Residing in [[Lucknow]], he was inspired by Persian ghazals and experimented with a stream of Bengali music which was later enriched profusely by the contribution of [[Kazi Nazrul Islam]] and [[Moniruddin Yusuf]].<ref name="som">{{cite book|first=Shovan|last=Som|title=Atul Prasad Sen'er Shreshtha Kabita|publisher=Bharbi|year=2002|page=142}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf9nvzmIVvY| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/bf9nvzmIVvY| archive-date=2021-11-10 | url-status=live|title=Rereading Kazi Nazrul Islam|last1=Hussain|first1=Azfar| website=[[YouTube]]| date=3 April 2012|format=Video lecture|access-date=15 July 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tns.thenews.com.pk/firoza-begum-a-taste-of-bengal/|title=A taste of Bengal|last=Ali|first=Sarwat|date=21 September 2014|website=The News International|publisher=The News on Sunday|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628184010/http://tns.thenews.com.pk/firoza-begum-a-taste-of-bengal/|archive-date=28 June 2018|url-status=dead|access-date=28 June 2018|quote=Firoza Begum too sang these Bengali ghazals of Nazrul Islam}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/2007/05/25/d70525140299.htm|title=Nazrul: An ardent lover of humanity|last=Islam|first=Mohammad Shafiqul|date=25 May 2007|work=The Daily Star|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204123949/http://archive.thedailystar.net/2007/05/25/d70525140299.htm|archive-date=4 February 2018|url-status=live|access-date=28 June 2018|quote=He is best known for his songs, in which he pioneered new forms such as Bengali ghazals}}</ref><ref name="MOF2">{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/feature/fe0899/f1608991.html|title=Nazrul Islam: The unparalleled lyricist and composer of Bengal|last=Chaudhuri|first=Dilip|date=22 September 2006|publisher=Press Information Bureau, [[Government of India]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021105092034/http://pib.nic.in/feature/fe0899/f1608991.html|archive-date=5 November 2002|access-date=22 September 2006}} [http://nazrul.com.bd/nazrul/works_on_nazrul/articles/chaudhuri_lyricist.htm Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628183857/http://nazrul.com.bd/nazrul/works_on_nazrul/articles/chaudhuri_lyricist.htm |date=2018-06-28 }}</ref>