Editing Ghazal (section)

=== 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}}