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Simple steps to write a Ghazal
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Simple steps to write a Ghazal - 17th October 2013, 10:30 AM

To write a Ghazal, one must understand what is a ghazal.

Not going too much into the history and the technical aspects (which are already explained in other threads here, I will try to put here only the basic simple steps a beginner can and should follow.

So back to the first question; what is a ghazal?
A ghazal is a poem. Like we have couplets in a poem, so does a ghazal has couplets which are known as ashaar (pl. for sheyr).

Now, what is a sheyr?
The same way as couplets have stanzas, a sheyr will have stanzas (misraa).

Now let us remember our nursery rhymes to understand couplets and stanzas.

We will take the most famous nursery rhyme to understand that:
Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are?

Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky.

Now, we are taught only this much, however, this is a full poem with 12 couplets.

So, what is most important in a ghazal?
1. It should have ashaar (couplets). You can't have a ghazal with a single sheyr.
2. So traditionally, there should be minimum 4 ashaar in a ghazal.
3. Each sheyr should have only 2 misraa.

Now, looking back at our nursery rhyme, did you observe that each stanza has a rhyming word at the end in a couplet and each couplet has the same rhythm? Same rule stands for a ghazal (Its a poem after all). But still it is not a ghazal. Why? Let's look into that now:
1. Ghazal should have minimum 4 ashaar. (Now, if you refer to the whole poem, then this is a ghazal)
2. The ghazal should have rhyming ashaar. (This is also present)

But, here is why the above is not a ghazal.
3. First sheyr should have a rhyming misraa (This sheyr is a matlaa) followed by minimum 3 ashaar where only the second misraa should rhyme.
4. Each rhyming misraa should end with the matching words (Radeef). Though this is an exception. Ghazal which has a radeef missing is known as a gair-muraddaf ghazal. But it is still considered as a ghazal.
5. Each radeef should be preceded by a rhyming word. This is known as kaafiya. It is a must to have a kaafiya in a ghazal, else it is not a ghazal.

So, if I want to convert the above poem to make it a ghazal; then I will change it as follows:

Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are?

Up above the world so high
How do I reach you so far?

I wish I could drive up there
and bring you back down in a jar

But my papa said to me
There, 'Safeer', you can't take the car

Now this becomes a gair-muraddaf ghazal as the radeef is missing, yet it is a ghazal as we have 4 ashaar, first sheyr ending with rhyming words, followed by each sheyr where the second misraa has words rhyming.

So, let us now look at some more terms which we will use while writing a ghazal.

In the above modified poem; let us look at the words:
star, are, far, jar, car.
These are kaafiya of the ghazal.

The first sheyr has kaafiya in both its misraa, this sheyr is called a matla.
The last sheyr has my alias in it 'Safeer'. This sheyr identifies the end of the ghazal. This sheyr is known as makta.

Each sheyr maintains the rhythm throughout. That is you can sing it with the same rhyme. This is known as beh'r. Beh'r is the metre which is maintained through out the ghazal. Ofcourse, we can't have a poem which will not rhyme? Similarly, metre or beh'r is important to keep the rhythm of the ghazal.

Now, since here we do not want to get too much into the explanation of beh'r, as this will make it more complicated for beginners, I will just stop here with this particular term. Just to elaborate a bit, there are 19 beh'rs which are based on the measurements of the syllables used in each misraa. You can refer to other topics here for detailed information, but that is later.

So, how will you start writing a ghazal? First start by singing your most favourite nursery rhymes or poems and try to identify the radeef, kafiya and beh'r of that nursery rhyme or poem. This will give you an idea of how you can frame your own stanzas. (Just to remind you, a ghazal is not restricted to any language; so don't think that an English or a Hindi or a poem in any other language won't fit in a ghazal.)

Now, to write a ghazal, first think of a topic on which you want to write a ghazal. Here, we are taking freedom to use a single topic, however, one should note that a true ghazal talks on different topics in each of its sheyr. However, for now, we will leave that for the great masters of ghazal. Writing such a ghazal needs lots of practice.

Then start by writing down the radeef that you want to use in your ghazal; e.g. hai, me'n, hota, meel jata, etc. Remember, this is the word that you are going to repeat at the end and should appear in the first 2 misraa of the ghazal and in the second misraa of each of the other ashaar.

Now, think of several kaafiya which will fit with the radeef. e.g. dekhA, likhA, rakkhA, etc. You will need minimum 5 kaafiya to complete a ghazal, how?
2 in first sheyr and 3 for second misraa in other ashaar.

Now start forming each sheyr and set the metre by singing them in rhythm. If you find that a word is not fitting and your rhythm is going off track, you can omit that word or change the position in the stanza. With some practice and dedication, you have written your first ghazal.

With more and more practice, you can write splendid ghazals.

Hope this helps the newbies here.



ख़ुदा परेशां तेरी बला से तेरे सितम से तेरे अधम से
अगर हसीँ होते ज़ुल्म तेरे तू भी तो कुछ शर्मसार होता



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