Introduction Of Ghazal
Ghazal in short, is a collection of Sher’s which follow the rules of’Matla’, ‘Maqta’, ‘Beher’, ‘Kaafiyaa’ and ‘Radif’. So to know what Ghazal is, it’s necessary to know what these terms mean.
To understand these terms easily , we will take an example.
What is a Sher ?
It’s a poem of two lines. This definition is deceptively simple. Please note that, every Sher is a poem in itself ! A Sher does not need, anything around it, to convey the message.
All the 4 stanzas in our example are independent poems, Sher’s.
What is ‘Beher’ ?
‘Beher’ is the ‘meter’ of the Sher’s. It can be considered as the length of the Sher. Both the lines in the Sher must be of same ‘Beher’. And all the Sher’s in one Ghazal must be of the
same ‘Beher’. There are 19 kinds of ‘Beher’. But in simple terms, ‘Beher’ is categorized in 3 classes. Short, medium, long.
[ The examples in are my additions, from Hindi Films. ]
Small :
ahale dairo-haram reh gaye
tere deewane kam reh gaye
Medium :
umr jalwo me basar ho, ye zaruri to nahin
har shab-e-gam ki seher ho, ye zaruri to nahin
Long :
ai mere humnashin, chal kahin aur chal, is chaman me ab apanaa guzaaraa nahin
baat hoti gulon ki, to seh lete hum, ab to kaaton pe bhi haq hamaaraa nahin
