Ghazal
Encyclopedia
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplet
s and a refrain
, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century Arabic verse
. It is derived from the Arabian panegyric
qasida
. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet. In its style and content it is a genre which has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation. It is one of the principal poetic forms which the Indo-Perso-Arabic civilization offered to the eastern Islamic world.
The ghazal spread into South Asia
in the 12th century under the influence of the new Islamic Sultan
ate courts and Sufi mystics. Although the ghazal is most prominently a form of Dari poetry and Urdu poetry
, today it is found in the poetry of many languages of Indian sub-continent.
Ghazals were written by the Persian mystics and poets Rumi (13th century) and Hafiz (14th century), the Azeri poet Fuzuli
(16th century), as well as Mirza Ghalib
(1797–1869) and Muhammad Iqbal
(1877–1938), both of whom wrote ghazals in Persian
and Urdu
. Through the influence of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(1749–1832), the ghazal became very popular in Germany
in the 19th century, and the form was used extensively by Friedrich Rückert
(1788–1866) and August von Platen (1796–1835). The Kashmir
i-American
poet Agha Shahid Ali
was a proponent of the form, both in English and in other languages; he edited a volume of "real ghazals in English".
In some ghazals the poet's name is featured somewhere in the last verse (a convention known as takhallus).
. In India, the name sounds exotic, as the voiced velar fricative
( sound) is not found in native Indic words. In English, the word is pronounced ˈ or ˈ.
The ghazal is always written from the point of view of the unrequited lover whose beloved is portrayed as unattainable. Most often either the beloved does not return the poet's love or returns it without sincerity, or else the societal circumstances do not allow it. The lover is aware and resigned to this fate but continues loving nonetheless; the lyrical impetus of the poem derives from this tension. Representations of the lover's powerlessness to resist his feelings often include lyrically exaggerated violence. The beloved's power to captivate the speaker may be represented in extended metaphors about the "arrows of his eyes", or by referring to the beloved as an assassin or a killer. Take for example the following couplets from Amir Khusro
's Persian ghazal Nami danam chi manzil buud shab:
. All the major historical post-Islamic ghazal poets were either avowed Sufis themselves (like Rumi or Hafiz), or were sympathizers with Sufi ideas. Most ghazals can be viewed in a spiritual context, with the Beloved being a metaphor for God, or the poet's spiritual master. It is the intense Divine Love of sufism that serves as a model for all the forms of love found in ghazal poetry.
Most ghazal scholars today recognize that some ghazal couplets are exclusively about Divine Love (ishq-e-haqiqi), others are about "earthly love" (ishq-e-majazi), but many of them can be interpreted in either context.
Traditionally invoking melancholy, love, longing, and metaphysical questions, ghazals are often sung by Iranian, Afghan, Pakistani, and Indian musicians. The form has roots in seventh-century Arabia, and gained prominence in the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century thanks to such Persian poets as Rumi and Hafiz and later due to Indian poets such as Mirza Ghalib
. In the eighteenth-century, the ghazal was used by poets writing in Urdu, a mix of the medieval languages of Northern India, including Persian. Among these poets, Ghalib is the recognized master.
, Aatish, Mir Taqi Mir
, Mirza Rafi Sauda
, Mirza Ghalib
, Momin Khan Momin
, Zauq, Dard
, Daagh, Altaf Hussain Hali and Jigar Moradabadi
. Post-partition poets include Firaq Gorakhpuri
, Majrooh Sultanpuri
, Hasrat Mohani
, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Jaun Elia, Munir Niazi
, Jan Nisar Akhtar
, Shakeb Jalali
, Qamar Jalalabadi
, Qateel Shifai
, Nasir Kazmi
, Ahmad Faraz, Makhdoom Mohiuddin
, and Sahir Ludhianvi
.
, Persian Dastgah
and Uyghur Muqam
. There are many published translations from Persian and Turkish by Annemarie Schimmel
, Arthur John Arberry
, and many others.
Ghazal "Gayaki", the art of singing or performing the ghazal in Indian classical tradition, is very old. Singers like Ustad Barkat Ali and many other singers in the past used to practice it, but due to the lack of historical records, many names are anonymous. It was with Begum Akhtar
, and later on Ustad Mehdi Hassan
, that classical rendering of ghazals became popular amongst the masses. The categorization of ghazal singing as a form of "light classical" music is a misconception. Classical ghazals are difficult to render because of the varying moods of the "shers" or couplets in the ghazal. Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Begum Akhtar, Mehdi Hassan, Jagjit Singh
, Farida Khanum
and Ustad Ghulam Ali are popular classical ghazal singers.
s in which the lyrics were rendered were also difficult to understand. The ghazal has undergone some simplification in terms of words and phrasings, which helps it to reach a larger audience around the world. Most of the ghazals are now sung with various styles which are not limited to khayāl
, thumri
, rāga
, tāla
and other classical and light classical genres. However, these forms of the ghazal are looked down on by purists of the Indian Classical tradition. In Pakistan Noor Jehan
, Iqbal Bano
, Farida Khanum
, Ghulam Ali
, Ahmed Rushdi
, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and Mehdi Hassan
are known for Ghazal renditions. Singers like Jagjit Singh (who first used a guitar
in ghazals), Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain
, Hariharan
, Mohammad Rafi, Pankaj Udhas
and many others have been able to give a new shape to the ghazal by incorporating elements of Western music. In India, in addition to Urdu/Hindi, Ghazals have also been very popular in the Gujarati
language. For centuries there have been notable Gujarati ghazal writers like Barkat Virani 'Befaam', Aasim Randeri, Shunya Palanpuri, Amrut 'Ghayal', Khalil Dhantejvi and many more. Some of the notable ghazals of these prominent writers have been sung by Bollywood playback singer Manhar Udhas (the elder brother of noted Ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas). The Canadian
classical ghazal singer Cassius Khan
has the unusual talent of singing in the recitational style whilst accompanying himself on the tabla
. Renowned Ghazal singer, and pioneer of Telugu ghazals, Dr Ghazal Srinivas popularized the Ghazal in Telugu language all over the world. Dr Ghazal Srinivas also introduced ghazal singing in Kannada language and ghazals in Kannada language were written by Markandapuram Srinivas.
, James Elroy Flecker
, Adrienne Rich
, Phyllis Webb
., etc., many of which did not adhere wholly or in part to the traditional principles of the form, experiments dubbed as "the bastard ghazal" -- the ghazal finally began to be recognized as a viable closed form in English-language poetry sometime in the early to mid 1990s. This came about largely as a result of serious, true-to-form examples being published by noted American poets John Hollander
, W. S. Merwin
and Elise Paschen
, as well as by Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali, who had been teaching and spreading word of the ghazal at various American universities over the previous two decades.
In 1996, Ali compiled and edited the world's first anthology of English-language ghazals, published by Wesleyan University Press
in 2000 as Ravishing DisUnities: Real Ghazals in English. (Fewer than one in ten of the ghazals collected in "Real Ghazals in English" observe the constraints of the form.)
A ghazal is composed of couplets, five or more. The couplets may have nothing to do with one another, except for the formal unity derived from a strict rhyme and rhythm pattern.
A ghazal in English which observes the traditional restrictions of the form:
Many Indian and Pakistani film singers are famous for singing ghazals. These include:
Some Malaysian
and Indonesian singers
are famous for ghazals. These include:
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
s and a refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century Arabic verse
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed, or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter...
. It is derived from the Arabian panegyric
Panegyric
A panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...
qasida
Qasida
The qaṣīdaᵗ , in Arabic: قصيدة, plural qasā'id, قــصــائـد; in Persian: قصیده , is a form of lyric poetry that originated in preIslamic Arabia...
. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet. In its style and content it is a genre which has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation. It is one of the principal poetic forms which the Indo-Perso-Arabic civilization offered to the eastern Islamic world.
The ghazal spread into South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
in the 12th century under the influence of the new Islamic Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
ate courts and Sufi mystics. Although the ghazal is most prominently a form of Dari poetry and Urdu poetry
Urdu poetry
Urdu poetry is a rich tradition of poetry and has many different types and forms. Borrowing much from the Persian language, it is today an important part of Pakistani and North Indian culture....
, today it is found in the poetry of many languages of Indian sub-continent.
Ghazals were written by the Persian mystics and poets Rumi (13th century) and Hafiz (14th century), the Azeri poet Fuzuli
Fuzûlî
Fużūlī was the pen name of the Azerbaijani or the Bayat branch of Oghuz Turkish and Ottoman poet, writer and thinker Muhammad bin Suleyman...
(16th century), as well as Mirza Ghalib
Mirza Ghalib
Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan , pen-name Ghalib and Asad , was a classical Urdu and Persian poet from India during British colonial rule...
(1797–1869) and Muhammad Iqbal
Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal , commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal , was a poet and philosopher born in Sialkot, then in the Punjab Province of British India, now in Pakistan...
(1877–1938), both of whom wrote ghazals in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
. Through the influence of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
(1749–1832), the ghazal became very popular in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in the 19th century, and the form was used extensively by Friedrich Rückert
Friedrich Rückert
Friedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.-Biography:Rückert was born at Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local Gymnasium and at the universities of Würzburg and Heidelberg. From 1816-1817, he worked on the editorial...
(1788–1866) and August von Platen (1796–1835). The Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
i-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet Agha Shahid Ali
Agha Shahid Ali
Agha Shahid Ali was a Kashmiri American poet...
was a proponent of the form, both in English and in other languages; he edited a volume of "real ghazals in English".
In some ghazals the poet's name is featured somewhere in the last verse (a convention known as takhallus).
Pronunciation
The Arabic word is pronounced ˈɣazal, roughly like the English word guzzle, but with the pronounced without a complete closure between the tongue and the soft palateSoft palate
The soft palate is the soft tissue constituting the back of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is distinguished from the hard palate at the front of the mouth in that it does not contain bone....
. In India, the name sounds exotic, as the voiced velar fricative
Voiced velar fricative
The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in various spoken languages. It is not found in English today, but did exist in Old English...
( sound) is not found in native Indic words. In English, the word is pronounced ˈ or ˈ.
Illicit unattainable love
The ghazal not only has a specific form, but traditionally deals with just one subject: love, specifically an illicit and unattainable love. The ghazals from Indian sub-continent have an influence of Islamic Mysticism and the subject of love can usually be interpreted for a higher being or for a mortal beloved. The love is always viewed as something that will complete a human being, and if attained will lift him or her into the ranks of the wise, or will bring satisfaction to the soul of the poet. Traditional ghazal love may or may not have an explicit element of sexual desire in it, and the love may be spiritual. The love may be directed to either a man or a woman.The ghazal is always written from the point of view of the unrequited lover whose beloved is portrayed as unattainable. Most often either the beloved does not return the poet's love or returns it without sincerity, or else the societal circumstances do not allow it. The lover is aware and resigned to this fate but continues loving nonetheless; the lyrical impetus of the poem derives from this tension. Representations of the lover's powerlessness to resist his feelings often include lyrically exaggerated violence. The beloved's power to captivate the speaker may be represented in extended metaphors about the "arrows of his eyes", or by referring to the beloved as an assassin or a killer. Take for example the following couplets from Amir Khusro
Amir Khusro
Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow , better known as Amīr Khusrow Dehlawī , was an Indian musician, scholar and poet. He was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent...
's Persian ghazal Nami danam chi manzil buud shab:
nemidanam che manzel bood shab jayi ke man boodam;
be har soo raghse besmel bood shab jayi ke man boodam.
pari peykar negari sarv ghadi laleh rokhsari;
sarapa afat-e del bood shab jayi ke man boodam.
I wonder what was the place where I was last night,
All around me were half-slaughtered victims of love, tossing about in agony.
There was a nymph-like beloved with cypress-like form and tulip-like face,
Ruthlessly playing havoc with the hearts of the lovers.
In the context of Sufism
It is not possible to get a full understanding of ghazal poetry without at least being familiar with some concepts of SufismSufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
. All the major historical post-Islamic ghazal poets were either avowed Sufis themselves (like Rumi or Hafiz), or were sympathizers with Sufi ideas. Most ghazals can be viewed in a spiritual context, with the Beloved being a metaphor for God, or the poet's spiritual master. It is the intense Divine Love of sufism that serves as a model for all the forms of love found in ghazal poetry.
Most ghazal scholars today recognize that some ghazal couplets are exclusively about Divine Love (ishq-e-haqiqi), others are about "earthly love" (ishq-e-majazi), but many of them can be interpreted in either context.
Traditionally invoking melancholy, love, longing, and metaphysical questions, ghazals are often sung by Iranian, Afghan, Pakistani, and Indian musicians. The form has roots in seventh-century Arabia, and gained prominence in the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century thanks to such Persian poets as Rumi and Hafiz and later due to Indian poets such as Mirza Ghalib
Mirza Ghalib
Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan , pen-name Ghalib and Asad , was a classical Urdu and Persian poet from India during British colonial rule...
. In the eighteenth-century, the ghazal was used by poets writing in Urdu, a mix of the medieval languages of Northern India, including Persian. Among these poets, Ghalib is the recognized master.
Important poets of Urdu ghazal
In Urdu, some important and respected ghazal poets are WaliWali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
, Aatish, Mir Taqi Mir
Mir Taqi Mir
Khuda-e-sukhan Mir Taqi Mir , whose real name was Muhammad Taqi and takhallus was Mir , was the leading Urdu poet of the 18th century, and one of the pioneers who gave shape to the Urdu language itself...
, Mirza Rafi Sauda
Mirza Rafi Sauda
Mirza Muhammad Rafi 'Sauda was one of the best known poets of Urdu language in Delhi, India. He is known for his Ghazals and Urdu Qasidas.-Early life:...
, Mirza Ghalib
Mirza Ghalib
Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan , pen-name Ghalib and Asad , was a classical Urdu and Persian poet from India during British colonial rule...
, Momin Khan Momin
Momin Khan Momin
Momin Khan was an Indian poet known for his Urdu ghazals and used "Momin" as his takhallus . He was a contemporary of Mirza Ghalib and Zauq, today his grave lies near the parking area near Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi.-Early life:Momin Khan Momin was born in Delhi...
, Zauq, Dard
Khwaja Mir Dard
Khwaja Mir Dard was born in 1721 and died in 1785. He is one of the three major poets of the Delhi School—the other two being Mir Taqi Mir and 'Sauda'—who could be called the pillars of the classical Urdu ghazal.-Philosophy:...
, Daagh, Altaf Hussain Hali and Jigar Moradabadi
Jigar Moradabadi
Jigar Moradabadi was the nom de plume of Ali Sikandar , one of the most famous Urdu poets of the 20th century and a celebrated Urdu ghazal writer...
. Post-partition poets include Firaq Gorakhpuri
Firaq Gorakhpuri
Raghupati Sahay , better known under his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri , was a writer, critic, and one of the most noted contemporary Urdu poets from India...
, Majrooh Sultanpuri
Majrooh Sultanpuri
Majrooh Sultanpuri was an Urdu poet, lyricist and songwriter...
, Hasrat Mohani
Hasrat Mohani
Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a romantic poet of Urdu language, journalist, politician, parliamentarian and a fearless freedom fighter of Indian Sub-continent . His real name was Syed Fazl ul Hasan. He was born in 1875 at Mohan in Unnao district of U.P...
, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Jaun Elia, Munir Niazi
Munir Niazi
Munir Ahmad, better known as Munir Niazi, SI was an Urdu poet from Pakistan who also produced poetry in the Panjabi language.Niazi was born in Khanpur on 19 April 1928, a village near Hoshiarpur, India. He was from the Niazi tribe...
, Jan Nisar Akhtar
Jan Nisar Akhtar
Jan Nisar Akhtar was an important 20th century Indian poet of Urdu ghazals and nazms, and a part of the Progressive Writers' Movement, who was also a lyricist for Bollywood....
, Shakeb Jalali
Shakeb Jalali
Shakeb Jalali was a Pakistani Urdu poet of a unique diction.Shakeb Jalali's real name was Syed Hassan Rizvi. His ancestors were from a small town, Saddat Jalali, near Aligarh, India. In accordance with the well known Poet, Writer and authentic Critic Mr...
, Qamar Jalalabadi
Qamar Jalalabadi
Qamar Jalalabadi , also known as Qamar Jalabadi , was a writer, particularly of soundtracks of Bollywood movies.-Early life:...
, Qateel Shifai
Qateel Shifai
Aurangzeb Khan or Qateel Shifai was a Pakistani Urdu poet.-Early life:Qateel Shifai was born in Haripur, Hazara Division, British India .-Career:...
, Nasir Kazmi
Nasir Kazmi
Syed Nasir Raza Kazmi, was a renowned Urdu poet of Pakistan. He was one of the greatest poets of this era, especially in the use of "ista'aaray" and "chhotee beher". Kazmi was born on December 8, 1925 at Ambala in British India.-Education and Career:Kazmi was educated at Ambala, Simla and Lahore...
, Ahmad Faraz, Makhdoom Mohiuddin
Makhdoom Mohiuddin
Makhdoom Mohiuddin or Abu Sayeed Mohammad Makhdoom Mohiuddin Huzri was an Urdu poet and Marxist political activist of India. He was a distinguished revolutionary Urdu poet...
, and Sahir Ludhianvi
Sahir Ludhianvi
Sahir Ludhianvi was a popular Urdu poet and Hindi lyricist and songwriter. Sahir Ludhianvi is his pseudonym...
.
Translations and performance of classical ghazal
Enormous collections of ghazal have been created by hundreds of well-known poets over the past thousand years in Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, as well as in the Central Asian Turkic languages. Ghazal poems are performed in Uzbek-Tajik Shashmakom, Turkish MakamMakam
Makam In Turkish classical music, a system of melody types called makam provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance...
, Persian Dastgah
Dastgah
Dastgāh is a musical modal system in traditional Persian art music. Persian art music consists of twelve principal musical modal systems or dastgāhs; in spite of 50 or more extant dastgāhs, theorists generally refer to a set of twelve principal ones...
and Uyghur Muqam
Muqam
A muqam is the melody type used in Uyghur music, that is, a musical mode and set of melodic formulas used to guide improvisation and composition....
. There are many published translations from Persian and Turkish by Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel, SI, HI, was a well known and very influential German Orientalist and scholar, who wrote extensively on Islam and Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.-Early life:...
, Arthur John Arberry
Arthur John Arberry
Arthur John Arberry was a respected British orientalist. A most prolific scholar of Arabic, Persian, and Islamic studies, he was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge...
, and many others.
Ghazal "Gayaki", the art of singing or performing the ghazal in Indian classical tradition, is very old. Singers like Ustad Barkat Ali and many other singers in the past used to practice it, but due to the lack of historical records, many names are anonymous. It was with Begum Akhtar
Begum Akhtar
Akhtari Bai Faizabadi or Begum Akhtar was a well known Indian singer of Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri.She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for vocal music, and was awarded Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by Govt. of India...
, and later on Ustad Mehdi Hassan
Mehdi Hassan
Mehdi Hassan is a Pakistani ghazal singer and a former playback singer for Lollywood. He is famously known as the 'King of ghazal' . He has ruled the Pakistan film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi...
, that classical rendering of ghazals became popular amongst the masses. The categorization of ghazal singing as a form of "light classical" music is a misconception. Classical ghazals are difficult to render because of the varying moods of the "shers" or couplets in the ghazal. Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Begum Akhtar, Mehdi Hassan, Jagjit Singh
Jagjit Singh (singer)
Jagjit Singh ; born Jagmohan Singh; was a prominent Indian Ghazal singer, composer, music director, activist and entrepreneur...
, Farida Khanum
Farida Khanum
Farida Khanum is a Pakistani Ghazal singer from Punjab. The Times of India has called her "Malika-e-Ghazal" ....
and Ustad Ghulam Ali are popular classical ghazal singers.
Ghazal and its popularity
Understanding the complex lyrics of ghazals required education typically available only to the upper classes. The traditional classical rāgaRaga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
s in which the lyrics were rendered were also difficult to understand. The ghazal has undergone some simplification in terms of words and phrasings, which helps it to reach a larger audience around the world. Most of the ghazals are now sung with various styles which are not limited to khayāl
Khyal
Khyal is the modern genre of classical singing in North India. Its name comes from an Arabic word meaning "imagination". It is thought to have developed out of the qawwali singing style. It appeared more recently than dhrupad, is a more free and flexible form, and it provides greater scope for...
, thumri
Thumri
Thumri is a common genre of semi-classical Indian music.The text is romantic or devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl's love for Krishna. The lyrics are usually in Uttar Pradesh dialects of Hindi called Poorbi and Brij Bhasha...
, rāga
Raga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
, tāla
Tala (music)
Tāla, Taal or Tal is the term used in Indian classical music for the rhythmic pattern of any composition and for the entire subject of rhythm, roughly corresponding to metre in Western music, though closer conceptual equivalents are to be found in other Asian classical systems such as the notion...
and other classical and light classical genres. However, these forms of the ghazal are looked down on by purists of the Indian Classical tradition. In Pakistan Noor Jehan
Noor Jehan
Noorjehan or Noorjehan was the adopted stage name for Allah Wasai who was a legendary singer and actress in British India and Pakistan. Her career spanned seven decades...
, Iqbal Bano
Iqbal Bano
Iqbal Bano , PP was a highly acclaimed female Ghazal singer from Pakistan. She was best known for her semi-classical Urdu ghazal songs and classical thumris, but also sang easy-listening numbers in 1950s films....
, Farida Khanum
Farida Khanum
Farida Khanum is a Pakistani Ghazal singer from Punjab. The Times of India has called her "Malika-e-Ghazal" ....
, Ghulam Ali
Ghulam Ali
USTAAD Ghulam Ali is a Pakistani ghazal singer of the Patiala gharana. He is not to be confused with the Indian singer Bade Ghulam Ali Khan or Chhote Ghulam Ali, who is another Pakistani singer in the Qual Bachon Gharana....
, Ahmed Rushdi
Ahmed Rushdi
Ahmed Rushdi, SI, PP was a versatile Pakistani playback singer who worked in film music and was "an important contributor to the Golden Age of Pakistani film music." Rushdi is acclaimed as one of the greatest singers ever lived in south asia and was a natural baritone, yet could sing high tenor...
, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and Mehdi Hassan
Mehdi Hassan
Mehdi Hassan is a Pakistani ghazal singer and a former playback singer for Lollywood. He is famously known as the 'King of ghazal' . He has ruled the Pakistan film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi...
are known for Ghazal renditions. Singers like Jagjit Singh (who first used a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
in ghazals), Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain
Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain
Ahmed Hussain and Mohammed Hussain are ghazal singers from Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan state in India. Ahmed and Mohemmad Hussain are two brothers who sing classical ghazals. Born in Rajastan as sons of the famous ghazal and thumri singer Ustad Afzal Hussain, the duo touches genres like Indian...
, Hariharan
Hariharan (singer)
Hariharan , born 3 April 1955) is an Indian playback singer in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Telugu movies, an established ghazal singer, and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music. His melody is strongly appreciated by the film fraternity...
, Mohammad Rafi, Pankaj Udhas
Pankaj Udhas
Pankaj Udhas is an Indian singer, credited in the Indian music industry, along with other musicians like Jagjit Singh and Talat Aziz, with bringing the style to the realm of popular music. Udhas rose to fame for singing in the film Naam , in which his song Chitthi Aayee Hai became an instant hit....
and many others have been able to give a new shape to the ghazal by incorporating elements of Western music. In India, in addition to Urdu/Hindi, Ghazals have also been very popular in the Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
language. For centuries there have been notable Gujarati ghazal writers like Barkat Virani 'Befaam', Aasim Randeri, Shunya Palanpuri, Amrut 'Ghayal', Khalil Dhantejvi and many more. Some of the notable ghazals of these prominent writers have been sung by Bollywood playback singer Manhar Udhas (the elder brother of noted Ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas). The Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
classical ghazal singer Cassius Khan
Cassius Khan
Cassius Khan , is an Indian classical musician known for playing the tabla and Ghazal while singing.- Career :In Vancouver, Khan met Mushtari Begum, a Ghazal singer, Sheikh Mohyudean, a harmonium / Qawaali singer, and Ustad Rukhsar Ali, a tabla player. He subsequently began lessons with these...
has the unusual talent of singing in the recitational style whilst accompanying himself on the tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
. Renowned Ghazal singer, and pioneer of Telugu ghazals, Dr Ghazal Srinivas popularized the Ghazal in Telugu language all over the world. Dr Ghazal Srinivas also introduced ghazal singing in Kannada language and ghazals in Kannada language were written by Markandapuram Srinivas.
In English
After nearly a century of "false starts" -- that is, early experiments by James Clarence ManganJames Clarence Mangan
James Clarence Mangan, born James Mangan was an Irish poet.-Early life:Mangan was the son of a former hedge school teacher who took over a grocery business and eventually became bankrupt....
, James Elroy Flecker
James Elroy Flecker
James Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets.-Biography:...
, Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Cecile Rich is an American poet, essayist and feminist. She has been called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century."-Early life:...
, Phyllis Webb
Phyllis Webb
Phyllis Webb, is a Canadian poet and radio broadcaster. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes her as "a writer of stature in Canadian letters", and calls her work "brilliantly crafted, formal in its energies and humane in its concern"....
., etc., many of which did not adhere wholly or in part to the traditional principles of the form, experiments dubbed as "the bastard ghazal" -- the ghazal finally began to be recognized as a viable closed form in English-language poetry sometime in the early to mid 1990s. This came about largely as a result of serious, true-to-form examples being published by noted American poets John Hollander
John Hollander
John Hollander is a Jewish-American poet and literary critic. As of 2007, he is Sterling Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University...
, W. S. Merwin
W. S. Merwin
William Stanley Merwin is an American poet, credited with over 30 books of poetry, translation and prose. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, Merwin's writing influence derived from...
and Elise Paschen
Elise Paschen
Elise Paschen, a poet of Osage descent, is the co-founder and co-editor of Poetry in Motion, a program which places poetry posters in subways and buses across the country. The daughter of renowned prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief, and Chicago builder Henry D. Paschen, she was born and raised in...
, as well as by Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali, who had been teaching and spreading word of the ghazal at various American universities over the previous two decades.
In 1996, Ali compiled and edited the world's first anthology of English-language ghazals, published by Wesleyan University Press
Wesleyan University Press
Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The Press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist...
in 2000 as Ravishing DisUnities: Real Ghazals in English. (Fewer than one in ten of the ghazals collected in "Real Ghazals in English" observe the constraints of the form.)
A ghazal is composed of couplets, five or more. The couplets may have nothing to do with one another, except for the formal unity derived from a strict rhyme and rhythm pattern.
A ghazal in English which observes the traditional restrictions of the form:
Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonight?
Whom else from rapture’s road will you expel tonight?
Those “Fabrics of Cashmere--“ ”to make Me beautiful--“
“Trinket”-- to gem– “Me to adorn– How– tell”-- tonight?
I beg for haven: Prisons, let open your gates–
A refugee from Belief seeks a cell tonight.
God’s vintage loneliness has turned to vinegar–
All the archangels– their wings frozen– fell tonight.
Lord, cried out the idols, Don’t let us be broken
Only we can convert the infidel tonight.
Mughal ceilings, let your mirrored convexities
multiply me at once under your spell tonight.
He’s freed some fire from ice in pity for Heaven.
He’s left open– for God– the doors of Hell tonight.
In the heart’s veined temple, all statues have been smashed
No priest in saffron’s left to toll its knell tonight
God, limit these punishments, there’s still Judgment Day–
I’m a mere sinner, I’m no infidel tonight.
Executioners near the woman at the window.
Damn you, Elijah, I’ll bless Jezebel tonight.
The hunt is over, and I hear the Call to Prayer
fade into that of the wounded gazelle tonight.
My rivals for your love– you’ve invited them all?
This is mere insult, this is no farewell tonight.
And I, Shahid, only am escaped to tell thee–
God sobs in my arms. Call me Ishmael tonight.
(Agha Shahid Ali)
Ghazals composed in English by notable poets
- Agha Shahid Ali, "Ghazal ('...exiles')"
- Robert BlyRobert BlyRobert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...
, The Night Abraham Called to the Stars and My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy - Francis BrabazonFrancis BrabazonFrancis Brabazon was an Australian poet and a member of Meher Baba's mandali.Brabazon was born in London, but moved to Australia with his family when he was still a boy. At the age of 21, Francis Brabazon embarked on a quest to discover the relationship between beauty and truth. He studied music...
, In Dust I Sing (Beguine Library, 1974). - Lorna CrozierLorna CrozierLorna Crozier is a Canadian poet and holds the Head Chair in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria....
, "Bones in Their Wings" - Judith FitzgeraldJudith FitzgeraldJudith Ariana Fitzgerald is a Canadian poet and journalist. Born in Toronto, Ontario, she attended York University . The award-winning poet, critic, and cultural commentarian published her first poem October 1970...
, Twenty-Six Ways Out of This World (Oberon), 1999. - Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, "The Mother Mourns" - Jim HarrisonJim HarrisonJames "Jim" Harrison is an American author known for his poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, and writings about food. He has been called "a force of nature", and his work has been compared to that of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway...
, Outlyer and Ghazals (Touchstone), 1971 - John HollanderJohn HollanderJohn Hollander is a Jewish-American poet and literary critic. As of 2007, he is Sterling Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University...
, "Ghazal On Ghazals" - Galway KinnellGalway KinnellGalway Kinnell is an American poet. He was Poet Laureate of Vermont from 1989 to 1993. An admitted follower of Walt Whitman, Kinnell rejects the idea of seeking fulfillment by escaping into the imaginary world. His best-loved and most anthologized poems are "St...
, "Sheffield Ghazal 4: Driving West", "Sheffield Ghazal 5: Passing the Cemetery" (Mariner Books), 2001 - Maxine KuminMaxine KuminMaxine Kumin is an American poet and author. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1981-1982.-Early years:...
, "On the Table" - Marilyn KryslMarilyn KryslMarilyn Krysl is an American award-winning writer of short stories and poetry who is known for her quirky and witty storytelling. She has published four short story collections along with seven collections of poetry...
, "Ghazals for the Turn of the Century" - Edward LowburyEdward LowburyEdward Joseph Lister Lowbury was a pioneering and innovative English medical bacteriologist and pathologist, and also a published poet.-Life:...
, "A Ghazel (for Pauline)" (1968); "Prometheus: a ghazel" (1976); "Remembering Nine (a ghazel for Peter Russell)" (1981) - W. S. MerwinW. S. MerwinWilliam Stanley Merwin is an American poet, credited with over 30 books of poetry, translation and prose. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, Merwin's writing influence derived from...
, "The Causeway" - William MatthewsWilliam Matthews (poet)William Matthews was an American poet and essayist.-Life:Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Matthews earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University, and a master's from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.In addition to serving as a Writer-in-Residence at Boston's Emerson College, Matthews...
, "Guzzle", "Drizzle" - Elise PaschenElise PaschenElise Paschen, a poet of Osage descent, is the co-founder and co-editor of Poetry in Motion, a program which places poetry posters in subways and buses across the country. The daughter of renowned prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief, and Chicago builder Henry D. Paschen, she was born and raised in...
, "Sam's Ghazal" - Robert PinskyRobert PinskyRobert Pinsky is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of which are collections of his own poetry...
, "The Hall" - Spencer ReeceSpencer ReeceSpencer Reece is a poet who lives not in Juno Beach, Florida. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University, he received a M.A. from the University of York , and a M.T.S. from the Harvard Divinity School...
, Florida Ghazals - Adrienne RichAdrienne RichAdrienne Cecile Rich is an American poet, essayist and feminist. She has been called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century."-Early life:...
, Ghazals: Homage to Ghalib - John ThompsonJohn Thompson (poet)John Thompson was an English-born Canadian poet.John Thompson was born in Timperley in 1938. Following the death of his father and abandonment by his mother, he was educated at various boarding schools and the Manchester Grammar School. He received his B.A. in honours psychology from the...
, "Stilt Jack" (Anansi), 1978. - Andrew D. ChumbleyAndrew D. ChumbleyAndrew D. Chumbley was an English practitioner and theorist of magic, and a writer, poet and artist. He was Magister of the UK-based magical group Cultus Sabbati....
, "Qutub" (Xoanon), 1995. - Natasha TretheweyNatasha TretheweyNatasha Trethewey is an American poet who won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her 2006 collection, Native Guard.Trethewey was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. She earned the A.B. in English from the University of Georgia, an M.A. in poetry from Hollins University, and an M.F.A. in poetry from...
, "Miscegenation", 2006. - Phyllis WebbPhyllis WebbPhyllis Webb, is a Canadian poet and radio broadcaster. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes her as "a writer of stature in Canadian letters", and calls her work "brilliantly crafted, formal in its energies and humane in its concern"....
, Water and Light: Ghazals and Anti Ghazals (Coach House), 1984. - John Edgar WidemanJohn Edgar WidemanJohn Edgar Wideman is an American writer, professor at Brown University, and sits on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.-Early life:...
, "Lost Letter" - Rob WingerRob WingerRob Winger is an Ontario-born poet.Winger received an MA in English literature from the University of Guelph in 2002 and a PhD from Carleton University in 2009....
, "The Chimney Stone" (Nightwood Editions), 2010 - Sukhdarshan DhaliwalSukhdarshan DhaliwalSukhdarshan Dhaliwal is an Punjabi-American poet, who has published three collections of poetry in Punjabi and one collection of ghazals in English.-Biography:...
, "Ghazals at Twilight" (SD Publications), 2009
Ghazal singers
Some notable ghazal singers are:- Ahmed RushdiAhmed RushdiAhmed Rushdi, SI, PP was a versatile Pakistani playback singer who worked in film music and was "an important contributor to the Golden Age of Pakistani film music." Rushdi is acclaimed as one of the greatest singers ever lived in south asia and was a natural baritone, yet could sing high tenor...
- Asha BhosleAsha BhosleAsha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...
- Ahmed and Mohammed HussainAhmed and Mohammed HussainAhmed Hussain and Mohammed Hussain are ghazal singers from Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan state in India. Ahmed and Mohemmad Hussain are two brothers who sing classical ghazals. Born in Rajastan as sons of the famous ghazal and thumri singer Ustad Afzal Hussain, the duo touches genres like Indian...
- Anup JalotaAnup JalotaAnup Jalota is an Indian singer/musician, best known for his performances in the Indian musical form, the bhajan and the Urdu form of poetry: ghazal.He is popularly known as the Bhajan Samraat .-Early life:...
- Ataullah Khan
- Aziz MianAziz MianAziz Mian Qawwal was one of Pakistan's leading traditional qawwals and also famous for singing ghazals in a unique style of qawwali. Aziz is still one of the most popular qawwals of South Asia...
- Begum AkhtarBegum AkhtarAkhtari Bai Faizabadi or Begum Akhtar was a well known Indian singer of Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri.She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for vocal music, and was awarded Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by Govt. of India...
- Chitra SinghChitra SinghChitra Singh is a renowned Indian Urdu/Hindi Ghazal singer. She was married to Jagjit Singh, who was a prominent Ghazal singer. Jagjit Singh died on October 10 2011. They formed a highly popular duet team and are considered pioneers of modern Ghazal singing. -Early life:Chitra Dutta was born in a...
- Ghulam AliGhulam AliUSTAAD Ghulam Ali is a Pakistani ghazal singer of the Patiala gharana. He is not to be confused with the Indian singer Bade Ghulam Ali Khan or Chhote Ghulam Ali, who is another Pakistani singer in the Qual Bachon Gharana....
- Jagjit SinghJagjit Singh (singer)Jagjit Singh ; born Jagmohan Singh; was a prominent Indian Ghazal singer, composer, music director, activist and entrepreneur...
- Salma AghaSalma AghaSalma Agha is a singer and actress from Pakistan who sang as well as acted in Indian films in the 1980s and the early 1990s. She won the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award in 1982 for the ghazal "Dil ke Armaan" in Nikaah.-Early life:...
- Yateesh M. AcharyaYateesh M. AcharyaYateesh M. Acharya is a Ghazal and Bhajan singer. Classically trained, with over three decades in the field of music, Yateesh’s repertoire also includes the traditional Thumari, Dadra and Sufi songs and the earthly Mand and Folk songs.- Early life :...
- Kiran AhluwaliaKiran AhluwaliaKiran Ahluwalia is an Indo-Canadian singer who publicly performs her own musical arrangements of ancient Persian and Punjabi Ghazals, or poems....
- MahwashMahwashUstad Mahwash commonly referred to as Ustad Mahwash is a popular Afghan singer. She was the first woman to have been conferred the honorary title of “Ustad”...
- Ustad Amanat Ali Khan
- Najma AkhtarNajma AkhtarNajma Akhtar born in the UK, also known as Najma, is a British singer of Asian ancestry. She was born in 1964 Chelmsford, England.Najma studied chemical engineering at Aston University, Birmingham: her father, brother and sister are also engineers...
- Talat AzizTalat AzizTalat Aziz is a popular ghazal singer from Hyderabad, India.-Early life:Born in Hyderabad, India to Abdul Azeem Khan and Sajida Abid, a famous Urdu writer and poet...
- Iqbal BanoIqbal BanoIqbal Bano , PP was a highly acclaimed female Ghazal singer from Pakistan. She was best known for her semi-classical Urdu ghazal songs and classical thumris, but also sang easy-listening numbers in 1950s films....
- Mohammed RafiMohammed RafiMohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
- Mehdi HassanMehdi HassanMehdi Hassan is a Pakistani ghazal singer and a former playback singer for Lollywood. He is famously known as the 'King of ghazal' . He has ruled the Pakistan film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi...
- Munni BegumMunni BegumMunni Begum is a famous Pakistani ghazal Singer. Her real name is Nadira . She is based in Chicago, IL, USA.-Early life:Munni Begum was born in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India. The youngest child of seven children, she first started taking music lessons from the famous singer Ustad Khwaja Ghulam...
- Malika PukhrajMalika PukhrajMalika Pukhraj was a highly popular singer of Pakistan. She was generally called as "Malika" meaning "The Queen." She is extremely popular for her rendition of Hafeez Jalandhri's song, Abhi to main jawan hoon , which is enjoyed by millions not only in Pakistan, but also in India...
- HariharanHariharan (singer)Hariharan , born 3 April 1955) is an Indian playback singer in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Telugu movies, an established ghazal singer, and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music. His melody is strongly appreciated by the film fraternity...
- Cassius KhanCassius KhanCassius Khan , is an Indian classical musician known for playing the tabla and Ghazal while singing.- Career :In Vancouver, Khan met Mushtari Begum, a Ghazal singer, Sheikh Mohyudean, a harmonium / Qawaali singer, and Ustad Rukhsar Ali, a tabla player. He subsequently began lessons with these...
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
- Farida KhanumFarida KhanumFarida Khanum is a Pakistani Ghazal singer from Punjab. The Times of India has called her "Malika-e-Ghazal" ....
- Runa LailaRuna LailaRuna Laila is a singer of the Indian subcontinent who is from Bangladesh. She started her career from Pakistan film industry and is effective in Ghazals also. She made a hit pair with famous singer Ahmed Rushdi after replacing Mala. She also has done numerous playbacks for movies in Bangladesh,...
- Master MadanMaster MadanMaster Madan was a talented Ghazal and geet singer of India of pre-independence era. During his life he only recorded eight songs, and these are now commonly available. He was born December 28, 1927, in KhanKhana, a village in District Jalandhar of the Punjab, now in Nawanshahar. This village was...
- Talat MahmoodTalat MahmoodTalat Mahmood was a popular Indian playback singer and film actor. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1992, he was famous for singing ghazals. For this quality he was known as the King of ghazals....
- Lata MangeshkarLata MangeshkarLata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
- Penaz MasaniPenaz MasaniPenaz Masani an Indian Ghazal singer who started singing in 1981 and has made over 20 albums in following years In her career, she has won a number of awards, including the title of 'Shehzadi Tarunnam' , by the state government of Uttar Pradesh 1996 and the 11th 'Kalakar Award' for 'Outstanding...
- Habib Wali MohammadHabib Wali MohammadHabib Wali Mohammad is a Pakistani ghazal singer.-Early life:Habib Wali Mohammad was born in Rangoon to a conservative Memon family, which later moved to Bombay. His family, Tabani, an industrial house has large business holdings in Pakistan.During his childhood Habib Wali often listened to...
- Nayyara NoorNayyara NoorNayyara Noor is a Pakistani playback singer who is also considered one of the South Asia's foremost exponents in the Ghazal genre.-Biography:...
- Noorjehan
- Shishir ParkhieShishir ParkhieShishir Parkhie born on 7 November 1967 at Nagpur in the state of Mahashtra, India is a singer, music composer and a live show performer.Shishir has been performing live Ghazal concerts at various places worldwide. Shishir uses various forms of music ranging from Ghazals, Bhajans, Sugam Sangeet,...
- Abida ParveenAbida ParveenAbida Parveen , is a Pakistani singer of Sindhi descent and one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music . She sings mainly ghazals, Urdu love songs, and her forte, Kafis, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets...
- Anuradha PaudwalAnuradha PaudwalAnuradha Paudwal is a popular playback singer in Bollywood in India.She has sung songs in Hindi, Marathi and Nepali.- Biography :She studied at Xavier's College in Mumbai. She was married to the late Arun Paudwal, who worked with music director S. D. Burman as his assistant...
- ReshmaReshmaReshma, SI, is a renowned folk singer of Pakistan, who is popular in India too.- Early life :She was born in Loha village of in Tahsil Ratangarh, Rajasthan to a Banjara family about 1947. Her family moved to Pakistan during the partition of India soon afterwards. She says she does not have any...
- Sabri BrothersSabri BrothersThe Sabri Brothers are a Qawwali party from Pakistan.-Original members:The Sabri Brothers originally consisted of Ghulam Farid Sabri , Maqbool Ahmed Sabri , Kamal Sabri The Sabri Brothers (Urdu: صابری برادران) are a Qawwali party from Pakistan.-Original members:The Sabri Brothers originally...
- Mohammad Hussain SarahangMohammad Hussain SarahangUstād Mohammad Hussain Sarāhang was an Afghan musician and best known exponent of hindustani classical music from Kabul Afghanistan. He was the second oldest son of the renowned musician, Ustad Gholam Hussain...
- Mohammad Reza ShajarianMohammad Reza ShajarianMohammad-Reza Shajarian is an internationally and critically acclaimed Persian traditional singer, composer and ostad of Persian music...
- Bhupinder and Mitali SinghBhupinder Singh (musician)Bhupinder Singh is an Indian musician, chiefly a Ghazal singer and Bollywood playback singer.-Early life:Born in Patiala, Punjab to Prof Nattha Singh , a trained vocalist and his early music teacher. He was one of the 7 brothers and sisters...
- Jasvinder SinghJasvinder SinghJaswinder Singh is an Indian Ghazal singer.-Early life:Jaswinder Singh was born in Punjab to legendary composer Kuldip Singh, composer of ghazals such as Tumko dekha to ye khayal aaya, movie Saath-Saath and Itni Shakti Hame De Na Daata, movie Ankush...
- Tahira SyedTahira SyedTahira Syed is a Ghazal and folk singer in Pakistan. She is the daughter of vocalist Begum Malika Pukhraj, and was the former wife of Naeem Bokhari.- Music career :...
- Manhar UdhasManhar UdhasManhar Udhas is Hindi and Gujarati language singer. He has given voice for many Hindi movies as playback singer. He is the elder brother of singer Pankaj Udhas and Nirmal Udhas and has worked with Pankaj on albums and Live Shows. Manhar has worked with all the composers of the film world and has...
- Pankaj UdhasPankaj UdhasPankaj Udhas is an Indian singer, credited in the Indian music industry, along with other musicians like Jagjit Singh and Talat Aziz, with bringing the style to the realm of popular music. Udhas rose to fame for singing in the film Naam , in which his song Chitthi Aayee Hai became an instant hit....
- Ahmad WaliAhmad WaliAhmad Wali is a popular Ghazal singer from Afghanistan. He began his career in the 1970s, becoming popular in his native country before he was forced to flee by political upheaval in Afghanistan. He continued his work after resettling in Germany, performing throughout Europe and the United...
- Ghazal SrinivasGhazal SrinivasKesiraju Srinivas, popularly known as Ghazal Srinivas, is a Telugu Ghazal Maestro, an Indian classical vocalist, and Pioneer of Art of Telugu ghazal singing...
Many Indian and Pakistani film singers are famous for singing ghazals. These include:
- Asha BhosleAsha BhosleAsha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...
- Ahmed RushdiAhmed RushdiAhmed Rushdi, SI, PP was a versatile Pakistani playback singer who worked in film music and was "an important contributor to the Golden Age of Pakistani film music." Rushdi is acclaimed as one of the greatest singers ever lived in south asia and was a natural baritone, yet could sing high tenor...
- Chitra SinghChitra SinghChitra Singh is a renowned Indian Urdu/Hindi Ghazal singer. She was married to Jagjit Singh, who was a prominent Ghazal singer. Jagjit Singh died on October 10 2011. They formed a highly popular duet team and are considered pioneers of modern Ghazal singing. -Early life:Chitra Dutta was born in a...
- Jagjit SinghJagjit Singh (singer)Jagjit Singh ; born Jagmohan Singh; was a prominent Indian Ghazal singer, composer, music director, activist and entrepreneur...
- Mehdi HassanMehdi HassanMehdi Hassan is a Pakistani ghazal singer and a former playback singer for Lollywood. He is famously known as the 'King of ghazal' . He has ruled the Pakistan film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi...
- Talat MahmoodTalat MahmoodTalat Mahmood was a popular Indian playback singer and film actor. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1992, he was famous for singing ghazals. For this quality he was known as the King of ghazals....
- HariharanHariharan (singer)Hariharan , born 3 April 1955) is an Indian playback singer in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Telugu movies, an established ghazal singer, and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music. His melody is strongly appreciated by the film fraternity...
- Mohammad Rafi
- Noor JehanNoor JehanNoorjehan or Noorjehan was the adopted stage name for Allah Wasai who was a legendary singer and actress in British India and Pakistan. Her career spanned seven decades...
- Lata MangeshkarLata MangeshkarLata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
- Srilekha ParthasarathySrilekha ParthasarathySrilekha Parthasarathy is a Tamil singer who is commonly referred to by her first name Srilekha...
- K. L. SaigalKundan Lal SaigalKundan Lal Saigal was an Indian singer and actor who is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, which was centered in Calcutta during Saigal's time, but is currently centered in Mumbai.-Early life:Saigal was born at Jammu where his father Amar Chand was a tehsildar at the...
Some Malaysian
Music of Malaysia
Music of Malaysia is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Malaysia. A great variety of genres in Malaysian music reflect the specific ethnic groups of multiracial Malaysian society consisting of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Dayak, Kadazandusun, Eurasians and other...
and Indonesian singers
Music of Indonesia
The music of Indonesia demonstrates its cultural diversity, the local musical creativity, as well as subsequent foreign musical influences that shaped contemporary music scenes of Indonesia. Nearly thousands of Indonesian islands having its own cultural and artistic history and character. This...
are famous for ghazals. These include:
- Rosiah ChikRosiah ChikRosiah Chik or Rosiah Abdul Manaf was Malay traditional singer particularly of asli and ghazal songs, made famous in the 1960s-1970s in Malaysia. She was also known as Mak We among the people of the industry and her fans.-Personal:...
- Siti NurhalizaSiti NurhalizaDato', or occasionally Datin Seri, Siti Nurhaliza binti Tarudin DIMP, JSM, SAP, PMP, AAP is a Malaysian singer, songwriter, record producer, television presenter and businesswoman. To date, she has garnered more than 200 local awards as well as international awards...
External links
- Urdu poetic forms
- http://www.indianchild.com/literature/urdu-literature.htm
- a ghazalsagar all in one ghazal site
- A Desertful of Roses The Divan-e Ghalib - in Urdu, with Devanagari and Roman transliterations. Also includes a collection of concise commentaries on each verse by well-known scholars, as well as other critical information.
- The Ghazal Page, an online journal devoted to the ghazal in English.
- Louis Werner, 2001, A Gift of Ghazals, Saudi Aramco World