Urdu poetry
Like other languages, the history of
Urdu poetry does not have a firm starting point and shares origins and influences with other linguistic traditions within the
Urdu-Hindi-Hindustani mix. Literary figures as far back as
Kabir (1440 - 1518) and even
Amir Khusro (1253-1325 AD) deserve mention as influences later Urdu poets draw on for inspiration as well as intellectual and linguistic sources. The tradition is centered in the
Indian subcontinent. Following the
Partition of India in 1947, it found major poets and scholars residing primarily in modern
Pakistan and
India.
Mushairas (or poetic expositions) are today held in almost every major metropolitan area in the world. Over this period,
Urdu poets have produced a large number of primarily poetic works.
The major genres of poetry found in Urdu are:
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Ghazal*
Nazm*
Qasida*
Marsia*
Sehra *
Rubai*
Noha*
Shehr Aashob*
Qata *
DohaIn the
Urdu poetic tradition, most poets use a
pen name called the
takhallus. This can be either a part of a poet's given name or something else adopted as an identity. The traditional convention in identifying Urdu poets is to mention the
takhallus at the end of the name. Thus,
Ghalib, whose given name was
Mirza Asadullah Beg (the prefix
Mirza and suffix
Beg identifying him as a
Chughtai) and official name and title was
Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan is referred to formally as
Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, or, in common parlance, as just
Mirza Ghalib. An interesting sidebar to this is that some poets end up having a part of their name repeated; thus,
Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
The word
takhallus is derived from Arabic, meaning "ending". This is because in the
ghazal form, the poet would usually incorporate his or her pen name into the final couplet (
maqta) of each poem as a type of 'signature'.
The most acclaimed Urdu poets include
Ghalib,
Mir,
Dard,
Daag,
Iqbal, Tilok Chand Mahrum, Jagannath Azad,
Faiz,
Momin,
Sahir Ludhyanvi, Sahir Hoshiarpuri ,
Wali,
Faraz,
Amjad Islam Amjad,
Ghulam Muhammad Qasir,
Fazil Jamili,
Zafar Iqbal and many more. See
List of Urdu poets for a more comprehensive list.
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Urdu*
Urdu literature*
Urdu prose*
List of Urdu Poets*
Bait Bazi, a game using Urdu poetry
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India*
Mughal*
Persian*
Pakistan*
Aligarians.com Large Collection of Urdu Poetry with English Translations.
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www.eBazm.com Poetry discussion forum, mailing list and Urdu-English dictionary.
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Urdu Poetry Urdu Lovers Website with Urdu Graphics.
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Urdu Poetry One of the
largest collection of urdu poetry on Web by urdu Stuff.
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Urdu Ghazals A collection of Urdu ghazals.
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shairy.com: Largest collection of Online Urdu poetry,Urdu Shairee, Shairy and forum
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Shaayari (Urdu-Hindi) Poetry Blog Some self composed Urdu and hindi Poetries.
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Urdu Project Gutenberg of Urdu Language. Urdu poetry,Urdu Shairee, Urdu Prose. 117+ Urdu Books, 21,600+ Urdu-Pages!
Read Now!
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Urdu Ghazal, Nazm & Interesting Info about poets and poetry Site/blog on classical and modern Urdu poetry in nastaliq Urdu font and English.
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Organic brewery: Weblog with a selection of Urdu poetry translations and transliterations.
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Alphabetical Index of Poets : A collection of representative poems of a number of leading Urdu poets.Script: English (Phonetic).
