The ghazal is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. 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 ghazal form is ancient, tracing its origins to 7th-century Arabic poetry. A ghazal commonly consists of five to fifteen couplets, which are independent, but are linked – abstractly, in their theme; and more strictly in their poetic form. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet. In style and content, due to its highly elusive nature, the ghazal has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation.Ghazals have the capacity to enchant you with the emotions of the artist. It speaks volumes of crude emotions through poetic representation of thoughts and feelings. The Ghazal tradition is marked by the poetry’s ambiguity and simultaneity of meaning. The nature of the ghazals also changed to meet the demands of musical presentation, becoming briefer in length. Lighter poetic meters, such as khafîf, ramal, and muqtarab were preferred, instead of longer, more ponderous meters favored for qaṣīdas. But despite all of the changes, the true essence of Ghazal still remains close to home for all.
