Over time, Urdu poetry evolved to become a more intimate and personal way of responding to the social and political tribulations of the period. The proliferation of media outlets and rapidity of communications today would be shocking to the public of late 18th century India, when newspapers and modes of communication were limited to the local-run Delhi Urdu Akhbar and the British-run Delhi Gazette. Zafar Khan and his brother in the company of poets and scholars in a garden.

– Bahadur Shah Zafar (1775 – 1862) Mushaira: The Poetic Symposium Not one lively scent of love, not one streak of faith. Whither I, whither my moon, and whither those nights of love?īut to see such a dream had once been my fate Although, I (Zafar) combed the garden, I didn’t see one bloom, Na kuchh ulfat ki boo paai, na kuchh rang-e-wafa dekha. Magar hum ne kabhi tha ek yeh bhi khwaab saa dekha, Zafar ki sair is gulshan mein hum ne par kisi gul mein, Kahan woh maha jabeen aur hum, kahan who wasal ki raaten, It requires great skill on the part of the poet to reduce the most complex of emotions into the fewest of words while maintaining sophistication of thought and word. Each verse of a ghazal is a complex but complete description of the topic. The poet is the distraught, spurned lover who tries to gain the affection of an aloof, disdainful, sometimes cruel beloved. Traditionally, ghazals mainly deal with the topic of love – more specifically, unattainable love. Ghazal literally means “to talk to/about women”. There are several types of Urdu shairi, one of which is the hugely popular ghazal. Urdu shairi is based on a system of measure, and has a very rigid form.

The following decades witnessed a phenomenal rise in Urdu poetry and ushered in the age of legends such as Ghalib, Zauq and Mir. Urdu poetry or shairi as we recognize it today took its final decisive shape in the 17th century when Urdu was declared the official language of the Mughal court.

Zulm shayari urdu