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.

Genres

The major genres of poetry found in Urdu are:

• Ghazal
• Nazm
• Qasida
• Marsia
• Sehra
• Rubai
• Noha
• Shehr Aashob
• Qata
• Doha

Pen names (Takhallus)

In 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'.

Poets

The most acclaimed Urdu poets include Ghalib, Mir, Dard, Daag, Iqbal, Faiz, Momin, Sahir, Wali,Faraz, Amjad Islam Amjad, Fazil Jamili, Zafar Iqbal and many more. See List of Urdu poets for a more comprehensive list.

See also

• Urdu
• Urdu literature
• Urdu prose
• List of Urdu Poets
• Bait Bazi, a game using Urdu poetry
• India
• Mughal
• Persian
• Pakistan

External links

• Urdu Website Urdu Services purely in Urdu Graphics

• Urdu Poetry:) Free Urdu Poetry Section, You can real Urdu Poetry of all old and New Poets From All Over The World.

• Urdu Funny Poetry:) Wanted to read Funny Poetry was not so easy before this section has been launched and can be seen by everybody. Just visit

• Urdu Mazah and read Funny Urdu Poetry.

• Urdu Ghazals A collection of Urdu ghazals.

• Urdu Nazms A collection of Urdu nazms.

• Urdu-Poetry: Are you looking for Urdu Poetry books? From funny Urdu poetry to sad Urdu petry, Indian Urdu poetry to Pakistani Urdu poetry and even male Urdu poetry to female Urdu poetry it is here. Get it now

• shairy.com: Largest collection of Online Urdu poetry,Urdu Shairee, Shairy and forum

• Shaayari (Urdu-Hindi) Poetry Blog Some self composed Urdu and hindi Poetries.

• [1] Site/blog on classical and modern Urdu poetry in nastaliq Urdu font and English.

• Urdu Project Gutenberg of Urdu Language. Urdu poetry,Urdu Shairee, Urdu Prose. 117+ Urdu Books, 21,600+ Urdu-Pages! Read Now!
• Eurdubazaar.com: Large collection of Urdu poetry, some with audio recitations and songs.
• Organic brewery: Weblog with a selection of Urdu poetry translations and transliterations.
• Alphabetical Index of Poets : A collection of representative poems of a number of leading Urdu poets.Script: English (Phonetic).