Through their work poets and writers of fiction tried to reform the prevalent social and political system. The new poets started writing in blank verse and free verse in order to break away from the restricted traditional forms.

Novels and short stories became very popular in this period. A powerful modernistic literary movement emerged in the 1930’s that sought to change the thought as well as forms of Urdu literature.

Thoughtful and enlightened people began to question the conventions and traditions of the old order. In the 19th century, Urdu came under Western influence because of British dominance, and the British system of education it fostered. It is like Palamon’s love for Emily in Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale and it is unlike Arcite’s love which is sensual and worldly. The love expressed in the ghazal is idealized love in which the beloved is adored and worshipped like a goddess. It allows the poet the freedom to move from topic to topic at will. Thus a ghazal is a collection of verses expressing the poet’s thoughts and emotions joined together by the rhyming end words. One she’r may be about the pangs of separation and next about the impermanence of the world, while the one after that may express the undying devotion to the loved one-human or divine. A ghazal may have seven or nine she’rs but each of them may be independent of the other in thought. The ghazal is a love poem written in stanzas, consisting of two hemistitches called a sh’er. However, the most popular and important form of poetry is undoubtedly the ghazal. Humorous and satirical poetry is also plentiful in Urdu. A rubai is a four-line poem on a specific theme like The Ruba’iat of Omar Khayyam. A na’at is a poem expressing the poet’s devotion to the Prophet of Islam. A marsia is an elegiac poem that grieves over the death of an important person while a qasida, on the other hand, is a panegyric in praise of a king or a patron, usually written in a highly exaggerated style and diction. The masnavi, for example, is a long narrative romantic poem like The Roman de la Rose of medieval Europe. By the 18th century, Urdu became a well-developed language with a body of literature that consisted mainly of poetry. It is written from right to left like Arabic and Persian and in the same script. It follows many of the conventions of form and expression of those two languages. When Muslims from Afghanistan and Central Asia invaded India in the 12th century and made it their home, Urdu language grew out of the necessity of communication between the new comers and the indigenous people. ‘Urdu’ is a Turkish word, which means a camp. Urdu is a hybrid language that is based on the spoken languages of Northern India with a generous overlay of Arabic and Persian words.

Asia Society Museum: The Asia Arts & Museum Network.

Urdu poem on love