IT is often said that masnavi, also pronounced mathnavi, is derived from an Arabic word and it means, literally: doubled, two-fold, of a dualled number. But some scholars doubt the origin and say the word masnavi was coined in Iran, albeit it is based on an Arabic word, which literally means the second.

A masnavi is a poetic structure that has two rhyming lines, hence the name. A masnavi is also a genre of poetry, a type of long poem, that has two rhyming lines in every couplet but each couplet is independently rhymed and couplets in rest of the poem may have different qaafiyas, or rhyming words.

In Arabic, masnavi is called muzdavij or muzdavija, meaning ‘doubled’, but Arabic masnavis are slightly different from Persian and Urdu masnavis as Arabic masnavis may have a slightly different rhyming scheme. Some critics, such as Haamidullah Afsar, believed that masnavi must be composed in seven specific behrs (poetic metres). The metres that he suggested for masnavi are comparatively shorter ones, but in more recent times this requirement may not be strictly complied with, at least when it comes to Urdu masnavi. Now some scholars believe masnavi in Urdu can be composed in any metre, though many poets prefer the traditional metres, the ones with fewer syllables.

The usual structure or pattern followed by most masnavi poets, especially in Urdu, is that they begin with praising Allah, eulogising Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), paying tributes to the four caliphs and companions of the Prophet and, depending on their beliefs, Shia imams, too. Then they usually versify a few thoughts on poetry and eloquence, often bragging about their poetic talents and challenging their rivals, as Mulla Vajahi did by spoofing at another court poet named Ghavvasi in his masnavi ‘Qutb Mushtari’ (1018 Hijri/1609-1610).

If the poet has a patron, such as a king or a nabob, their praise is an essential part, especially emphasising patron’s largesse, perhaps in expectation of some monetary favours. Only then can the actual story begin. Even Pandit Daya Shankar Naseem Lakhnavi, a Hindu by faith, has followed the practice to some extent, briefly praising God, the Prophet and Panjtan in his masnavi ‘Gulzar-i-Naseem’ (1844).

A masnavi has no restriction on the number of couplets and, unlike ghazal, all the couplets of a masnavi are required to be interlinked as well as associated with central idea. A ghazal has to follow the same rhymes even if it contains hundreds of couplets and this naturally limits ghazal’s scope. A poet of masnavi, however, is free to use different rhyming words in every new couplet. This lax rhyming pattern and a limitless length make masnavi a suitable mode of expression for themes that require describing events at length or that need some kind of detailed narration, such as, epics, romantic tales or philosophic notions, though a masnavi is often used as a tool for expressing religious, moral or didactic ideas, too.

Persian poetry offers some masterfully written epic masnavis, such as, ‘Shah Nama’, which is one of the world’s longest epic poems, with 50,000 couplets. It took Firodousi over 30 years to compose ‘Shah Nama’ and is considered a national, historical and cultural record. Firdousi in one of the couplets in ‘Shah Nama’ rightly claims:

Basi ranj burdam darin saal si

’Ajam zinda kardam badin Parsi

This may roughly be translated as: I have endured much hardship during these 30 years and have made Iran come alive in Persian.

Maulana Rumi’s Masnavi-i-Ma’anavi is often dubbed “hast Quraan dar zaban-i-Pehlavi”, or Quran in the Persian language. Rumi’s masnavi is considered an important text among mystics and poetry buffs alike. Rumi began composing the masnavi in or around the year 1258 and kept on adding to it till his death in 1273. It has six books and the sixth one remains unfinished, though all in all there are about 25,000 couplets.

Masnavi in Urdu began in Deccan. Though some researchers have mentioned a masnavi written much earlier by Baba Fareeduddin Ganj Shakar who died circa 1265, its authenticity is yet to be verified. Khaawar Nama by Rustami Bijapuri is Urdu’s longest epic masnavi. Written in Deccan in 1049 Hijri/1649 AD and containing 24,000 couplets, it is in fact a versified Urdu translation of a Persian masnavi with an identical name. Chaand Husain Shiekh edited Rustami’s Khaawar Nama and Karachi’s Taraqqi-i-Urdu Board (now Urdu Dictionary Board) published it in 1968. The original Persian Khaawar Nama was written by Ibn-e-Hisaam in 830 Hijri/1426-27 AD. But Urdu masnavis narrating a love tale by far outnumber the epic masnavis in Urdu.

Many of the popular Urdu masnavis are love stories, for example, Naseem’s ‘Gulzar-i-Naseem’ and Mir Hasan Dehlvi’s ‘Sehr-ul-Bayaan’ (1784-58).

drraufparekh@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2024