Ghazal and Repetition

The ghazal is a style of Arabic poetry most known for its formal disunity marked with rhyme, repetition, and prosody. The chapter “Ghazal: To Be Teased Into Disunity” by Agha Shadid Ali from the book, “An Exaltation of Forms” written by Annie Finch and Katherine Varnes, describes the various rules of the ghazal, including the formal rules regarding the couplets of the poem. The ghazal is composed of “thematically independent couplets held (as well as not held) together in a stunning fashion. Each couplet is autonomous, thematically and emotionally complete in itself…” (Ali 210). Essentially, deleting or moving the couplets in a ghazal located after the matla and before the makhta (the signature couplet made by a poet at the end of his/her ghazal) will make no change to the meaning of the poem, as the lines are independent of one another.

What makes a ghazal different from arbitrariness is the clear unity based on rhyme and refrain. Although there is formal disunity between couplets inside the ghazal, the rules regarding the formation of the couplets in a ghazal are very stringent. Each ghazal is started with a matla, or opening couplet which sets up a qafia (scheme rhyme), as well as a radif (refrain). The scheme set by the matla continues throughout the poem only in the second line of each succeeding couplet. Once the scheme of the ghazal is established, the poet “becomes its slave” (Ali 211). Although the lines throughout the ghazal may be rearranged without changing the meaning or form, the scheme of the poem once decided cannot be swayed from.

In the poem “Jewel House Ghazal” written by Rafique Kathwari, the form as well as components of the couplets are clear. Immediately seen by the matla is the scheme of the poem:

“In Kashmir, half asleep, Mother listens to the rain.

In another country, I feel her presence in the rain.” (Kathwari 214).

This couplet clearly identifies the repeating phrase of “the rain” as the radif, and the sound “-ens or -ence” as the qafia. The repetition of “the rain” gives a feeling that it is considered a main subject of the poem. Also, in this couplet it is clearly stated that the poet and his mother are not physically near each other, yet the rain brings a feeling of the mother’s presence to the poet. Throughout the poem, the couplets continue to mention activities or memories that are brought to the memory of the poet by the rain:

“’Rafique,’ I hear her call my name over the city din.

The kettle exhales: my mother’s scents in the rain.” (Kathwari 214).

The rain seems as if it is bringing about the remembrance of multiple memories with his mother from his past. The delicacy of the rain may symbolize the delicacy of the memories and the way he may associate his mother with the natural calming of the rain. The repetition has the ability to convey what is important in the poem, regardless of the way the individual couplets are interpreted.

Ali, Agha Shahid. “Ghazal: To Be Teased Into Disunity.” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art. Eds. Anne Finch and Kathrine Varnes. Ann Arbor: U. of Michigan Press, 2002.