What Is a Masnavi? Urdu Narrative Poetry in Rhyming Couplets
مثنوی
Updated
A masnavi (مثنوی) is a long poem in rhyming couplets. Unlike the ghazal, where every couplet shares one rhyme, each couplet of a masnavi has its own rhyme (aa, bb, cc…), so the poem can run on for thousands of lines. That freedom made it the form for stories, romances, mystical teaching and moral reflection, in Persian and then in Urdu.
The Persian models
The most famous masnavi of all is Rumi's Masnavi-e-Ma'navi, the "spiritual couplets" of the thirteenth century, often called the Qur'an in Persian. Nizami's five romances, the Khamsa, including Laila Majnun and Khusrau Shirin, set the pattern for the love story in verse.
Urdu masnavis
In the Deccan, Urdu's first great poems were masnavis: Mulla Wajhi's Qutb Mushtari (1609) and Nusrati's Gulshan-e-Ishq.
Sihr-ul-Bayan (1785) by Mir Hasan, grandfather of Mir Anees, is the best-loved Urdu masnavi: the romance of Prince Benazir and Princess Badr-e-Munir, famous for its pictures of court life and its flowing ease.
Gulzar-e-Nasim (1838) by Daya Shankar Nasim retells the tale of the flower of Bakawali in brilliantly compressed verse.
Mir Taqi Mir wrote love masnavis such as Darya-e-Ishq, and in the reform age Hali used the form for poems on nature and patriotism. Iqbal's great Persian works, such as Asrar-e-Khudi, are masnavis.
Questions and answers
What is a masnavi?
A long poem in rhyming couplets, each couplet with its own rhyme, used for stories, romances and mystical or moral teaching.
What is the most famous Urdu masnavi?
Sihr-ul-Bayan (1785) by Mir Hasan, the romance of Prince Benazir and Badr-e-Munir.
What is the difference between a masnavi and a ghazal?
In a ghazal every couplet shares the same rhyme and stands alone. In a masnavi each couplet has its own rhyme, so it can tell a long continuous story.
More guides
- What Is a Ghazal? The Urdu Ghazal Explained · How a ghazal is built, what it is about, and who wrote and sang the greatest ones.
- What Is a Qasida? The Urdu Ode of Praise · The grand ode of praise, from Sauda's court poems to the devotional qasida.
- What Is a Dastan? Urdu Romance, Magic and Storytelling · The long tales of wonder that Urdu storytellers performed for centuries.