The Masnavi that is also sometimes written as Mesnavi in English is a
poetic form in Persian, Ottoman and Urdu literature. This poetic form
was born in Persia and had a patronage of Ottoman Sultans for centuries.
This is evident by the fact that most of the Masnavi that are still
available for research are either in Persian or in Persian lashed Urdu.
With the advent of Muslim rule in India, this poetic form got a new home
in the courts of Delhi and Deccan sultanate where it flourished for
centuries before they were replaced by other popular poetic forms such
as Ghazal and Nazam.
The Masnavi consists of an indefinite number of couplets, with the rhyme
scheme AA, BB and CC etc. The subject matter of Masnavi is varied and
ranges from love and courtship to religion and philosophy. There is no
cap on meter as well and a Masnavi can incorporate one or all the 7
meters that are available in Persian and Urdu poetry. Usually, a Masnavi
has no limit in terms of verses and can range from 24 to 24000 verses at
the same time.
Talking of Masnavi, the most well known Masnavi is the Masnavi-i
Ma'navi. This was composed by a 13th century Persian Sufi poet Jalal
al-Din Muhammad Rumi. The Masnavi of Rumi is famous through out the
world for their detailed discussions on contemporary philosophies and
religions. It consists of six books of poems containing more than 25,000
verses that are primarily denoted to intra as well as inter-religious
discussions. These discussions later melt in to discussions of
philosophies. Many other poets such as the Ottoman poet Fuzûlî
have also used this form. His Leylâ ve Mecnun was written as a
Masnavi.
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