Masnavi

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.