Qasida

Qasida is a poetic form that was conceived and developed in pre-Islamic Arabia way before Islam was introduced. Nevertheless this art form was perpetuated in the world through the literary movement that accompanied Islam on its conquest of the world. Qasida is basically a laudatory and elegiac poem that is found in Arabic, Persian and Urdu literatures. An orthodox Qasida is an elaborately structured ode of 60 to 100 lines. It maintains a single end rhyme that runs through the entire piece; the same rhyme also occurs at the end of the first half-line of the first verse. It is strange that any kind of meter is acceptable in Qasida.

The Qasida opens with a short prelude that is known as 'Nasib', which is elegiac in mood and is intended to gain the audience's involvement. After this conventional beginning follows the 'Rahil', this consists of descriptions of the poet's horse. It concludes with a piece on 'Fakhr', or self-praise, the main theme, called 'Madih', or panegyric.

The Qasida has always been seen as a respectable Art Form. This art form saw a decline with the coming of Ghazal and Nazam. Thus, by the end of the 8th century the Qasida had begun to decline in popularity. Qasida were also written in Persian, Turkish, and Urdu until the 19th century.