ABSTRACT
This chapter explores and offers a macro-study of the ghazal (lyric poetry) as a genre in Persian literature. It will show that although the ghazal as a concept (conceit) far pre-dates Persian poetry, it in fact reaches its zenith within the Persian-speaking world, as will be examined under the rubric of the works of some of the ghazal’s most impactful poets. This chapter’s tracing of the development of the ghazal shows that ghazal has been, and is, far more a conceit than it is a content form, even when the content form is well established in the late 12th century. It will also afford a broad overview of the ghazal post-14th and 15th centuries, with some discussions offered on the School of Realists (Maktab-i Vuqū‘) and the Indian Style (Sabk-i Hindī), which are not only important on the merit of their own peculiarities and particularities as concerns the ghazal but also as specimens in highlighting the development of the ghazal as a genre. The more or less micro focus of this study will be on Manūchihrī in the early thematic years of the ghazal; protean Khāqānī in the tumultuous 12th-century Persian-speaking world, soon after the establishment of the ghazal as not only a theme (meaning) but also a content form; and Ḥāfiẓ, who perfected the ghazal and is its undisputed champion. As such, a few specimens of their ghazals will be given in full.
