What is a Ghazal?: "Ghazal in short, is a collection of Sher's which follow the rules of
'Matla', 'Maqta', 'Beher', 'Kaafiyaa' and 'Radif'. So to know what
Ghazal is, it's necessary to know what these terms mean.

To understand these terms easily , we will take an example.

1. koi ummid bar nahin aati
koi surat nazar nahin aati
2. aage aati thi haale dil par hasi
ab kisi baat par nahin aati
3. hum wahan hain, jahan se humko bhi
kucch hamaari khabar nahin aati
4. kaabaa kis muh se jaaoge 'Ghalib'
sharm tumko magar nahin aati

What is a Sher ?
It's a poem of two lines. This definition is deceptively simple.
Please note that, every Sher is a poem in itself ! A Sher does not
need, anything around it, to convey the message.
All the 4 stanzas in our example are independent poems, Sher's.


So Ghazal is necessarily a collection of two-line-poems called Sher.
[ So the Rafi solo 'rang aur noor ki baaraat kise pesh karu' is NOT
a Ghazal, as every stanza is of 3 lines, and not 2. ]

What are other restrictions ? Many, and important ones.
[ Any collection of Sher's is not Ghazal. " ------ - - - -Classical Definition of Ghazal

LOTTA folks dont know about Persian culture

Google Search: ghazal


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Google Search: persian poetry


Salamon Rushdie refers to this stuff in his books. before I picked up on it from there, I was ignorant about high literary culture on the Indian sub continent.

I am a pagan and a worshipper of love: the creed (of Muslims) I do not need;
Every vein of mine has become taunt like a wire,
the (Brahman’s) girdle I do not need.
Leave my bedside, you ignorant physician!
The only cure for the love-sick is the sight of his beloved –
other than this medicine is there no remedy.
If there be no pilot in our boat, let there be none:
We have god in our midst: the sea we do not need.
The people of the world say that Khusrau worships idols.
So he does, so he does; the people he does not need,
the world he does not need.

(Trans. Dr.Hadi Hasan edit HBW)