Qasida

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The qaṣīda (also spelled qaṣīdah) is an ancient Arabic word and form of poetry, often translated as ode, passed to other cultures after the Arab Muslim expansion.

The word qasidah is originally an Arabic word (قصيدة, plural qaṣā’id, قصائد), and is still used throughout the Arabic-speaking world; it was borrowed into some other languages such as Persian: قصیده (alongside چكامه, chakameh), and Turkish: kaside.

Well known qaṣā’id include the Seven

Qasida Burda (Poem of the Mantle) by Imam al-Busiri and Ibn Arabi's classic collection Tarjumān al-Ashwāq
(The Interpreter of Desires).

The classic form of qasida maintains a single elaborate

Persian poets
, where it developed to be sometimes longer than a hundred lines.

Form

Arabic qaṣīda means "intention" and the genre found use as a petition to a patron. A qaṣīda has a single presiding subject, logically developed and concluded. Often it is a panegyric, written in praise of a king or a nobleman, a genre known as madīḥ, meaning "praise".

In his ninth-century "Book of Poetry and Poets" (Kitab al-shi'r wa-al-shu'ara') the Arabian writer Ibn Qutaybah describes the (Arabic) qasida as being constituted of three parts:

  1. The nasīb: a nostalgic opening in which the poet reflects on what has passed. A common theme is the pursuit by the poet of the caravan of his beloved: by the time he reaches their camp-site they have already moved on.
  2. The raḥīl or travel section: a release or disengagement (takhallus), often achieved by the poet describing his transition from the nostalgia of the nasīb to contemplating the harshness of the land and life away from the tribe.
  3. The message of the poem, which can take several forms: praise of the tribe (fakhr) or a ruler (madīḥ), satire about other tribes (hija) or some moral maxim (hikam).

While many poets have intentionally or unintentionally deviated from this plan it is recognisable in many. From the

Abbasid period onwards, two-part qaṣīda forms containing just a nasīb and madīḥ have been dominant.[2]

Bengali

Qasidas were introduced to

Muslims in the neighbourhood.[5][6]

Burushaski

In

Aga Khan’s message to Hunzai, congratulating him on the completion of the "Ginan Book"

The Burushaski Qasida has had a pivotal role in developing the Burushaski language. Burushaski had been a broken, oral tongue, without a written script. This changed in 1961, 'Allamah Hunzai published his first poetry collection, entitled Nagmah-yi Israfil, which featured a selection of his Burushaski poems. The collection was telegrammed in the same year to the 49th Isma'ili Imam, Shah Karim al-Husayni, who, in his response, ascribed to 'Allamah Hunzai's collection the status of a "ginan book in the Burushaski language."[8]

As van-Skyhawk notes this had the effect of sacralizing 'Allamah Hunzai's poetry for the Isma'ilis, and thus his poems were and continue to be widely recited in Isma'ili jama'at-khanas following this exchange.’ [9] Apart from Allama Hunzai, leading Burushaki Qasida poets include Aalijah Ghulamuddin Hunzai and Wazir Fida Ali Esar.

Below is an excerpt from, “Noor-e-shama”, one of Allama Hunzai’s most popular Burushaski Qasida:

In 2013, the recitation of Burushaski ginans was discouraged at Isma'ili jamat khanas by regional councils.  However, Burushaski Qasidas continue to be sung at Dawaat (traditional house warming), zikr-mehfil, and other similar private religious gatherings. Several artists such as Meher-Angez, Barkat Ali, Shakila Parveen, Islam Habib, and Noman Asmet are recording and publishing Burushaski Qasida on streaming platforms online.[10] These renditions have amassed millions of views. Many of these recording are accompanied with a chardah and a daff, which are instruments inspired by Central Asian Isma'ili traditions.

Indonesian

In Indonesia, qasidah (Indonesian spelling: kasidah) refers broadly to Islamic music in general, rather than a specific style or poetry. Traditional qasidah was historically limited to Arab immigrant and pious Muslim neighbourhoods. Modern qasidah has broadened to include influence from Western and local Indonesian music.

Persian

After the 10th century Iranians developed the qasida immensely and used it for other purposes. For example, Nasir Khusraw used it extensively for philosophical, theological, and ethical purposes, while Avicenna also used it to express philosophical ideas. It may be a spring poem (Persian بهاریه, bahâriye) or autumn poem (Persian خزانیه, xazâniye). The opening is usually description of a natural event: the seasons, a natural landscape or an imaginary sweetheart. In the takhallos poets usually address themselves by their pen-name. Then the last section is the main purpose of the poet in writing the poem.

Persian exponents include:

From the 14th century CE Persian poets became more interested in

Sufis
used the ghazal for mystical purposes.

Yazidi

The qesîde is a type of oral religious poem in

Sheikh Adi.[11]

Urdu

Qasida in Urdu poetry is often panegyric, sometimes a satire, sometimes dealing with an important event. As a rule it is longer than the ghazal but follows the same system of rhyme.[12]

West African

A large number of religious qasā'id have been written in Arabic by the Sufi

Touba, Senegal
, which was founded by the Shaykh, built by his talibés (students) and considered to be the Capital of Mourides.

Somali

Somali Sufi Sheikhs such as

Al-Zayla'i would often compose Qasida's on religious matters. A well known collection of Somali Qasida's is entitled Majumuʿa Qasaʿid fi Madh Sayyid Al-Anbiya (A Collection of Qasidas in praise of the Master of Prophets).[13]

Hadiyat al-ʿAnam ila Qabr al-Nabi (Guidance of Humanity to the tomb of the Prophet) extols the Prophet Muhammad:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Akiko Motoyoshi Sumi, Description in Classical Arabic Poetry: Waṣf, Ekphrasis, and Interarts Theory, Brill Studies in Middle Eastern literatures, 25 (Leiden: Brill, 2004), p. 1.
  2. ^ Akiko Motoyoshi Sumi, Description in Classical Arabic Poetry: Waṣf, Ekphrasis, and Interarts Theory, Brill Studies in Middle Eastern literatures, 25 (Leiden: Brill, 2004), p. 1 n. 1.
  3. ^ Ahmed Riyadh. "কাসিদা". Bdnews24.com. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  4. ^ Mirza Nathan (1604). Baharistan-i-Ghaibi.
  5. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka
    . Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  6. ^ Maqbool, Majid; Mahmud, Faisal; Pathak, Nilima (6 May 2021). "The fading Qasida tradition in Bangladesh". Al Jazeera.
  7. ^ (Andani, K. Revelation in Islam: Qur'anic, Sunni and Shi'i Isma'ili Perspectives [Unpublished PhD Thesis]. Harvard University. p. 742.)
  8. ^ (Lakhani, A. (2022). A Short Biography of 'Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai (p. 28). London, England: Daru'l-Hikmat al-Isma'iliyyah.)
  9. ^ Van-Skyhawk, H. (2005). The Devotional Poems of ʿAllāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Hunzai as Inter-Cultural Translations. In Mitteilungen fuer Anthropologie und Religionsgeschichte 17(1), 305-316. Münster, Germany: Ugarit-Verlag
  10. ^ Ismaili Burushaski Ginan | Didar Oyam Jaar | Aga Khan Diamond Jubilee, retrieved 2022-12-03
  11. OCLC 994778968
    .
  12. ^ A History of Urdu Literature by T. Grahame Bailey; "Introduction".
  13. S2CID 162001423
    .

External links

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