Page "Lyric poetry" Paragraph 18

Originating in 10th century Persian, a ghazal is a poetic form consisting of couplets that share a rhyme and a refrain.

Formally it consists of a short lyric composed in a single metre with a single rhyme throughout.

The central subject is love.

Notable exponents include: Hafiz, Amir Khusro, Auhadi of Maragheh, Alisher Navoi, Obeid e zakani, Khaqani Shirvani, Anvari, Farid al-Din Attar, Omar Khayyam, and Rudaki.

The ghazal was introduced to European poetry in the early 19th century by the German writers Friedrich Schlegel, Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who called Hafiz his " twin ".