For centuries Urdu poets have been writing ghazals but over the last decade or so, fresh voices have become rarer. You may like a couplet here or there but few poets have the capability to astonish you.
You may blame the ghazal format but then poets like Irfan Sattar prove you wrong. I was going through Shabkhoon's last couple of issues and was amazed by this Pakistani poet. The last issue has, hold your breath, 28 of Irfan Sattar's ghazals. Like Lucknow's Irfan Siddiqui (who passed away sometime ago), Sattar has also forged a new way in the Urdu ghazal.
Just two couplets of a ghazal:
itne barsoN baad bhii donoN kaise TuuT ke milte haiN
tuu hai kitnaa saadaa-dil aur ham kitne pechiidaa haiN
sun jaanaaN ham tark-e-taalluq aur kisii din kar lenge
aaj tujhe bhii ujlat sii hai, ham bhii kuchh ranjiidaa haiN
Click to read the whole ghazal in Hindi/Roman/Urdu scripts.
Nazm often gets neglected due to the extra importance given to ghazal in Urdu poetry both due to the latter's unique form and its appeal to the reader.
Ibn-e-Insha's Nazm 'Ek ladka' (not to be confused with Akhtarul Iman's nazm). Click
Nida Fazli's Nazm on Jalgaon riot where Hajra Begum's four children were burnt. Click
Khalilur Rahman Azmi's Nazm Main Gautam Nahin Hun. Click
