Literary Arts (Oct 2013)
A Statistical Analysis of meters in Ghalib Dehlaviâs Ghazels
Abstract
 Abstract Ghaleb Dehlavi is considered as the best-known 13th century Indian poet. Also a writer and researcher, he was a Muslim originally from Touran with Eibak Turk ancestors. He was a pioneer of new styles in Urdu poetry. His poems are written in Urdu as well as Persian. His elaborate prose apart, Dehlaviâs odes and lyrics denote the poetâs noble thoughts and lofty nature. In spite of such traits and amazing proficiency in writing Persian poems, though a non-Persian speaker, the man has remained unknown or ignored in Iran. The present paper seeks to make orientations to Ghaleb Dehlavi by examining the rhythm patterns of his sonnets.  Making references to the Indian style, the paper offers a typology and a computational account of rhythms as used in Ghalebâs poems. It is found that 20 different rhythms are employed to versify a totality of 334 sonnets of which 85 percent are in only six rhythms. These six happen to be so frequently used in Persian too.  The most frequent rhythm used by Ghaleb is âmafoolon faelaton mafaelon faelonâ. Highly employed in Persian sonnets too, this rhythm is so capable of expressing the intended concepts. âMafaelon faalaton mafaelna falonâ is another rhythm of his interest used more frequently in his anthology than in Persian poetry. The rhythm âmafoolon mafaelon mafaelon faolonâ, vastly used by Saadi and Hafiz, also appeals to Ghaleb. Ghalebâs application of the octave rhythms âramlâ and âhazjâ, which sound so grave in Persian, suggests his tendency for the Indian style in poetry. However, the rise and fall in the frequency of certain rhythms in his anthology may be viewed as an indication of a retreat from his previously practiced literary style. The only rare rhythm in Ghalebâs poems is âfaelaton mafoolon faelaton mafoolonâ first tried in Attarâs sonnets. This rhythm has also been tried by Hafiz, Khajou Kermani, Saeb, Kalim, Feyz Kashani, and Bidel Dehlavi. The rhythm has given a stylistic flavour to Ghalebâs poems. Length, gravity, and divisibility into two pieces characterize the rhythms popular with him. The average frequency of these rhythms in his poems is higher than that in the Indian style