Urdu poetry ( Urdu Shairi ) is a rich tradition of poetry and has many different forms which were basically originated from Arabic and borrowing much from the Persian language, it is today an important part of the cultures of Pakistan and India. Like other languages, the history of Urdu poetry shares origins and influences with other linguistic traditions within the Urdu-Hindi-Hindustani mix. Literary figures as far back as Amir Khusro (1253-1325 CE) and Kabir (1440–1518 CE) inspired later Urdu poets, and served as intellectual and linguistic sources. Meer, Dard, Ghalib, Anis, Dabeer, Iqbal, Zauq, Josh, Jigar, Faiz, Firaq and Faraz are among the greatest poets of Urdu. The tradition is centered in the South Asia. Following the Partition of India in 1947, it found major poets and scholars residing primarily in modern Pakistan. Mushairas (or poetic expositions) are today held in metropolitan areas worldwide.
Ghazal, is a set of two liner couplets, which strictly should end with the same rhyme and should be within one of the predefined meters of Ghazals.There has to be minimum of five couplets to form a Ghazal. Couplets may or may not have same thought. It is one of the most difficult forms of poetry as there are many strict parameters that one needs to abide by while writing Ghazal.
Hamd is a poem in praise of Allah. The word "hamd" is derived from the Qur'an, its English translation is "Praise".
Marsiya (or elegy), is nearly always on the death of Hasan and Husain and their families, but occasionally on the death of relatives and friends. It is usually in six-lined stanzas with the rhyme aaaabb. The recitation of these elegies in the first ten days of Muharram is one of the greatest event in Muslim life. A fully developed marsiya is always an epic. The famous marsia writers who inherited the tradition of Mir Anis among his successive generations are Mir Nawab Ali 'Munis', Dulaha Sahab 'Uruj', Mustafa Meerza urf Piyare Sahab 'Rasheed', Syed Muhammad Mirza Uns, Ali Nawab 'Qadeem', Syed Sajjad Hussain "Shadeed" Lucknavi, Allama, Dr.Syed Ali Imam Zaidi, "Gauher" Luckhnavi the(great grandson of Mir Babber Ali Anis).
Masnavi, in the majority of cases a poetic romance. It may extend to several thousand lines, but generally is much shorter. A few masnavis deal with ordinary domestic and other occurrences. Mir and Sauda wrote some of this kind. They are always in heroic couplets, and the common metre is bacchic tetrameter with an iambus for last foot. The Religious masnavi History of Islam (Tarikh-e-Islam Az Quran) written by Dr. Syed Ali Imam Zaidi Gauher Lucknavi.
Naat is a poetry that specifically praises the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Nazm Urdu nazm is a major part of Urdu poetry. From Nazeer Akarabadi, Iqbal, Josh, Firaq, Akhtarul Iman to down the line Noon Meem Rashid, Faiz, Ali Sardar Jafri and Kaifi Azmi. They have covered common life, philosophical thinking, national issues and the precarious predecament of individual human being.As a distinct form of Nazm many Urdu poets influenced by English and other European poets took to writing sonnets in Urdu language. Azmatullah Khan (1887-1923) is believed to have introduced this format to Urdu Literature. The other renowned Urdu poets who wrote sonnets were Akhtar Junagarhi, Akhtar Sheerani, Noon Meem Rashid, Zia Fatehabadi, Salaam Machhalishahari and Wazir Agha.
Qasida, a kind of ode, often panegyric on a benefactor, sometimes a satire, sometimes a poem dealing with an important event. As a rule it is longer than ghazal, but it follows the same system of rhyme.
Qawwali, is a form of Urdu poetry read along with devotional music, A Qawwali is almost always dedicated to particular Sufi.
Shayari, a beautiful musical form of Urdu poetry allows a person to express the deepest feelings through words. It lets you explain sentiments in all their forms through rhythmic words.
Ruba'i, is a poetry style, the Arabic term for "quatrain". The plural form of the word, ruba?iyat, often anglicised rubaiyat, is used to describe a collection of such quatrains.
Tazkira, biographical anthology, almost always of poetry alone. This is often a mere collection of names with a line or two of information about each poet, followed by specimen of his composition. On the other hand it may be the history of Urdu poetry with copious illustrative extracts. The best tazkiras give biographical details, but fail in literary criticism, and we get little idea of style or poetical power, still less of contents of poems. Even the large anthologies do not systematically review an author's work. Most of them have the names in alphabetical order, but one or two prefer historical order. The majority quote only lyrics, and the quotations, usually chosen at random, do not illustrate poetry.
Literature in Hindi languages (Hindi: ?????? ???????) includes literature in the various Central Zone Indo-Aryan languages which have writing systems. It is broadly classified into four prominent forms (styles) based on the date of production. They are :
Vir-Gathas (poems extolling brave warriors) – 11th–14th century
Bhakti era poems (devotional poems) – 14th–18th century
Riti or Srngar poems (poems of romance) – 18th–20th century
Adhunik literature (modern literature) – 20th century onwards
The literature was produced in dialects such as Braj, Bundeli, Awadhi, Kannauji, Khariboli, Marwari, Angika, Vajjika, Maithili, Magahi and Bhojpuri. From 20th century, works produced in Standard Hindi, a register of Hindustani, is sometimes regarded as the only basis of modern literature in Hindi.
Literature of Adi kal (c. before 15th century CE) was developed in the regions of Kannauj, Delhi, Ajmer stretching up to central India. Prithviraj Raso, an epic poem written by Chand Bardai (1149 – c. 1200), is considered as one of the first works in the history of Hindi literature. Chand Bardai was a court poet of Prithviraj Chauhan, the famous ruler of Delhi and Ajmer during the invasion of Muhammad of Ghor.
Jayachand, the last ruler of Kannauj belonging to the Rathore Rajput clan, gave more patronage to Sanskrit (which was no longer the common man's language in this period) rather than local dialects. Harsha, the author of Naishdhiya Charitra, was his court poet. Jagnayak (sometimes Jagnik), the royal poet in Mahoba, and Nalha, the royal poet in Ajmer, were the other prominent literary figures in this period. However, after Prithviraj Chauhan's defeat in the Second Battle of Tarain, most literary works belonging to this period were destroyed by the army of Muhammad of Ghor. Very few scriptures and manuscripts from this period are available and their genuineness is also doubted.
Some Siddha and Nathpanthi poetical works belonging to this period are also found, but their genuineness is again, doubted. The Siddhas belonged to the Vajrayana, a later Buddhist cult. Some scholars argue that the language of Siddha poetry is not an earlier form of Hindi, but Magadhi Prakrit. Nathpanthis were yogis who practised the Hatha yoga. Some Jain and Rasau (heroic poets) poetry works are also available from this period.
In the Deccan region in South India, Dakkhini or Hindavi was used. It flourished under the Delhi Sultanate and later under the Nizams of Hyderabad. It was written in the Persian script. Nevertheless, the Hindavi literature can be considered as proto-Hindi literature. Many Deccani experts like Sheikh Ashraf or Mulla Vajahi used the word Hindavi to describe this dialect. Others such as Roustami, Nishati etc. preferred to call it Deccani. Shah Buharnuddin Janam Bijapuri used to call it Hindi. The first Deccani author was Khwaja Bandanawaz Gesudaraz Muhammad Hasan. He wrote three prose works – Mirazul Aashkini, Hidayatnama and Risala Sehwara. His grandson Abdulla Hussaini wrote Nishatul Ishq. The first Deccani poet was Nizami.
During the later part of this period and early Bhakti Kala, many saint-poets like Ramanand and Gorakhnath became famous. The earliest form of Hindi can also be seen in some of Vidyapati's Maithili works.