Masnavi
Also called: Mathnawi · Topic: Bhakti and Sufi Traditions · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions"
Meaning
A masnavi is a long poem written in rhyming couplets. It came from the Persian tradition. Sufis used the masnavi form to show divine love through stories of human love. In India, sufi poets wrote masnavis in Persian and in local languages. These poems were often recited in sufi hospices, usually during sama', the mystical music sessions.
Example
Malik Muhammad Jayasi's Padmavat (1540) is a masnavi in Awadhi. It tells the love story of Padmini and Ratansen of Chittor and uses it to show the soul's search for God.
Don't confuse with
- Malfuzat: These are records of a sufi shaikh's conversations, not poems. Fawa'id-al-Fu'ad, the conversations of Nizamuddin Auliya, is one example.
Related concepts
- Chishti silsila
- Muinuddin Chishti
- Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki
- Nizamuddin Auliya
- Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli
- Baba Farid
- Shaikh Salim Chishti
- Gesu Daraz
- Langar
- Sama