He attended university in Delhi and Kashmir. He said each ghazal stanza should be like “a stone from a necklace” and should “shine in that vivid isolation.” Agha Shahid AliĪli was born in New Delhi, India, and grew up in Kashmir. Agha Shahid Ali taught the form to American writers. Indian musicians Ravi Shankar and Begum Akhtar brought the ghazal to the ears of Americans in the 1960s. German poet Goethe and Spanish poet Frederico Garcia Lorca experimented with ghazals. The style spread to Northern India in the 18th century, where Ghalib was recognized as the master of the form. Rumi and Hafiz are two of the most popular ghazal-writers from the 13th and 14th centuries. The ghazal’s roots go back to the seventh century. Themes are traditionally melancholy, introspective, loving, longing and thoughtful. The lines should be of similar length and rhythm. The final stanza is a signature, where the author can use his name to seal the poem.
This refrain is repeated at the end of each stanza. The first two lines end with the same refrain. Each stanza should be independent, but should tie together with the whole. The ghazal consists of at least five, but often more than fifteeen, two-line stanzas.