Shayar (poet)

Writer of Hindustani poetry

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A shayar is a poet who composes sher, or couplets, in Urdu poetry (Urdu: اُردُو شاعرى Urdu shayari). A shayar writes ghazals and nazms in the Urdu, Hindi & Bangla languages.^[1]

History

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Amir Khusro (1253–1325) composed the first ghazal in Urdu, titled ze-hāl-e-miskīñ.^[2] He wrote in Persian and Rekhta (initial form of Urdu). Mirza Ghalib is considered one of the leading literary authority on Urdu poetry.^[3] He lived in Delhi^[4] and died in 1869.

The literal meaning of shayar (shaa'ir) is poet.^[5] There are more than 30 types of Urdu poetry, also known as shayari. Examples of shayari are ghazal, sher, nazm, marsiya, qita and many more.^[6] Traditionally, that this form of poetry is often read to an audience in a special setting called mehfil . Although there are many professional shayars, who write shayari^[7] for their livelihood, it is an immensely popular form of poetry for younger generation. The inspiration for them to write shayari is largely romance and beauty. However, professional shayars tend to write more on social issues that is more popular for a larger section of society.