Masnavi in Urdu Poetry

Masnavi was first introduced by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, A renowned Persian Sufi saint and poet. In Sufism and Persian literature, Masnavi is the most influential work. Masnavi is series of 6 books of poetry having round about 25,000 verses or 50,000 lines. The purpose of writing Masnavi is to guide believers, that how can we refine soul spiritually and can maintain strong connection with GOD.

The Masnavi literally means "Rhyming Couplets of Profound Spiritual Meaning.". Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi him referred Masnavi as the "the roots of the roots of the roots of the (Islamic) Religion." Masnavi is collection of rambling anecdotes and stories from the Quran, hadith sources, and everyday tales. In Masnavi normally stories and their moral are illustrated in full detail.

In Urdu Literature Masnavi is just another form of poetry. The usual theme of Masnavi in Urdu is Romantic poetry which could be extended to few thousand lines but normally it is much shorter. Some of renowned poets of Urdu Masnavi are Mir and Sauda.