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Essay on the Metrical Compositions 



Amriclkais, one of the seven early poets of Arabia, whose composi- 

 tions were written on silk in letters of gold and suspended in the temple 

 at Mecca, is the reputed inventor of the Kisidah. 



Under the head of Kasidah may be classed the Hajo or satire — the 

 Madah or encomium, and the Waz or Pandndmahs — ethic poems. 



The Mustazad C)\jx»**. 

 This is a stanza, each line of which has a shorter one appended. 

 According to the author of the Dastur-i-nazm the Mustazad is written 

 in the measure Bahr-i-Bubayat, and sometimes in that of the Muzdria. 

 The stanzas consist generally of four long and four short lines. The 

 following example is from the Zuwabit-i-Azim : 



tX+ ^^^^ 



Mustazad. 

 An Badshah i azam 



Yani khafif i ma 

 Dar bastah bud Mahkam 



Yani nah bud paida 

 Nagah dalk i Adam 



Yani libas i Asma 

 Poshid wa bar dar am ad 



Yanikih shud huwaida. 



The Musammat ia^m*. 

 Moulana Wahid uddin Tabrizi defines the Musammat as comprising 

 from four to ten misras or hemistichs, all rhyming together except the 

 last. Should the Musammat consist of four misras it is hence styled a 

 Murahba — if of five, a Mukhammas — of six a Musaddas — of seven, a 

 Musabba — of eight, a Musamman— and if of ten, Muasher, 



