122 Essay on the Metrical Compositions of the Persians. [Jan. 



The Tarji band . .. 



Must not comprise less than five, or more than twelve, couplets. It 

 derives its name from the recurrence of a line or distich at fixed inter- 

 vals (Tarji ^_ ^ y signifying receiving back). 



The Terjif or refrain, at the end of each of the 7 bands or sets of 

 verses in the Diwan of Hafiz, is as follows : 



An bih kih az sabr rukh-na tabam 

 Bashad kih murad i dil biyabam. 



The Terji-bands of Hafiz rhyme like the Ghazal, with the exception 

 of the concluding couplet or terji as above, which is a rhyming distich. 

 They contain severally from 7 to 9 couplets. 



The Tarkib-bands are more irregular in their rhymes, sometimes 

 commencing like a masnavi, but generally like the Ghazal, and termi- 

 nating in a rhyming couplet. Those in the Diwan of Hafiz turn chiefly 

 on the praise of kings — kingly qualities, &c. The Terjiband has been 

 selected as the vehicle for conveying lamentations on separation from 

 friends. 



The Chistdn ^XwA^. 

 Is an enigma in verse and prose. 



The Diwan ^tfj) 

 Is a collection of Ghazals, corresponding in order and number with 

 the letters of the alphabet, Haruf-i-tahji, in which their radifs rhyme 

 in regular succession. The term diwan is not confined to an assem- 

 blage of odes, but is also applied to posthumous collections of an au- 

 thor's works either in prose or verse. 



The Khamsah 



Khamsah in Arabic signifies five, and is a name given to collections of 

 poems five in number — generally Masnavis. Among the most noted 

 are the Khamsahs of Nizami, J ami, Hatifi, Katibi and Amir Khasro. 

 That of Nizami (of which I possess a beautiful copy) comprises the 

 Makhnan al Asrar, the Khusro wa Shirin, the Haft, Paikar, the Leila 

 wa Ma j nun and the Secunder Nameh. 



The substance of these remarks has been almost entirely extracted 

 from Persian treatises on prosody and versification, modified by the re- 

 sult of a careful examination of the compositions of some of their best 

 poets. With the latter the numerous discordancies and perplexing opi- 

 nions expressed in the former have been compared and considered, and 

 the result alone, for the sake of brevity, communicated. 



The treatises on prosody consulted were those contained in the 

 Zuwubit-i-azim, the Chuhar Gulzar, the Mukhtaser al Fuaid and the 

 Dastur i Nazm, 



