Mashrab: the “O‘rtar” ghazal, murabba‘ and muxammas

The ghazal’s refrain is “o‘rtar” (burns), repeated at the end of each couplet and strengthening the image of the fire of love; “the fire of love” is the main metaphor in the textbook. In the matla‘, if the lover tells of his love, even soul and world, home and household would burn – this is hyperbole. In the next couplets a person touched by a speck of this fire weeps and loses patience; if the poet utters the beloved’s name his tongue burns with delight, and when he tries to praise her his tongue is struck dumb and his eyes are tearful. From the weight of the days of separation, the smoke of his sigh burns earth and sky, while the beloved does not ask after him. In the maqta‘ Mashrab asks that his pain be put on no one else’s head and says his sigh would burn even eternal paradise, raising feeling to its peak. In Mashrab’s ghazals a questioning tone, tanosub, similes and symbols also occur often.