Qasida

The qaṣīdaᵗ (also spelled qaṣīdah; is originally an Arabic word Arabic: قصيدة, plural qaṣā'id, قــصــائـد; that was passed to some other languages such as Persian: قصیده or چكامه, chakameh, in Turkish: kaside) is an ancient Arabic word and form of writing poetry, often translated as ode, passed to other cultures after the Arab Muslim expansion. The word qasidah is still being used in its original birthplace, Arabia, and in all Arabic speaking countries.

Well known qasā'id include the Qasida Burda ("Poem of the Mantle") by Imam al-Busiri and Ibn Arabi's classic collection "The Interpreter of Desires".

The classic form of qasida maintains a single elaborate metre throughout the poem, and every line rhymes on the same sound. It typically runs from fifteen to eighty lines, and sometimes more than a hundred. The genre originates in Arabic poetry and was adopted by Persian poets, where it developed to be sometimes longer than a hundred lines.

Arabic qaṣīda means "intention" and the genre found use as a petition to a patron. A qaṣīda has a single presiding subject, logically developed and concluded. Often it is a panegyric, written in praise of a king or a nobleman, a genre known as madīḥ, meaning "praise".

In his ninth century "Book of Poetry and Poets" (Kitab al-shi'r wa-al-shu'ara') the Arabian writer Ibn Qutaybah describes the (Arabic) qasida as formed of three parts:

While many poets have intentionally or unintentionally deviated from this plan it is recognisable in many. From the Abbasid period onwards, two-part qaṣīda forms containing just a nasīb and madīḥ have been dominant.

After the 10th century Iranians developed the qasida immensely and used it for other purposes. For example, Naser Khosro used it extensively for philosophical, theological, and ethical purposes, while Avicenna also used it to express philosophical ideas. It may be a spring poem (Persian بهاریه, baharieh) or autumn poem (Persian خزانیه, khazanieh). The opening is usually description of a natural event; the seasons, a natural landscape or an imaginary sweetheart. In the takhallos poets usually address themselves by their pen-name. Then the last section is the main purpose of the poet in writing the poem. Ismaili and twelver Shias recite qusidas, many of which are written by Rumi, Nasir kusraw and many others. Farsi Qasida, dam Hama dam Ali Ali was written by rumi in Turkey in praise of imam Ali. This is a verse:

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