The Scented Garden

6 Introduction It would be impertinent and useless for me to enumerate the various metres in which these Ghazals are written ; but concerning the Ghazal itself, the remarks of Dr. Forbes (Persian Gram- mar, p. 144, par. 148.) are so luminous and con- cise that I cannot refrain from giving my readers the pleasure of their perusal. “ This kind of composition corresponds, upon the whole, with the Ode of the Greeks and Romans, or the Sonetta of the Italians. The most common sub- jects of which it treats are, the beauty of a mi- stress, and the sufferings of the despairing lover from her absence or indifference. Frequently it treats of other matters, such as the delights of the season of Spring, the beauties of the flowers of the garden, and the tuneful notes of the nightingales as they warble their melodies among the rose bushes ; the joys resulting from wine and hilarity, are most particularly noticed at the same time ; the whole interspersed with an occasional pithy allusion to the brevity of human life, and the vanity of sublunary matters in general. The more orthodox among the Musulman are rather scanda- lized at the eulogies bestowed upon the “ juice of the grape ” by their best poets, such as Hafiz for example ; and they endeavour to make out that the text is to be taken in a mystic or spiritual sense, such as we apply to the “ song of Solo- mon.” It appears to me, however, that Hafiz writes upon this favourite theme just as naturally, and with as much gusto, as either Anacreon or Horace, who in this respect may be safely acquitted of the sins of mysticism. The first couplet of the Ghazal is called the Matla’, or “ the place of rising ” (of a heavenly body), which we may translate the “ Opening.” It is a standard rule that both hemis- tichs of this couplet should have the same metre and rhyme. The remaining couplets must have the same metre, and the second hemistich of each (but