Matla
Quick answer: The matla is the opening couplet of a ghazal, where both lines carry the rhyme and refrain. Learn its rules, purpose and how to write a strong one.
The matla is the opening couplet of a ghazal, and the only couplet in which both lines end with the poem's refrain (radif) preceded by its rhyme (qafiya). Every couplet that follows uses the rhyme and refrain in its second line only, so the matla is where the reader or listener learns the ghazal's entire sound contract: its metre, its rhyme and the phrase that will return like a bell through the whole poem.
Because it announces the rules, the matla carries a special burden. In the mushaira tradition a poet often recites it twice, and the audience decides within those two lines whether the refrain is alive or a gimmick. Get the matla right and the ghazal has a spine; get it wrong and every later couplet inherits the flaw.
How It Works
Suppose a ghazal uses the qafiya rhyme on 'ash, cash, wash' with the radif 'in this house'. The matla must land rhyme plus refrain at the end of both lines: 'The letters we never sent have turned to ash in this house; / grief keeps its own accounts, pays only cash in this house.' Every following couplet is free in its first line but must end its second line on the same pattern.
A ghazal may even include a second matla later in the poem, called the matla-e-sani or husn-e-matla, where both lines again take the rhyme and refrain, a flourish that renews the music midway.
Why the Matla Matters
Formally, it is the ghazal's contract page: metre, qafiya and radif are all disclosed at once, and listeners at a mushaira will silently test every later couplet against it. Practically, it is also the audition. Great Urdu and Persian poets, Ghalib and Hafez included, are remembered by their opening couplets, which circulate on their own like proverbs. The doubled refrain gives the matla a chiming, almost incantatory quality that no other couplet in the poem can repeat.
How to Write a Strong One
Write the matla last. Draft several body couplets first to discover what your radif can actually do, then build an opening couplet that shows the refrain at its most natural, not its most strained. Check that both lines earn the repetition: the second appearance of the refrain should feel like an answer, not an echo. And read it aloud twice in a row, mushaira style; if the doubled refrain grates on the second hearing, your radif will not survive eight more returns.
What poets can take from this
- Draft body couplets first and promote the most natural pairing to be your matla.
- Make the refrain's two appearances answer each other rather than merely repeat.
- Recite the matla twice aloud; the tradition's habit doubles as a quality test.
- Keep the metre spotless here; every later couplet is measured against the opening.
- If you use a second matla midway, make it a renewal, not a repeat performance.
Try it yourself
Choose the refrain 'at the border' and write only the matla of a ghazal: two lines in one metre, each ending with a rhyming word followed by the refrain, then list five rhyme words a full ghazal could use later.
Questions
What is the difference between the matla and the maqta?
The matla opens the ghazal and carries the rhyme and refrain in both lines. The maqta closes it and traditionally contains the poet's pen name. One sets the music, the other signs the work.
Can a ghazal have more than one matla?
Yes. A second couplet with the rhyme and refrain in both lines is called a matla-e-sani or husn-e-matla, an optional ornament some classical poets used to refresh the music.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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