Qafiya
Quick answer: Qafiya is the rhyme in a ghazal, the changing word that comes just before the repeated radif in every couplet. See how qafiya works with clear examples.
Qafiya is the rhyme of Urdu, Persian and Arabic poetry: the word or syllable pattern that rhymes from couplet to couplet in a ghazal, sitting immediately before the radif if the poem has one. Unlike the radif, which repeats identically, the qafiya changes every time while keeping the same end sound. In a ghazal ending on 'burn tonight', 'return tonight', 'learn tonight', the qafiya is the burn, return, learn family and 'tonight' is the radif.
Poets treat the qafiya as the engine of invention. Once the sound is fixed in the opening couplet, every later couplet must arrive at that sound honestly, which forces the imagination down roads it would never choose on its own. Ask any ghazal writer: half the poem's surprises were gifts from the rhyme.
The Mechanics of Qafiya
The opening couplet, the matla, establishes the contract by rhyming both lines. Here is an invented matla:
Whatever the lamps remember still will burn tonight; / the roads I left keep asking me to return tonight.
The qafiya sound is 'urn' (burn, return), and the radif is 'tonight'. Later couplets might close on 'learn tonight', 'stern tonight' or 'yearn tonight'. Classical prosody is stricter than English rhyme: the qafiya is defined by the actual sounds around a fixed rhyming letter, called the rawi in Arabic theory, so it is judged by ear and letter, not by spelling.
Where You Will See It
Every classical ghazal runs on qafiya, from Hafiz in Persian to Ghalib and Faiz in Urdu. Even a ghazal without a radif, the type called ghair-muraddaf, keeps its qafiya, because the rhyme is what stitches independent couplets into one poem. In English-language ghazals, writers following Agha Shahid Ali's model usually keep the radif strict and let the qafiya relax into slant rhyme, a compromise that purists debate and working poets quietly enjoy.
Handling Qafiya in Your Own Poems
Before you write a single couplet, brainstorm the whole rhyme family: fifteen words minimum, nouns and verbs both. Cross out the obvious pairings first, since your reader hears those coming. If you write in English, decide early whether your qafiya will be exact or slant and hold that standard for the whole poem; mixing the two at random sounds like error rather than choice.
What poets can take from this
- Build your full list of qafiya words before drafting, and let the strangest ones suggest couplets.
- Avoid rhyme words that force clichés; if 'heart' is in the list, treat it as a dare, not a default.
- Keep the sound consistent; in classical terms the rhyming letter must not wander between couplets.
- Test each qafiya word aloud with the radif attached, since some pairings trip the tongue.
- When a couplet exists only to use a rhyme, cut it; the qafiya serves the poem, never the reverse.
Try it yourself
Choose the radif 'anymore' and list twelve qafiya rhymes for it. Then write a matla and three further couplets, saving your two strangest rhyme words for the final two couplets.
Questions
What is the difference between qafiya and radif?
The qafiya is the changing rhyme word; the radif is the unchanging word or phrase that follows it. Radif is optional in a ghazal, qafiya is compulsory.
Can qafiya be a slant rhyme in English?
Many English ghazal writers allow it, since English has fewer exact rhymes than Persian or Urdu. Pick one standard, exact or slant, and keep it steady through the poem so the variation reads as design.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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