The Evolution of Urdu Nazm: From Classical Tradition to Modern Experimentation — A Literary Analysis

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The Urdu Nazm (poem) represents one of the most significant and dynamic literary forms in South Asian literature. Unlike the ghazal, which operates within a highly formalized structure of independent couplets, the nazm allows for sustained thematic development, narrative coherence, and ideological expression across an extended poetic canvas. This research paper undertakes a comprehensive literary analysis of the evolution of Urdu nazm from its classical roots in the eighteenth century through its transformation in the Progressive Literary Movement of the twentieth century and its subsequent experimentation in modernist and postmodernist contexts. The paper argues that the nazm has served not merely as an aesthetic form but as a powerful vehicle for social critique, political consciousness, nationalist sentiment, and existential inquiry. Through close reading of selected texts by poets including Altaf Husain Hali, Muhammad Iqbal, Josh Malihabadi, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Noon Meem Rashid, Miraji, and Fahmida Riaz, this paper traces the ideological and formal transformations that have shaped the nazm across more than two centuries of literary history.