Diwan (poetry)

A diwan (from Persian دیوان divân [d̪iːˈvɒːn]; Arabic pronunciation: [diːˈwaːn]) is a collection of poems by a single author – usually excluding the poet's long poems – in Islamic cultures of West Asia, Central Asia, North Africa, Sicily and South Asia.

The vast majority of Diwan poetry was lyric in nature: either ghazals (or gazels, which make up the greatest part of the repertoire of the tradition) or kasîdes. There were, however, other common genres, most particularly the mesnevî—a kind of verse romance and thus a variety of narrative poetry; the two most notable examples of this form are the Layla and Majnun (ليلى و مجنون) of Fuzûlî and the Hüsn ü Aşk (حسن و عشق – 'Beauty and Love') of Şeyh Gâlib.

Originating in Persian literature, the idea spread to the Arab, Turkic and Indic worlds, and the term was sometimes used in Europe, albeit not always in the same way.