The Typology and the Structure of Qalandari Sonnet Sequences

 Poets who composed Qalandari sonnet sequences (or ghazal-stories) have used the form of ghazal in different ways to express their personal experiences. One of the types of Qalandari ghazal has a fictional form and structure, and the poet uses all the main elements of the story to express one of the adventures that happened to him or to the master (Pīr-e Khanqah), who moods and views on existence are changed after meeting and talking with the beloved. This type of ghazal, often based on the story of Hallaj or Pir San’an, expresses how ascetic Sufism has changed to mysticism. Qalandari sonnet sequences sometimes have an independent form and a ghazal narrates a story from the beginning to the end and draws conclusions from that; and sometimes it starts from the middle of a ghazal in an episodic way to embody one of the main mystical ideas. This type of ghazal has a symbolic language, ends with a conclusion, and often expresses the mystic's personal experience in a first-person point of view. It gives a dramatic aspect to its expression in the middle of the story by using narrative methods.