A Nazm is a type of poem with a common theme, often about the human existence and written in the Urdu language, which sees much use in not just Pakistan but also Northern India.
Each Nazm has a central theme that runs throughout the entire poem, meaning that its individual lines and couplets cannot be interpreted on their own. This is in contrast to another popular type of Urdu poetry called the ghazal, which can have independent verses with independent meanings of their own. Besides this restriction, the Nazm tends to be much less constrained than its counterpart in the ghazal. For example, the Nazm can cover a wide range of topics, whereas the ghazal has a strong focus on the love of various sorts. Likewise, the Nazm can see enormous variation in its length, with some examples being either much shorter or much longer than others. Finally, there are the no rules on either the length of the lines or whether specific syllables have to rhyme with one another because the writer of the Nazm is the one who decides how they want to write it.
Nazm Urdu nazm is a major part of Urdu poetry. From Nazeer Akarabadi, Iqbal, Josh, Firaq, Akhtarul Iman to down the line Noon Meem Rashid, Faiz, Ali Sardar Jafri and Kaifi Azmi. They have covered common life, philosophical thinking, national issues and the precarious predecament of individual human being.As a distinct form of Nazm many Urdu poets influenced by English and other European poets took to writing sonnets in Urdu language. Azmatullah Khan (1887-1923) is believed to have introduced this format to Urdu Literature. The other renowned Urdu poets who wrote sonnets were Akhtar Junagarhi, Akhtar Sheerani, Noon Meem Rashid, Zia Fatehabadi, Salaam Machhalishahari and Wazir Agha.