Glossary · glossary · 1 min read
Misra
मिसरा; one line of a couplet
A misra is a single line of Urdu poetry, and two misras form a sher, or couplet. You will meet it in ghazal singing, where singers may repeat the first line before delivering the second.
By John, Music lover from Bangalore · Reviewed by BRR · Last reviewed 29 Sept 2026
Misra
A misra is a single line of Urdu poetry. Two misras make a sher, or couplet. A ghazal is a chain of these couplets, each with two lines of equal metre, meaning the same pattern of length and rhythm.
The first line, called the misra-e-ula, sets up a thought. The second, the misra-e-sani, completes that thought or overturns it. It ends with the rhyme and the refrain, a repeated phrase.
Where you will hear it
You will hear this two-line shape in a ghazal, poetry built from self-contained couplets, or pairs of lines. Each couplet is called a sher. Each line is a misra, and the two lines share the same metre, a pattern of length and rhythm.
When a ghazal is sung, a returning melody connects its couplets. The words move from one self-contained thought to another, while the melody gives you something familiar to follow. Melodic changes and pauses give you time to hear the meaning.
Keep going
- What is a ghazal? Structure explained with two BeatRootRaga originals · A ghazal is poetry built from self-contained couplets, or pairs of lines, joined by rhyme and a shared pattern of line length and rhythm. When sung, a returning melody connects the couplets, while repeated lines, melodic changes and pauses give listeners time to hear the meaning.