Noha

Not to be confused with the Arabic given name Nuha.

For other uses, see NOHA.

A noha (Persian: نوحه‎‎, Urdu: نوحہ‎; translit. nūḥa/nawḥa), when interpreted in light of Shia views, is a lament about the tragedy of Husayn ibn Ali in the Battle of Karbala.

Marsiya and Noha has the historical and social milieu of Arabic and Persian culture as the Urdu language, besides others, is an off-shoot of Arabic and Persian languages. The tradition of marsiya has its roots in the pre-Islamic Arab and Persian worlds, where human sentiments and sorrow were expressed in form of elegiac poetry. The sub-parts of Marsiya are called Noha and Soaz which means lamentation. It is usually a poem of mourning. Lamentation has a central part in the literature of the followers and devotees of the Ahl al-Bayt. The tradition of elegizing Hussain and the Karbala tragedy is not limited to Arabic speaking poets, poets from different languages have also contributed a significant poetic literature in their language. In Urdu language, a number of poets like, Mir Anis and Mirza Dabeer have contributed a treasure in Marsiya and its sub branch Noha. In like manner, English-speaking poets, whether Muslim, Christian, Hindu, etc., have also made significant contributions to produce elegies for Imam Hussain and the Karbala tragic incidents. Noha (Latmiyat in Arabic) in English language written by various poets may be listened in voices of different Noha readers like Bassim Al-Karbalaei, Nazim Ali, Hashim siters etc.

See also

• Mourning of Muharram
• Marsiya
• Soaz

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