["The form of the ghazal is too narrow—as narrow as a strait; I wish it were more capacious, for only a form roomier than the ghazal could best contain my thought and experience."] Should not the search for this "capaciousness/vastness" (wus'at) be the goal of our creative ability now? Four well-known intellectuals of Pakistan, namely Dr. Ahsan Farooqi, Mr. N. M. Rashed, Dr. Wazeer Agha and Mr. Saleem Ahmad, addressed themselves to this issue. Below we reproduce their views. It may be pointed out, however, that though the four differ in their mode of thinking, they do nevertheless succeed in determining the current situation of modern Urdu literature. What has happened to Urdu literature and why? Is the present plight of both the ghazal and the nazjn due to a weakening of creative power or to some other factor? Their expositions allude to a"new consciousness" and point up a situation which is at once alarming and encouraging. And now their views: Dr. Muhammad Ahsan Farooql The New Ghazal A new type of ghazal is presently emerging. Altogether traditional in its prosodical structure it nevertheless seeks to instill a new content (viz., modern ideas and modes of expression) into the old structure. Connoisseurs of the traditional ghazal do not consider this new type as ghazal. The "Modernists," on the other hand, feel that the experiment shows tremendous possibilities inherent in the ghazal and helps awaken to new life a form that holds a unique place in Arabic, Persian and Urdu literary traditions. The form of the ghazal is thus entirely suitable for modern thought. Indeed it has already proved that. Obviously those who do not consider the experimental ghazals as ghazals reject them because they look for more than a particular prosodical structure in the ghazal. Likewise those who accept them as ghazals do so because their concern does not go beyond the traditional prosodical structure of the ghazal. This gives rise to the question: does the ghazal just refer to a particuair prosodical structure, the expeditious use of a single meter and rhyme in all the couplets of a ghazal composition, and no more? Before we answer this question, we will do well to first determine the meaning of the word yazal itself. In Arabic the word means "to talk with or to women." Thus love was understood to be its basic subject and, therefore, also its primary requirement. The immense popularity of this genre further generalized the impression that in ghazals poets talk about Jove and beloved" a totally frivolous mental diversion to those who dislike poetry. The subject, in turn, determined the style: it had to be delicate and pleasing. A number of conventions came to be particularly associated with this style which, if ignored, gave offence to its connoisseurs. Likewise a particular diction, so also a particular sensibility in the use of rhetorical devices, and