A marsiya (Persian: مَرْثِیَه; Urdu: مرثیہ) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali, his family, and his companions at the tragedy of Karbala.
[2] Marsiya is a poem written to commemorate the martyrdom of Ahl al-Bayt, Imam Hussain and Battle of Karbala.
This form found a specially congenial soil in Lucknow, an important Shia Muslim community in the Indian subcontinent, where it was regarded as an act of piety and religious duty to eulogize and bemoan the martyrs of the battle of Karbala.
Well-known Persian poets of the genre include Muhtasham Kashani, Nawab Ahmad Ali Khan Qayamat and Samet Borujerdi.
Mir Babar Ali Anis, a renowned Urdu poet, composed salāms, elegies, nohas and quatrains.