Do-bayti (Persian: دوبیتی) (literally "two-couplet"), also known as fahlaviyat, is an ancient form of Persian poetry. It is used to describe a Persian quatrain (a stanza or poem of four lines), similar to Ruba'i but different in meter.[1]
A do-bayti has four half-lines of 11 syllables each, and usually uses the hazaj meter:
| u – – – | u – – – | u – – |
The first two syllables may sometimes be replaced by – u or – –.[2]
The rhyme scheme is a a a a or a a b a.
When sung to a traditional melody, the first two lines are sung continuously in one 22-syllable phrase, and the 3rd and 4th lines in another, a little lower in pitch.[3] (See External links below.)
A well-known writer of do-bayti poems is the 11th-century Baba Taher-e Oryan of Hamadan, who wrote in the Hamadani dialect (which, however, is very close to standard Persian).[4] An example of one of his poems (converted to standard Persian) is the following:[5]
Persian: rtl=yes|درازی دو زلفانت مرا کشت * Persian: rtl=yes|سیاهی دو چشمانت مرا کشت
Persian: rtl=yes|خم ابرو و مژگانت مرا کشت * Persian: rtl=yes|به قتلم حاجت تیر و کمان نیست
Persian: siyāhī-yē do čašmān-at ma-rā košt
Persian: derāzī-yē do zolfān-at ma-rā košt
Persian: be qatl-am hājat-ē tīr ō kamān nīst
Persian: xam-ē 'abrū vo možgān-at ma-rā košt
"The blackness of your two eyes has killed me!
The longness of your two locks has killed me!
You have no need of arrows and a bow to despatch me
The curve of your eyebrow and eyelashes has killed me!"[6]
For another example, see the article Persian metres#Do-bayti.