Marthiya

Marthiya (A., pl. Marathi) "elegy," a poem composed in Arabic (or in an Islamic language following the Arabic tradition) to lament the passing of a beloved person and to celebrate his merits; rithiaʾ, from the same root, denotes both lamentation and the corresponding literary genre.

Introduction

elegiac poetry (marthiya; on Persian marthiya literature dedicated to the martyrs of Karbala and other Shiʿite sacred figures ) in Arabic and Persian about the Ahl al-Bayt, particularly Hussain and the Karbala martyrs, was increasingly composed by authors of both Shiʿite and Sunnite persuasion. Under the Seljuqs (1038-1194), this devotional literature spread widely through storytellers. During this time, elegies (marathi) and eulogies (manaqeb) continued to be composed, in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, by learned theologians, poets, and popular storytellers.

Source

• Encyclopaedia of Islam
• Iranica Online