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ABU-AL-ASAR HAFEEZ JULLUNDHARY
(1900-1982) |
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Hafeez was born at Jullundhar (Punjab) on January 14, 1990. His ancestors were Hindu Rajputs of the Suraj Bansi Branch, who had embraced Islam some 200 years back. "My family," the poet tells us, "was not even distantly interested in education or literature even in his childhood, and had written his first poem at the age of eleven. He made up for the lack of formal education with self-study and hard work. It was under the guidance of his poetic mentor, Maulana Ghulam Qadir Grami, that he developed his faculties, and carved a place for himself in the poetic pantheon. The ruler of Khairpur state (sindh) appointed him the official poet of his court, but Hafeez gave up this appointment after a short while and preferred to pursue his interests independently. He devoted his time and talent to the writing of the history of Islam, which brought him great national fame. He also worked as director of song publicity during World War II. In recognition of his services to literature and society, the then British government honoured him with the titles of "Khan Sahib" and "Khan Bahadur". After the partition of India Hafeez opted to say in Pakistan, and lived, for the most part of his life, at Lahore.
Though not a profound thinker like Ghalib, nor a philosophic poet like Iqbal, Hafeez is certainly a popular poet of the "mushairas". He could sway his audiences with the enchanting melody of his voice, and with the lilting rhythms of his songs and lyrics, which generally deal with romantic, religious, patriotic, or natural themes. Some of his famous poems included in this book-have been set to music by professional composers, and sung by radio artists like Malika Pukhraj. Hafeez has also written ghazals, but he is more at home in the medium of the nazm and geet, especially in short poetical measures. Hafeez's national fame resets on his long poem "Shahnama-e-Islam" which, in the manner of Firdausi's Shahnama, is a record of the glorious history of Islam. Hafeez also wrote the national song of Pakistan, which earned him countrywide reputation. Through he holds Islamic religion and Islamic history in great esteem, he is not a religion fundamentalist, and can, with equal eclat, hymn the praise of Lord Krishna and his sacred flute. He is a pure Indian poet who chooses his themes, his images, and his tunes from the Indian soil, and whose language is a fine blend of Hindi and Urdu diction, reflecting India's composite culture. He is a poet of the Indian seasons and festivals, and a lover of the Indian landscape which he has lovingly described in several of his poems, on Barsaat or Basant or Eid. His famous works include the following titles: "Naghama-e-Zaar", "Soz-o-Saaz", and "Talkhaba-e-Shirin".
Hafeez died in Pakistan on December 21, 1982.
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