Waheed Akhtar
Syed Waheed Akhtar (Urdu: سید وحید اختر ) (12 August 1934, in Aurangabad (Deccan) – 13 December 1996) was an Urdu poet, writer, critic, orator, and a Muslim scholar and philosopher.
Syed Waheed Akhtar | |
|---|---|
 Waheed Akhtar | |
| Title | Syed |
| Personal | |
| Born | 12 August 1934 |
| Died | 13 December 1996 (aged 62) |
| Religion | Islam |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Era | Contemporary |
| Region | India |
| Main interest(s) | Sufism Islamic philosophy philosophy |
| Notable work(s) | Paththaron Ka Mughanni, Shab Ka Razmiyah, Zanjeer ka Naghma, Karbala Ta Karbala, Early Imamiyah Shia Thinkers, etc |
| Occupation | Urdu poet and Muslim philosopher |
| Signature |  |
| Writing career | |
| Genres | Ghazal Nazm Marsiyah Hijv |
Works
According to Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, "Wahid Akhtar, regarded by many as a Modernist and by many others as Progressive, wrote that Modernism was really an extension of Progressivism".[1] Akhtar is also considered by at least one writer to be among the few successful modern Urdu poets who took Marsia to new heights and gave it new direction in this age.[2]
Poetry: ghazals and nazms
His following collections of poetry consist mostly of nazms and ghazals:
- Patthron Ka Mughanni
- Shab Ka Razmiyyah
- Zanjir Ka Naghma
Marsia
Karbala Ta Karbala (collection of elegies on martyrs of Karbala (Urdu, 1991) consists of eight marasi (plural of marsia):
- Mariam se bhi siwa hai fazilat Batul ki: Chadar-e-Tatheer, Marsia on Hazrat Fatima, has 168 bunds.
- Qale tameer kiye daste havaskari ne: Qala Kusha, Marsia on Hazrat Ali ibne Abi Talib-135 bunds in total.
- Barsi nahi naghmon ki ghatayen kai din se: Shaheed-e-Atash, Marsia Hazrat Ali Asghar ibn al-Husain-107 bunds.
- Ai saqi e hayat o masiha e kainat: Alamdar-e-Amn, Marsia on Hazrat Abul Fazl al-Abbas, 134 bunds in toal.
- Hai qafila e jara'at e raftar safar mein: Salaar-e-Qafila-e-Shauq, Saiyid al-Shohada Hazrat Imam Husain ibne Ali, 143 bunds.
- Raat yeh haq ke chiraghon pe bahot bhari hai: Tegh-e-Zaban e Zainab, Marsia Hazrat Zainab, 188 bunds in all.
- Ya Rabmeri zuban ko qudrat bayan ki de: Shahadat-e-Nutq, marsia Ali Akbar ibn al-Husain, 192 bunds.
- Karbala! ai Karbala! Ai Karbala! ai Karbala!: Karbala ai Karbala, marsia matlooban-e-shahadat (Zuhayr ibne Qayn, Habeeb ibne Mazahir, Hur ibne Yazid Riyahee and Musayyab khuzayee), 191 bunds.
Prose
His writings in prose are literary criticism, philosophical writings, book reviews, columns and talks. Collection of his writings in Urdu prose have been published by National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language in six volumes as Kulliyat-e-Waheed Akhtar which is edited and compiled by Sarwarul Huda. Three volumes have already been published and the other three remain to be published.
Prose
- Khwaja Mir Dard – Tasawwuf aur Shairi; published by Anjuman Tarraqi-e-Urdu Hind, 1971
- Falsafa aur Adabi Tanqid (Literary Criticism in Urdu), 1972
Translations
- Four quartets by T. S. Eliot (Burnt Norton), Urdu Adab, Aligarh, and Shabkhoon, Allahbad
- Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. AIR, Hyderabad
- Letter on Aesthetics by Schiller
- Mutual Services of Islam and Iran, by Murtada Motahhari, published in instalments in Al-Tawhid, Tehran
Foreign assignment
Editor of Al-Tawhid (English) a journal of philosophy and culture, Islamic Propagation Organization, Tehran, Iran, May 1984–April 1987.
See also
References
- Shamsur Rahman Faruqi "Images in a Darkened Mirror: Issues and Ideas in Modern Urdu Literature", The Annual of Urdu Studies, 1987, Volume 6, page 54.
- Syed Akbar Hyder Reliving Karbala: Martyrdom in South Asian Memory, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
