Al – Vidaa Shahryar Saheb !

Shahryar Taking Jnanpith Award from Amitabh Bachchan

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           FEBRUARY 18 , 2012           01.45 A.M.

A renowned poet of Urdu language , Shahryar a.k.a. Akhlaq Mohammad Khan , who also won Jnanpith Award in 2008 for his contribution to Urdu literature , died on February 13 , 2012 in Aligarh , Uttar Pradesh . He was suffering from lung cancer . He was the 4th Urdu writer to win prestigious Jnanpith Award .

Born in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh on June 16 , 1936 , he went to Aligarh Muslim University for higher education and later on became a lecturer of Urdu Literature in the same university and retired as Head of Department of Urdu Literature . He was co – editor of  ” Sher O Hikmat ” , a literary magazine .

Gate of Aligarh Muslim University

He , apart from writing ghazals and nazms , also wrote lyrics for highly successful films like ;  ” Gaman ” [ 1978 ] , ” Umrrao Jaan ” [ 1981 ] and ” Anjuman ” [ 1986 ] , all directed by Muzaffar Ali .

Who can forget ghazal of  ” Gaman “  ” Seene me jalan , saanson men toofan sa kyon hai ; Is shaher me har shakhs pareshan sa kyon hai ……

Or these immortal ghazals of ” Umrao Jaan ”  :

In aankhon ki masti ke mastane hazaron hain …… or

Dil cheez kya hai aap meri jaan leejiye ; bas ek baar mera kaha …….. …or

Jab bhi milti hai mujhe ajnabi lagti kyon hai ……… or

Ye kya jagah hai dosto ; ye kaun sa dayar hai …….. or

Zindagi jab bhi teri bazm me laati hai hamen ……..

Lyrics of ” Umrao Jaan “ are immortal and they are still popular among the connoisseurs of Hindi film music and ghazal lovers of this country and Urdu speaking diaspora .

He got Sahitya Akademy Award in Urdu for his poetry in 1987 . Later on in 2008 , he got prestigious Jnanpith Award . As stated earlier , he was the 4th Urdu writer to get Jnanpith Award . Firaq Gorakhpuri was the 1st to get this award in 1969 . Qurratulain Hyder was the 2nd and got the award in 1989  . Ali Sardar Jafri was the 3rd , who got Jnanpith in 1997 .

Firaq Gorakhpuri

Qurratulain Hyder

Ali Sardar Jafri

Some famous books of Urdu poetry written by Akhlaq Mohammed Khan alias Shahryar :

1 – Ism – E – Azam [ 1965 ]

2 – Satvan Dar [ 1969 ]

3 – Hijr Ke Mausam [ 1978 ]

4 – Khwab Ke Dar Band Hain [ 1987 ]

He got Sahitya Akademy Award in 1987 for his book ” Khwab Ke Dar Band Hain ” .

With his death the last doyen of Urdu literature , the last titan of modern Urdu ghazal is gone . World of Urdu poetry will never be the same again .

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

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