Waheed Akhtar

Syed Waheed Akhtar

Waheed Akhtar
Title Waheed
Born (1934-08-12)12 August 1934
Died 13 December 1996(1996-12-13) (aged 62)
Nationality Indian
Era contemporary
Region India
Occupation Urdu Poet and Muslim Philosopher
Religion Islam
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
Signature

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.

Life

Waheed Akhtar was born in Aurangabad in what was then the Hyderabad State of Nizam (present day Maharashtra), to a family which had migrated from Nasirabad, Raebareli,in Uttar Pradesh.

His father was Syed Nazr-e Abbas and his mother was Syeda Aliya Begum. They had seven children. Waheed Akhtar was the second child among six sons and one daughter. After spending his childhood in Aurangabad, and completing his early education, he went to Hyderabad to enroll at Osmania University.

He was in Hyderabad for eight years until he completed his PhD and was then appointed lecturer at Aligarh Muslim University. It is thought that his years in Hyderabad were crucial for moulding his personality as a poet and writer.

Waheed Akhtar wrote prolifically in Urdu from a very early age and during his initial years he adopted the pen name "Barq". He married Syeda Mahliqa Qarai in Hyderabad in 1962. They had four sons: Hasan, Husain, Haider (who died in the fifth month of his birth) and Mohsin.

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

Marsia

Karbala Ta Karbala (collection of Elegies on martyrs of Karbala– Urdu) –1991- consists of eight marasi (plural of marsia)

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 http://www.urducouncil.nic.in/ 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.

Published books

Prose

Translations

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

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ Syed Akbar Hyder Reliving Karbala: Martyrdom in South Asian Memory, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, p. ?
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