Urdu Poets Who Also Wrote For Indian Films -> Akhtar-ul-Imaan

[Afzal A. Khan]

I propose to start a series about Urdu poets whose contribution to
Indian Cinema is much better known than, maybe, their poetry per se.

The first in the series is poet Akhtar-ul-Imaan.

He was born on the 12th November 1915 in a small "mouza" or village
called 'Qil'a', about a mile away from the city of Bijnor, in
Najibabad District of North India. Most of his childhood was spent
in the rural hinterland of U.P. and the Punjab. He belonged to a
family of religious teachers (maulvis) and, therefore, his early
education also followed the traditional fields of study. Around
1930, he began regular studies in English schools , completing his
B.A. from Anglo-Arabic College (later known as Delhi College/Zaakir
Husain College). He then did his First Year of M.A. from Aligarh
Muslim University, but could not study further.

He began his writing career around 1932, starting with short stories
but soon gave it up in favour of Poetry. In 1941, his first collec-
tion of poems was published, called "Gardaab". In 1948, a satirical
long poem, in the form of a Play, was published, known as "Sab~RaNg".
In 1953, a second poetry collection was published from Lahore, titled
"Taareek Saiyyaara" {The Dark Planet}. A third collection was
brought out, called "Aab~joo". His other books of poetry are
"YaadeN", "Bint-e-Lamhaat", "Naya AahaNg" and "Sar-o-Samaan".

Most of his contribution to Indian Cinema is in the form of Dialogue,
Stories and Screenplays. He was awarded the prestigious Filmfare
Award for Best Dialogue for "Dharmaputra" released in 1962, and for
"Waqt" released in 1965. Both films were made under the banner of
B.R. Films (B.R. Chopra). He also wrote "Kanoon" for the same
Production House. It was a big hit, despite the fact that it had no
songs. He had been permanently employed by B.R. Films and wrote
regularly for their films like "Hamraaz", "Ittefaaq and "Dhund" etc.
He made a very brief screen appearance in the film "Gumraah".
Although a poet, he preferred to leave the field of lyric-writing to
other people (most notably Saahir). One film for which he did write
the lyrics was "Bikhre Moti" released in 1951, with music by Ghulam
Mohammed.

One of his daughters Shehla was married to the late actor Amjad Khan.

He died of heart failure in 1996 and was buried in Bombay.

His preferred genre of Poetry was Naz'm, rather than Ghazal.

Here is one of his poems :

M A S J I D

Door bargad ke ghane saaye men KHaamosh-o-malool
Jis jagah raat ke taareek kafan ke neeche
Weh'shateN ek subuk~dosh namaazi ki taraah
SaaNs leti huwi so jaati haiN chupke chupke

Ek weeraan si masjid ka shikasta sa kalas
Paas behti huwi nad'di ko taka karta hai
Aur TooTi huwi deewaar pe chaN'Dol kabhi
Geet pheeka sa koi chheR diya karta hai

Gard~aalood se taaqoN men diyoN ke TukRe
Roz maTTi ki nayee teh men dabe jaate haiN
Aur jaate huwe sooraj ke widaa'ee an'faas
Roshni aa ke dareechoN ki bujha jaate haiN

Hasrat-e-shaam-o-sahar baiTh ke gun(m)bad ke qareeb
In pareshaan du'aaoN ko suna karti hai
Jo tarasti hi raheeN raNg-e-asar ki KHaatir
Aur TooTa huwa dil thaam liya karti hai

Ya abaabeel koi aamad-e-sarma ke qareeb
Is ko maskan ke liye DhooN'Dh liya karti hai
Aur mehraab ke daaman men simaT kar aksar
DaastaaN sard mamaalik ki suna karti hai

Ek booRha sa gadha saaya-e-deewaar ke saath
OoNgh leta hai kabhi baiTh ke, jaate jaate
Ya musaafir koi weeraani-e-dar se Dar kar
LauT jaata hai kaheeN door se aate aate

Farsh, jaarob~kashi kya hai samajhta hi naheeN
Waaqif-e-qatra-e-shabnam bhi naheeN hai ham'maam
Taaq men sham'a ke aaNsoo haiN abhi tak baaqi
Nai musalla hai na min(m)bar, na moazzan na imaam

So gayee heela-e-KHidmat ki fusooN~kaari men
KHaam chehroN men jhalakti huwi tehzeeb ki lau
Ho gaye kaavish-e-im'roz se maaoof dimaaGH
Dab gayee pursish-e-asnaam men ehsaas ki rau

ChaaNd pheeki si haNsi haNs ke guzar jaata hai
Thar'tharaate huwe saaye se utar aate haiN
Jis tarah raat ki begaana~ravi se Dar kar
Raah'rau shaam se pehle hi bhaTak jaate haiN

Ek maila sa, akela sa, fasurda sa diya
Roz r'asha~zada haathoN se kaha karta hai
Tum jalaate ho, kabhi aa ke bujhaate bhi naheeN
Ek jalta hai magar ek bujha karta hai

Tez nad'di ki har ik mauj-e-talaatum bar'dosh
CheeKh uTh'ti hai waheeN door se : "Faani, Faani" !
Kal baha looNgi tujhe toT ke saahil ke quyood
Aur phir gun(m)bad-o-meenaar bhi paani paani !

********************

Afzal

[v]

superb thanks. is there more poetry available. some ashaar probably.
also is there a way of marking some posts threads as favourites in
google. while it does allow spam to be marked, i feel there should be
an option of marking the good ones too.

thanks once again.

[Jamil]

Janab Afzal Sahib

Thanks for the poem. This one is extraordinary. Similes like
"Weh'shateN ek subuk~dosh namaazi ki taraah " are rare in Urdu
poetry.
One wonders if the poet had not gone into writing film scripts, would
he have been known for gems like this one?

Reading the poem reminded me of some of Mustafa Zaidi's poems. I
remember a stanza from one which I had read long ago (maira kamrah)

gard aaluud calendar peh ajantaa ke naquush
mere chehre ki lakiiroN ki taraf dekhte haiN
jaise kisii laash ki phailii huii be-bas aaNkhen
apne majbuur aziizoN ko taka kartii haiN

Jamil

[Zoya]

Afzal sahib,

aadaab.

Thank you so much for starting another excellent series. Educational
as well as entertaining, this is Alup at its best.

Thanks again.

Zoya

[Vijay]

Thanks Afzal sahib for starting this thread. If what is to come is
anywhere near as good as the opener, we are in for a treat. The naz'm
of Akhtar-ul-Imaan you have posted is indeed very impressive. One does
wonder why his name is not known in the same league as Josh, Faiz etc.
Perhpas working in the film industry unfairly dilutes one's
credentials.

A question: is the word in the penultimate line 'toR'? (and not toT)?

Thanks again,

Vijay

PS Jamil sahib, the four liner you have posted is very impressive. Is
the third line correct? 'jaise kisii laash..' deosn't seem to flow
easily!

[Afzal A. Khan]

>> Kal baha looNgi tujhe toR ke saahil ke quyood

>> Aur phir gun(m)bad-o-meenaar bhi paani paani !
>>
>> ********************
>>
>> Afzal
>
> Thanks Afzal sahib for starting this thread. If what is to come is
> anywhere near as good as the opener, we are in for a treat. The naz'm
> of Akhtar-ul-Imaan you have posted is indeed very impressive. One does
> wonder why his name is not known in the same league as Josh, Faiz etc.
> Perhpas working in the film industry unfairly dilutes one's
> credentials.
>
> A question: is the word in the penultimate line 'toR'? (and not toT)?
>
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Vijay

Yes. Thanks for pointing out this typo.

Afzal

[Jamil]

On May 15, 1:04 am, Vijay <guz...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks Afzal sahib for starting this thread. If what is to come is
> anywhere near as good as the opener, we are in for a treat. The naz'm
> of Akhtar-ul-Imaan you have posted is indeed very impressive. One does
> wonder why his name is not known in the same league as Josh, Faiz etc.
> Perhpas working in the film industry unfairly dilutes one's
> credentials.
>
> A question: is the word in the penultimate line 'toR'? (and not toT)?
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Vijay
>
> PS Jamil sahib, the four liner you have posted is very impressive. Is
> the third line correct? 'jaise kisii laash..' deosn't seem to flow
> easily!

Vijay sahib

I quoted from memory and a mistake is very likely. May be someone can
give us the correct version if they have the book.

Jamil

[Baad-e-Siyaah]

         Ek jalta hai magar ek bujha karta hai
>
>          Tez nad'di ki har ik mauj-e-talaatum bar'dosh
>          CheeKh uTh'ti hai waheeN door se : "Faani, Faani" !
>          Kal baha looNgi tujhe toT ke saahil ke quyood
>          Aur phir gun(m)bad-o-meenaar bhi paani paani !
>

bohat umdah nazm hai. If it is alright, I will transcribe it Hindi and
put it on my blog.

Baad e Siyaah

[BGM]

"..Reading the poem reminded me of some of Mustafa Zaidi's poems. I

remember a stanza from one which I had read long ago (maira kamrah)

gard aaluud calendar peh ajantaa ke naquush
mere chehre ki lakiiroN ki taraf dekhte haiN
jaise kisii laash ki phailii huii be-bas aaNkhen
apne majbuur aziizoN ko taka kartii haiN"

Jamil
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Waa..h! kyaa yeh puuri nazm mil sakti hai?

You can forward it to my E-Mail address. navaazish hogii.

~B.G.

====================================================

[Vijay]

I wonder if it may be:

'go kisii laash kii........

Vijay

[Naseer]

On May 12, 7:14 pm, "Afzal A. Khan" <me_af...@privacy.net> wrote:

Thank you for posting this beautiful yet haunting and perhaps even
depressing poem. I don't know when the poet wrote it or if he had any
particular political or social situation in mind but it does seem to
reflect the current state of affairs of the Muslim world.

Jamil Sahib has commented upon the use of "..ek subuk-dosh namaazii
kii tarah". I take the meaning of "subuk-dosh namaazii" as a worshiper
who is totally at peace with himself because he feels that he does/has
done what God has commanded. One sees very little if at all positive
coming out of Urdu poets' pens that could be construed as
complementary to religious ideas and concepts. Perhaps coming from a
"clergy" background makes him sympathetic to religion.

I am curious about a couple of things. He has used the word
"kalas" (spire) for "miinaar", the former having associations with a
church (kaliisaa). Secondly, in the shi'r..

Aur mehraab ke daaman men simaT kar aksar
DaastaaN sard mamaalik ki suna karti hai

what is the significance of the swallow listening to a tale of "cold
countries"? Is the poet alluding to the western (imperial) world?

Naseer

[Baad-e-Siyaah]

> Jamil Sahib has commented upon the use of "..ek subuk-dosh namaazii
> kii tarah". I take the meaning of "subuk-dosh namaazii" as a worshiper
> who is totally at peace with himself because he feels that he does/has
> done what God has commanded. One sees very little if at all positive
> coming out of Urdu poets' pens that could be construed as
> complementary to religious ideas and concepts. Perhaps coming from a
> "clergy" background makes him sympathetic to religion.

As Jamil Sahib has pointed out 'ek subuk-dosh namaazii' is just a
simile characterizing 'wehshateN'. To me it implies deflated junuun.
The poem does not have anything to do with the religion, masjid is
merely incidental to an overall desolate scene.

The last stanza perhaps has some message.

[Jamil]

Naseer Sahib

I don't know if I have ever come across "subuk-dosh hona" to imply
being at peace with oneself. Usually it means getting some pressure
or responsibility off one's shoulders. It would be unusual to use
this expression for the condition of someone who has achieved peace of
mind through yoga, for example. The misra' just refers to the relief
felt after performing the last duty for the day ('ishaa prayer), when
there is nothing more to do, except sleep.

As to your comments about nothing "positive" coming out from the pens
of Urdu poets that could be thought of being complementary to
religion, you are obviously ignoring large body of work comprising
Hamd and na'at, which are after all written by poets. Irreverent,
yes, that Urdu poetry is; whether it is towards society's rules and
restrictions or towards hypocrisy - any type of hypocrisy. It just
happens that religious hypocrisy, when discovered, generally elicits
more scorn than any other.

While hypocrisy invites condemnation, sincerity is praised, no matter
in whom:

vafaa daarii ba-shart-e-ustavaari asl-e-iimaaN hai
mare but-Khaane meN to ka'abe meN gaaRo barahman ko

Here Ghalib praises loyalty (hence sincerity) as well as iimaan.

The poet can say courageously:

jaantaa huun savaab-e-taa'at o zuhd
par tabii'at udhar nahiiN aatii

or (Faiz)
siikhii yahiiN mere dil-e-kaafir ne baNdagii
rabb-e-kariim hai to terii rahguzar meN hai

or
'umr saarii to kaTii 'ishq-e-butaaN meN momin
aakhirii vaqt meN kyaa Khaak musalmaan hoNge

The poet is aware of his outwardly sinner's ways, but can still feel
superior to the ShaiKh's piety:

tar-daamanii peh ShaiKh hamaarii na jaayio
daaman nichoR deN to farishte vuzuu kareN

Poetry being the game of aesthetics it will obviously ridicule any
restrictions imposed on appreciation of beauty. As Faiz says:

faqiih'-e-shehr se mai ka javaaz kyaa puuchheN
keh chaaNdnii ko bhi hazrat haraam kehte haiN

Talking about peace with yourself, try beating this one:

gar ai zaahid du'aa-e-Khair mii go'ii ba-iiN go
keh iin aavaarah-e-kuu-e-butaaN aavaarah-tar baadaa

[agar ai zaahid mere liiye nek du'aa kartaa hai to yeh kar, keh yeh
kuu-e-butaaN ka aavaarah, aur bhii avaarah ho jaa'ey].

The subject is vast, but this will have to do.

Jamil