Iftikhar Arif
Encyclopedia
Iftikhar Hussain Arif, PP
, SI, HI commonly known as Iftikhar Arif (b. March 21, 1943 Lucknow
) is an Urdu poet, scholar and littérateur from Pakistan
. His style is romantic Urdu poetry
. He has headed Academy Adbiyat, the Pakistan Academy of Letters
and currently, he is the Chairman of Muqtadra Quami Zaban, the National Language Authority
. He has been decorated with Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Presidential Pride of Performance
, highest literary awards by Government of Pakistan
.
in 1965. During this period he received his education at the Lucknow University where one of his teachers was Ehtisham Husain. He also studied at the Madressa-i-Nizamia, Farangi Mahal, and Government Jubilee College, Lucknow. He obtained a M.A.
from the Lucknow university.
, Iftikhar Arif started his career as a Radio Pakistan newscaster. It was through Altaf Gauhar
, then federal information secretary, that he was selected and appointed head of scripts in the Karachi television centre. He teamed up with Obaidullah Baig
and won the Pakistan Television Corporation
(PTV
) quiz show of the 1970s, Kasouti. Later, he spent 13 years in England
working for the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
(BCCI) -sponsored Urdu
Markaz. Coming back to Pakistan, he worked first as head of the National Language Authority (Muqtadara Qaumi Zaban), and then as chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL)and presently he is working again as a chairman of National Language Authority(Muqtadara Qaumi Zaban).
says that he has not only found traces of Meer
and Ghalib in Iftikhar’s poetry but also of Firaq Gorakhpuri
and Noon Meem Rashid
. Tributes have also been paid to him by such persons as Annemarie Schimmel
, Mumtaz Mufti
, Meerza Adeeb, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi
, Anna Suvorova
and Upinder Nath Ashkhttp://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php. Prof Mujtaba Husain feels that “Iftikhar Arif’s poetry has the dash and pomp of Aatish and Yagana but he is without their aggression.”http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php
The Oxford University Press
has selected a portion of Iftikhar Arif’s poetry and had it translated into English
. The collection has been published under the title, Written in the Season of Fear. The introduction to the book was written by Harris Khalique
, a poet in English, Urdu and Punjabi.
Arif's poetry has been translated into a number of languages, including English
, Russian
, German
, Persian
, Hindi
and Bhasha. A recording company has released a Pakistan Television Production of ghazals titled “Chup Durya” containing poems by Iftikhar Arif rendered by a number of prominent Pakistani singers, including Malka-i-Mooseeqi, the late Roshan Ara Begum
, the late Madame Noor Jehan
and Iqbal Bano
etc.
A number of theses have been written on his poetry by post-graduate students in various universities of Pakistan.http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php
(2005), Sitara-e-Imtiaz(1999), Pride of Performance
(literature 1990), Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq
Award, (poetry, 1995), Naqoosh Award (1994), Faiz International Award for Poetry by Aalami Urdu Conference and a number of other prestigious National and International literary awards.
Multan Iftikhar Arif ki Shaeri ka Funni Wa Fikri Tajzia and Ayza Qureshi of Islamia University
Bahawalpur
Iftikhar Arif Bahaesiyat Shaer.http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php
Pride of Performance
Pride of Performance , is one of the highest civil award given and conferred by the Pakistan Government to Pakistan's citizens in recognition of distinguished merit in the fields of Literature, Arts, Sports, Medicines, and Science for civilians in most particular cases.The announcement of civil...
, SI, HI commonly known as Iftikhar Arif (b. March 21, 1943 Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
) is an Urdu poet, scholar and littérateur from Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. His style is romantic Urdu poetry
Urdu poetry
Urdu poetry is a rich tradition of poetry and has many different types and forms. Borrowing much from the Persian language, it is today an important part of Pakistani and North Indian culture....
. He has headed Academy Adbiyat, the Pakistan Academy of Letters
Pakistan Academy of Letters
The Pakistan Academy of Letters is a learned society of literary, Arts, and humanities. It is the largest learned society of it own kind, and promotes literacy and literature based conferences throughout the country...
and currently, he is the Chairman of Muqtadra Quami Zaban, the National Language Authority
National Language Authority
The National Language Authority is an autonomous regulatory institution established in 1979 to support the advancement and promotion of Urdu which is the national language of Pakistan. Initially it was aimed at creating a synergy between national and provincial governments and institutions for...
. He has been decorated with Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Presidential Pride of Performance
Pride of Performance
Pride of Performance , is one of the highest civil award given and conferred by the Pakistan Government to Pakistan's citizens in recognition of distinguished merit in the fields of Literature, Arts, Sports, Medicines, and Science for civilians in most particular cases.The announcement of civil...
, highest literary awards by Government of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
.
Early days and education
Iftikhar Arif was born in Lucknow in 1943 and lived there till his migration to PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
in 1965. During this period he received his education at the Lucknow University where one of his teachers was Ehtisham Husain. He also studied at the Madressa-i-Nizamia, Farangi Mahal, and Government Jubilee College, Lucknow. He obtained a M.A.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from the Lucknow university.
Career
Iftikhar Arif came to Pakistan in 1965 and soon thereafter won fame not just on account of his poetry, but also for his performance in the programme Kasauti, along with Obaidullah Baig on Pakistan Television. Coming to Pakistan and settling in KarachiKarachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Iftikhar Arif started his career as a Radio Pakistan newscaster. It was through Altaf Gauhar
Altaf Gauhar
Altaf Gauhar was a civil servant, journalist, poet, and writer from Pakistan. He was born in Gujranwala.-Civil service career:...
, then federal information secretary, that he was selected and appointed head of scripts in the Karachi television centre. He teamed up with Obaidullah Baig
Obaidullah Baig
Obaidullah Baig is an eminent scholar, Urdu writer/novelist, Columnist and media expert from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Obaidullah Baig with his family escaped from pograms and genocide in Rampur, India and settled in Karachi, Pakistan...
and won the Pakistan Television Corporation
Pakistan Television Corporation
The Pakistan Television Corporation is Pakistan's national television broadcaster. The first live transmission of PTV began on November 26, 1964, in Lahore...
(PTV
Pakistan Television Corporation
The Pakistan Television Corporation is Pakistan's national television broadcaster. The first live transmission of PTV began on November 26, 1964, in Lahore...
) quiz show of the 1970s, Kasouti. Later, he spent 13 years in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
working for the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The Bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. Within a decade BCCI touched its peak...
(BCCI) -sponsored Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
Markaz. Coming back to Pakistan, he worked first as head of the National Language Authority (Muqtadara Qaumi Zaban), and then as chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL)and presently he is working again as a chairman of National Language Authority(Muqtadara Qaumi Zaban).
Works and achievements
Iftikhar Arif is a poet of Urdu. Three of his collections, Mehr-i-Doneem, Harf-i-Baryab and Jahan-e-Maloom have been published in many editions. In the introduction to the first book, Faiz Ahmed FaizFaiz Ahmed Faiz
Faiz Ahmad Faiz was a Pakistani intellectual, poet, and one of the most famous poets of the Urdu language. He was a member of the Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind and an avowed Marxist. In 1962, he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union...
says that he has not only found traces of Meer
Meer
*Meer may refer to:*Fatima Meer, South African writer and anti-apartheid activist*Simon van der Meer*Mir Taqi Mir, an Urdu poet*Meer in the Netherlands*Meer in the Netherlands*Mir, a Canadian rock band, pronounced "meer"...
and Ghalib in Iftikhar’s poetry but also of Firaq Gorakhpuri
Firaq Gorakhpuri
Raghupati Sahay , better known under his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri , was a writer, critic, and one of the most noted contemporary Urdu poets from India...
and Noon Meem Rashid
Noon Meem Rashid
Nazar Mohammed Rashed commonly known as Noon Meem Rashed or N.M. Rashed, was born as Raja Nazar Muhmmad Janjua...
. Tributes have also been paid to him by such persons as Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel, SI, HI, was a well known and very influential German Orientalist and scholar, who wrote extensively on Islam and Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.-Early life:...
, Mumtaz Mufti
Mumtaz Mufti
Mumtaz Mufti SI , was a distinguished writer from Pakistan.-Early life:...
, Meerza Adeeb, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi
Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi
Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi or Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi D.Litt , SI, HI is an Urdu satirical and humor writer from Pakistan. Yousufi has also served as the head of several national and international governmental and financial institutions...
, Anna Suvorova
Anna Suvorova
Anna A. Suvorova is a Russian Orientalist and art critic. She is bilingual in Russian and Urdu.-Biography:Suvorova is the Head of the Department of Asian Literature at the Institute of Oriental Studies , Professor of Indo-Islamic culture at the Institute of Oriental and classical cultures Anna A....
and Upinder Nath Ashkhttp://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php. Prof Mujtaba Husain feels that “Iftikhar Arif’s poetry has the dash and pomp of Aatish and Yagana but he is without their aggression.”http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php
The Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
has selected a portion of Iftikhar Arif’s poetry and had it translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. The collection has been published under the title, Written in the Season of Fear. The introduction to the book was written by Harris Khalique
Harris Khalique
Harris Khalique is a Pakistani columnist and intellectual who has a keen interest in social democratic politics. He is based in Islamabad.-Background and Early Life:...
, a poet in English, Urdu and Punjabi.
Arif's poetry has been translated into a number of languages, including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Bhasha. A recording company has released a Pakistan Television Production of ghazals titled “Chup Durya” containing poems by Iftikhar Arif rendered by a number of prominent Pakistani singers, including Malka-i-Mooseeqi, the late Roshan Ara Begum
Roshan Ara Begum
Roshan Ara Begum became one of the most important woman in the history of Hindustani classical music. In Pakistan she is revered as Mallika-e-Mauseeqi or Queen of Music...
, the late Madame Noor Jehan
Noor Jehan
Noorjehan or Noorjehan was the adopted stage name for Allah Wasai who was a legendary singer and actress in British India and Pakistan. Her career spanned seven decades...
and Iqbal Bano
Iqbal Bano
Iqbal Bano , PP was a highly acclaimed female Ghazal singer from Pakistan. She was best known for her semi-classical Urdu ghazal songs and classical thumris, but also sang easy-listening numbers in 1950s films....
etc.
A number of theses have been written on his poetry by post-graduate students in various universities of Pakistan.http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php
Awards
Hilal-i-ImtiazHilal-i-Imtiaz
The Hilal-i-Imtiaz, English: Crescent of Excellence, Urdu: هلال ا متيا ز , is the second highest civilian award and honor given to both civilians and military officers of the State of Pakistan|Pakistan armed forces by the Government of Pakistan...
(2005), Sitara-e-Imtiaz(1999), Pride of Performance
Pride of Performance
Pride of Performance , is one of the highest civil award given and conferred by the Pakistan Government to Pakistan's citizens in recognition of distinguished merit in the fields of Literature, Arts, Sports, Medicines, and Science for civilians in most particular cases.The announcement of civil...
(literature 1990), Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq
Maulvi Abdul Haq
Maulvi Abdul Haq was a scholar and linguist, who is also regarded as Baba-e-Urdu . He was a champion of the Urdu language and the demand for it to be made the national language of Pakistan.-Early life:...
Award, (poetry, 1995), Naqoosh Award (1994), Faiz International Award for Poetry by Aalami Urdu Conference and a number of other prestigious National and International literary awards.
Theses written
Theses of post graduate level on life and works by Nargis Gul Malik from Karachi University Iftikhar Arif: Fun Aur Shakhsiyat, Liaqat Ali of Bahauddin Zakariya UniversityBahauddin Zakariya University
Bahauddin Zakariya University is located in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the Largest university of South Punjab. Bahauddin Zakariya University was formerly known as Multan University. It was renamed in honor of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya...
Multan Iftikhar Arif ki Shaeri ka Funni Wa Fikri Tajzia and Ayza Qureshi of Islamia University
Islamia University
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur , colloquially known as Islamia University, is located in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. University has many faculties including Engineering, Pharmacy and Alternative Medicine, Science, Arts, Languages, Social Sciences, Business and Information Technology. The...
Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur , located in the province of Punjab, is the twelfth largest city in Pakistan. The city was once the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The city was home to various Nawabs and counted as part of the Rajputana states...
Iftikhar Arif Bahaesiyat Shaer.http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php
Books & Publications
- Mehr-i-Doneem (1983)
- Harf-i-Baryab (1994)
- Jahan-e-Maloom
- Shehr-e-Ilm ke derwazay per (2006)
- Written in the Season of Fear (English translation)
- The Twelfth Man (translation of Barhwan Khilari by Brenda Walker, 1989)
- Kitab-e-Dil-o-Dunya (2009)
- Modern Poetry of Pakistan (2011, editor)
External links
- author page at Lyrikline.orgLyrikline.orglyrikline.org hosts contemporary international poetry as audio and text , plus bibliographies and biographies for each poet.lyrikline.org was started in November 1999 as a German-language site...
, with audio and text in Urdu, and translations into German. - Official website of National Language Authority
- Official website of Pakistan Academy of Letters