Ale Ahmad Suroor (1911-2002) was an

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He is best known for his literary criticism. In 1974 he was honoured with the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

for his literary critic work, ''Nazar aur Nazariya''. In 1991 he was also awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, India's third highest civilian award. He was awarded a special gold medal by the President of Pakistan on the centenary of the birth of

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philos ...

Early life

Suroor was born in the Badaun city of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

on 9 September 1911. He studied Science and graduated from St John's College, Agra. He completed his master's degree in English literature in 1934. From 1958 to 1974 he worked as professor and Head of Urdu at Aligarh Muslim University.http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/18/59SuroorMemoriam.pdf

Philosophy

Suroor's autobiography, ''Khwab Baki Hai'' (Dream Still Remain), states, "Criticism takes the help of science but it is not a science; it is a branch of literature". Regarding poetry Suroor states that poetry does not bring "revolutions" but it creates right environment to make sudden change in mind, it is not "sword" but the "lancet".

Work

Suroor wrote extensively on Urdu poet

. Suroor was the founder director of the "Iqbal institute" in Kashmir University which is now known as the "Iqbal institute of Culture and Philosophy". The "Iqbal Chair" was established at Kashmir University in 1977 where Suroor was appointed as Iqbal professor.

Books

Suroor authored many books. The following is an incomplete list of Suroor's books. * ''Khwab Baaki Hai'' (Dreams Still Remain): It is an autobiography of Suroor published in 1991. * ''Nazar aur Nazariya'' (Sight and Perspective) (1973): Critic work which won

in 1974. * ''Tanqidi Ishare'' (Critical Signposts) (1942): It was Suroor's first collection of critical writing. * ''Naye aur Purane Chirag'' (New and Old Lamps) (1946) * ''Tanqid Kya Hai?'' (What is Criticism?) (1947) * ''Adab aur Nazariya'' (Literature and Perspective) (1954) * ''Jadidiyat aur Adab'' (Modernism and Literature) (1967) * ''Masarrat se Basirat tak'' (From Pleasure to Insight) (1974) * ''Urdu aur Hindustani Tehjib'' (Urdu and Indian culture) (1985) * ''Afkar ke Diye'' (The Lamps of the Mind) (2000) The following are some of books written by Suroor on Iqbal's legacy. * ''Iqbal aur unka Falsafa'' (Iqbal and his Philosophy) (1977) * ''Iqbal:Nazar aur Shairi'' (Iqbal:Vision and Poetry) (1978) * ''Iqbal, Faiz aur Ham'' (Iqbal, Faiz and We) (1985) * ''Iqbal ki Manviyat'' (The Relevance of Iqbal) (1986) * ''Danishwar Iqbal'' (Iqbal The Intellectual) (1996)

Awards and recognition

Suroor was honoured by following major awards * Uttar Pradesh Urdu Akademi Award (1954) * Delhi Urdu Akademi Award (1973) *

(1974) * Pakistan President's "Iqbal Centenary Gold Medal" presented to Suroor by the High Commissioner of Pakistan to India for his contribution to

related literature (1978) * Ghalib Modi Award (1982) *

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

(1992) * Majlis-e-Farogh-e-Urdu (1996) : Regarded as the Urdu-speaking world's highest literary award. * Iqbal Samman by Government of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

(2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suroor, Ale Ahmad 1911 births 2002 deaths Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu Urdu-language poets from India Aligarh Muslim University faculty