Akhtar Shirani (born Muhammad Dawood Khan; 4 May 1905 – 9 September 1948; also spelled Sheerani or Sherani), was an Urdu poet. He is considered to be one of the leading romantic poets of
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
Sherani tribe, Shirani tribe which had come to India with Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi and had stayed back in Tonk,
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...
. He was a son of Hafiz Mahmood Sheerani, a scholar and teacher of high repute, who had started teaching at Islamia College, Lahore in 1921. In 1928, he moved to
Oriental College, Lahore
Punjab University Oriental College, commonly known as Oriental College, is an institution of oriental studies in Lahore.
It is located next to Government College University, Lahore.
It was founded by Adi Brahmo Samaj preacher Pundit Navin Chand ...
. Young Dawood moved to Lahore at a very young age and lived there throughout his life. He did his Munshi Fazil منشی فاضل in 1921 and Adeeb Fazil ادیب فاضل in 1922 (degrees in Arabic and Persian) from Oriental College, Lahore.
Despite the efforts of his father, he could not continue his education and instead became a full-time poet. His teacher in poetry (ustad) was Maulana Tajwar Najibabadi, a well-respected personality in literary circles of Lahore who used to publish literary magazines. Since he had a very common birth name, he adopted Akhtar Sheerani as a pen name.Profile of poet Akhtar Sheerani on urdupoetry.com website. Retrieved 23 August 2021
Works
As to his skill, Akhtar was quite innovative and introduced new trends in Urdu poetry. At such a young age, he wrote mature and inspiring poetry. He was called شاعرِ رومان (the poet of romance). His best-known collections of poetry include ''Akhtaristan'', ''Nigarshat-e-Akhtar'', ''Lala-e-toor'', ''Tayyur-e-Aawara'', ''Naghma-e-Haram'', ''Subh-e bahaar'', and ''Shahnaz''. He had been editor for the literary magazines ''Intikhab'', ''Bahaaristan'', ''Khyaalistan'', and ''Romaan'' from 1923 to 1939. He also wrote columns for daily newspapers ''Hamdard'' and
Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...
of
Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar
Muhammad Ali Jauhar (10 December 1878 – 4 January 1931), was an Indian Muslim activist, prominent member of the All-India Muslim League, journalist and a poet, a leading figure of the Khilafat Movement and one of the founders of Jamia Milli ...
and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan respectively. He introduced many new writers in his magazines, including
Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi
Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi ( ur, ) born Ahmad Shah Awan ( ur, ) (20 November 1916 - 10 July 2006) was an Urdu language Pakistani poet, journalist, literary critic, dramatist and short story author. He wrote 50 books on topics such as poetry, fictio ...
and Qudratullah Shahab (both are well-known Urdu writers now). "Chandra Wati", the first ''afsana'' (short story) of Qudratullah Shahab, was published in ''Romaan'' (Magazine of Akhtar Sheerani).
In total, he left nine collections of his verses. but some one told us that he was a bad person at ruling the people. In prose, apart from his fictions and translations, his essays on literary, critical and historical subjects are in abundance. His son, Professor Mehmood Sheerani, who has been teaching in Government College University, has written a book on his life named as ''Kahan Se Laaoon Unhain'' (Where can I Find Him?). Yunus Hasni also wrote a book on the life of Akhtar Sheerani.
Style and influence on Urdu poetry
Youth dominates Akhtar's poetry like that of Shelley, Keats, and Byron. Lyricism, subtlety and novelty infuse a new spirit onto his poetry. He exhales a verse as a flower exhales fragrance. His verses touching various colorful subjects flow with such tremendous ease and felicity as the reader is moved to ecstasy. Most of the critics have concentrated only on one aspect of his 'Love Poetry'. However, his work was not confined to just the physical beauty of woman. Woman to him is beautiful in all her forms and shapes; the beloved, the wife, the mother and the sister. Wordsworth, the father of romantic poetry finds the immanence of divine spirit in the objects of nature. Akhtar's depiction of nature is second to none, but unlike Wordsworth, he finds the objects of nature imbued with the beauty of woman. He uses woman as a symbol that stands for beauty and love permeating the whole universe.
Variegated aspects and artistic skills of Akhtar Shairani's poetry lend him a distinguished place in modern Urdu poetry. His influence on Urdu literature, and poetry in particular, earned him a repute of trendsetter.
His famous poems include:
* "Ae ishq kahin le chal"
* "O des se aane waale bataa"
* "Ae ishq hamein barbad na kar" A super-hit poem sung by
Nayyara Noor
Nayyara Noor (; 3 November 1950 – 20 August 2022) was a Pakistani playback singer, considered one of Pakistan's most popular singers. She was known for performing in live ghazal singing concerts in Pakistani TV shows and in concert halls arou ...
* "Main aarzoo-e-jaan likhoon ya jaan-e-aarzu"Ghazals of poet Akhtar Sheerani Rekhta.org website. Retrieved 23 August 2021
* "Kuch to tanhai ki raaton ka sahara hota"
* "Barsat"
* "Tumhain sitaron ne be ikhtiar dekha hai"
* "Woh kehtain hain ranjish ki baatain bhula dein", a hit ghazal sung by
Malika Pukhraj
Malika Pukhraj (Punjabi, ur, ملكہ پکھراج ) (1912 – 2004) was a highly popular Ghazal and folk singer of Pakistan. She was generally known as "Malika", meaning "The Queen", publicly. She was extremely popular for her rendition ...
* "Woh kabhi mil jayen to kya kijiye", a soulful ghazal sung by Ghulam Ali
Death and legacy
Akhtar Shirani's life was a succession of tragedies. His young son Javed Mahmood died, his close friend Mirza Shuja Khan committed suicide, his son-in-law Naziruddin Shirani was accidentally drowned, and he was rejected by the woman, named Salma, that he loved. That made him turn to alcohol. On his physical and mental condition,
Agha Shorish Kashmiri
Agha Shorish Kashmiri (1917–1975; ) was a Pakistani scholar, writer, debater, and a leader of the Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam party. He was a figure of the freedom movement in the British Raj, as well as the chief editor of the weekly ''Chattan'' m ...
who was a well known literary, political, and social figure of
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
, Pakistan at that time, wrote that one was better-off not to see him, since one would be so depressed after seeing him. Excessive drinking took a toll on his health. He was admitted to
Mayo Hospital
Mayo Hospital is one of the oldest and biggest hospitals in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. King Edward Medical University, one of the oldest and most prestigious medical institutions in South Asia, is attached to Mayo Hospital. Mayo Hospital is locat ...
, Lahore on 3 September and died in Lahore on 9 September 1948, just two days before the death of
Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
. While visiting his friend, Hakeem Nayyar Wasty, he died in their home in Masti Gate, Lahore on 9 September 1948.
Pakistan Postal Services
Pakistan Post ( ur, ) is a state enterprise which functions as Pakistan's primary and largest postal operator. 49,502 employees through a vehicle fleet of 5,000 operate traditional "to the door" service from more than 13,419 post offices acro ...
issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor in 2005 in its 'Poets of Pakistan' series.