Syed Hussain Sibt-e-Asghar Naqvi, commonly known as Jaun Elia ( ur, , 14 December 1931 – 8 November 2002), was an Indo-Pakistani poet, philosopher, biographer, and scholar. One of the most prominent modern Urdu poets, popular for his unconventional ways, he "acquired knowledge of philosophy, logic, Islamic history, the Muslim Shia tradition, Muslim religious sciences, Western literature, and Kabbala."

Early life

Jaun Elia was born as Syed Sibt-e-Asghar Naqvi on 14 December 1931 in

Amroha Amroha is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is located north-west of Moradabad, near the Ganga River. It is the administrative headquarters of the Amroha district. Geography Amroha is located north-west of Moradabad, near th ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. His father, Shafiq Elia, was a scholar of literature and astronomy well-versed in the Arabic, English, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit languages, and who corresponded with leading intellectuals like

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

. He was the youngest of his siblings.

Rais Amrohvi Rais Amrohvi ( ur, ), whose real name was Syed Muhammad Mehdi (1914-1988) was a Pakistani scholar, Urdu poet, paranormal investigator, and psychoanalyst and elder brother of Jaun Elia. He was known for his style of qatanigari (quatrain writ ...

was his elder brother. Indian film director

Kamal Amrohi Syed Amir Haider Kamal Naqvi (17 January 1918 – 11 February 1993), popularly known as Kamal Amrohi, was an Indian film director and screenwriter. He was also an Urdu and Hindi poet. His Hindi films include '' Mahal'' (1949), ''Pakeezah'' (1 ...

was his first cousin. Described as a child prodigy, he was initially educated at the Syed-ul-Madaris in Amroha. Being a communist, Elia opposed the partition of India. Elia once remarked on the creation of Pakistan that "this was the mischief of boys from Aligarh". However, he eventually migrated to Pakistan in 1957, and decided to live in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

. Poet Pirzada Qasim said: He began writing poetry at the age of 8 but published his first collection, ''Shayad'', when he was 60. He was inspired by the philosophy of Islam. He married writer Zahida Hina in 1970. They separated in 1992.

Works

Poetry collections

*''Sukhan Meri Udasee Hai'' *''Zakham-e-Umeed – زخمِ امید'' *''Mubada'' *''Tumharey Aur Mere Darmiyan'' *''Daricha Haye Kheyal'' *''Qitaat'' *''Jaun Elia Ki Tamam Ghazlain'' (parts I-III) *''Inshaye aur Mazaameen'' *''Farnood'' *''Is Rang Ke Tufaan'' اس رنگ کے طوفاں'' *''Shayad''

Prose work (mainly translations)

Elia was not just a poet but was also an editor and a translator, especially of old Sufi, Mutazili and Ismaili treatises. * Masih-i-Baghdad

Hallaj Al-Hallaj ( ar, ابو المغيث الحسين بن منصور الحلاج, Abū 'l-Muġīth Al-Ḥusayn bin Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj) or Mansour Hallaj ( fa, منصور حلاج, Mansūr-e Hallāj) ( 26 March 922) ( Hijri 309 AH) was a Per ...

, * Jometria, * Tawasin, * Isaghoji, * Rahaish-o-Kushaish, * Hasan bin Sabah * Farnod, Tajrid, * Masail-i-Tajrid, * Rasail Ikhwan al Safa Above are some of his translations from Arabic and Persian. Not only did he translate these books but also introduced several new words in the Urdu language. Muneeb arfan

Politics

Jaun Elia was a communist who, in his poems, supported

communism in Pakistan The influences of socialism and socialist movements in Pakistan have taken many different forms as a counterpart to political conservatism, from the groups like The Struggle, Lal Salam which is the Pakistani section of the International Marxis ...

. References to

class consciousness In Marxism, class consciousness is the set of beliefs that a person holds regarding their social class or economic rank in society, the structure of their class, and their class interests. According to Karl Marx, it is an awareness that is key to ...

are also seen in his poems.

In media

In 2020, Punjabi rapper Kay Kap's album ''Rough Rhymes for Tough Times'' featured a song entitled "Bulaava" which had couplets from the poem 'Pehnaayi Ka Makaan' written & recited by Jaun Elia.

References

External links

BBC Urdu's collection of writings on Jaun Elia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elia, Jaun 1931 births 2002 deaths Muhajir people Pakistani poets Pakistani scholars Linguists of Urdu Linguists from Pakistan Pakistani literary critics Urdu critics Pakistani Shia Muslims Poets from Karachi Urdu-language theologians 20th-century Urdu-language writers Urdu-language poets from Pakistan 20th-century poets Indian emigrants to Pakistan People from Amroha Pakistani agnostics Members of the Pakistan Philosophical Congress 20th-century linguists 20th-century Pakistani philosophers Indian Communist poets Pakistani Communist poets