Shamim Hanafi (17 November 1938 – 6 May 2021) was an Indian

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Urdu literature Urdu literature ( ur, , ) is literature in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal '' غزل and ''nazm '' نظم, it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of t ...

. His books on modernism include ''The Philosophical Foundation of Modernism'' and ''New Poetic Tradition''. He was associated with the

Jamia Millia Islamia Jamia Millia Islamia () is a central university located in New Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British Raj in 1920, it moved to its current location in Okhla in ...

to the extent of becoming a professor emeritus. Hanafi was an alumnus of the

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

and the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. During his career, he taught at the Aligarh Muslim University and the Jamia Millia Islamia. He wrote dramas such as ''Mitti Ka Bulāwa'' and ''Bāzār Mein Nīnd''. He was conferred with the awards like Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award and

Ghalib Award Mirza Ghalib Award, commonly known as Ghalib Award, is a literary award and an honor in India presented annually in the month of December by Ghalib Academy (Ghalib Institute). It was established and named after a greatest Indian poet Ghalib. ...

for his contributions towards Urdu literature.

Early life and education

Shamim Hanafi was born in Sultanpur on 17 November 1938 to Yāsīn Siddīqi and Begum Zaibunnisa. Hanafi was introduced to

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

and

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

quite early in life by his father, who was a literary enthusiast and an advocate. Hanafi studied Persian with Maulvi Mugheesuddin and developed an interest in

due to his teacher Syed Moinuddin Qadri. He got an MA and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from the

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

in 1962 and 1967 respectively; and a

D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

from the

in 1976. During his studies at the Allahabad University, he drew close to

Firaq Gorakhpuri Raghupati Sahay (28 August 1896 – 3 March 1982), also known by his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri, was an Indian writer, critic, and, according to one commentator, one of the most noted contemporary Urdu poets from India. He established himself ...

. He also benefitted from

Khaleel-Ur-Rehman Azmi Khaleel-Ur-Rehman Azmi (9 August 1927 – 1 June 1978), also known as Khalil al-Rehman Azmi, was an Urdu poet and literary critic who was born in the village Seedhan Sultanpur in the district of Azamgarh. Azmi's father Muhammad Shafi was a deep ...

and Syed Ehtesham Hussain.

Career

Hanafi taught at a Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya affiliated college in

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

briefly while he finished his MA. He later taught at the AMU for a span of seven years, and then joined the Urdu department of

(JMI), and remained connected to the JMI in the capacity of

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. He was elected as the member of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) court in 2010. At the JMI, he served as the dean of the Humanities and Languages faculty, from which he resigned in 2012. He was a patron of Jashn-e-Adab and the

Rekhta ''Rekhta'' ( ur, ; hi, रेख़्ता ) was the Hindustani language as its dialectal basis shifted to the Delhi dialect. This style evolved in both the Urdu alphabet, Perso-Arabic and Devanagari scripts and is considered an early for ...

. He was seen among the top literary critics, playwrights and poets of the Indian subcontinent. During intermediate studies, Shamim translated

Saeed Nafisi Saeed Nafisi (also Naficy) ( fa, سعید نفیسی; June 8, 1895 – November 13, 1966) was an Iranian scholar, fiction writer and poet. He was a prolific writer in Persian. Nafisi was born in Tehran, where he conducted numerous research proje ...

's ''Aākhri Yādgār-i-Nādir Shah'' into Urdu. He wrote his first play, ''Ākhri Kush'', which was produced by his friend Ameeq Hanfee in 1965. He has been the editor of ''Jamia'', a magazine of Jamia Millia Islamia. He wrote dramas including ''Mitti Ka Bulāwa'', ''Bāzār Mein Nīnd'' and ''Mujhe Ghar Yād Aata Hai''. In June 2015, his poetic collection ''Ākhri Pehar ki Dastak'' was released by Hindi poet

Ashok Vajpeyi Ashok Vajpeyi ( hi, अशोक वाजपेयी; born 1941) is an Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, literary-cultural critic, apart from being a noted cultural and arts administrator, and a former civil servant. He was chairman, Lali ...

. In 2012, Hanafi remarked at the Urdu Conference, organized by the Karachi Arts Council that, "books respect our solitude" and "the advent of information technology had sparked off a tussle between books and machines". He compiled ''Jamia Millia Islamia Tahrīk, Tārīk̲h̲, Riwāyat''. Hanafi was conferred with the first Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award, by the Bharatiya Jnanpith in 2015. He received the "International award for promotion of Urdu literature" in January 2021 from the Majlis-e-Frogh-e-Urdu Adab, a Qatar-based literary organization. He has also received the "Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Award", Pervaiz Shahidi Award, Delhi's Urdu Academy Award and the

. On 20 September 2015, he was conferred with the Hindustan Gyan Peeth award.

Death and legacy

Shamim Hanafi died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on 6 May 2021 in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. Arts Council, Karachi president Ahmad Shah expressed grief on Hanafi's death and said "Shamim will remain alive amongst us due to his literary works."

Raza Rumi Raza Ahmad Rumi is a Pakistani policy analyst and journalist. He is currently the editor of the ''Friday Times'' and chief editor of the online media platform ''Naya Daur Media.'' Rumi is the son of Sheikh Riaz Ahmad, who served as chief just ...

S. Irfan Habib Syed Irfan Habib (born 1953) is an Indian historian of science and public intellectual. He was the former Abul Kalam Azad Chair at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration. His intellectual collaboration with Dhruv Rain ...

and Bilal Tanweer expressed grief on Hanafi's death. He is credited with the international recognition and development of the JMI's Urdu department. His students include Kausar Mazhari.

Literary works

Hanafi's books include: * ''Jadīdiyyat kī falsafiyānah asās'' (''The Philosophical Foundation of Modernism'') * ''Naʼī shiʻrī rivāyat'' (''New Poetic Tradition'') * ''Tārīk̲h̲, tahzīb aur tak̲h̲līqī tajarbah'' * ''Urdū culture aur taqsīm kī virās̲at'' * ''Khayal ki Musaafat'' * ''Qāri Say Mukālma'' * ''Manṭo ḥaqīqat se afsāne tak'' * ''G̲h̲ālib kī tak̲h̲līqī ḥissīyat'' * ''Āzādī ke baʻd Dihlī men̲ Urdū k̲h̲ākah'' * ''G̲h̲azal kā nayā manz̤ar nāmah''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanafi, Shamim Urdu-language culture 1938 births 2021 deaths Urdu critics Urdu-language poets from India Academic staff of Jamia Millia Islamia People from Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh University of Allahabad alumni Aligarh Muslim University alumni Academic staff of Aligarh Muslim University Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India