Abdur Rehman Rahi (6 May 1925 – 9 January 2023) was an

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

poet, translator and critic. He was awarded the Indian

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 ...

in 1961 for his poetry collection ''Nawroz-i-Saba'', the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 2000, and India's highest literary award, the

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...

(for the year 2004) in 2007. He is the first

writer to be awarded the Jnanpith, India's highest literary award for his poetic collection Siyah Rood Jaeren Manz (In Black Drizzle ). He was honored with

Sahitya Akademi Fellowship The Sahitya Akademi Fellowship is a literary honour in India bestowed by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.Quote: "In his acceptance speech when India's National Academy of Letters (Sahitya Akademi) in 1997 conferred its h ...

in 2000 by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.

Life and career

Born in 1925, Rehman Rahi began his career as a clerk in the Public Works Department of the Government for few months in 1948 and was associated with the Progressive Writers' Association, of which he became the General Secretary. He also edited a few issues of ''Kwang Posh'', the literary journal of the Progressive Writer's Association. He was later a sub-editor in the Urdu daily ''Khidmat''. He did an M.A. in Persian (1952) and in English (1962) from Jammu and Kashmir University where he taught Persian. He was on the editorial board of the Urdu daily ''Aajkal'' in Delhi from 1953 to 1955. He was also associated with the Cultural wing of communist Party of Kashmir during his student days. As translator he did translation of Baba Farid's Sufi poetry to Kashmiri from Original Punjabi. Camus and Sartre are some visible effects on his poems while Dina nath Naadim's influence on his poetry is also visible especially in earlier works. Rahi died on 9 January 2023, at the age of 97.

Published works

Rahi's major works include:http://www.greaterkashmir.com/Home/Newsdetails.asp?newsid=4960&Arch=Arch&issueid=171 * '' Sana-Wani Saaz'' (poems) (1952) * ''Sukhok Soda'' (poems) * ''Kalam-e-Rahi'' (poems) * ''Nawroz-i-Saba'' (poems) (1958) * ''Kahwat'' (literary criticism) * ''Kashir Shara Sombran'' * ''Azich Kashir Shayiri'' * ''Kashir Naghmati Shayiri'' * ''Baba Fareed'' (translation) * ''Saba Moallaqat'' * ''Farmove Zartushtadia''

References

External links

* Announcements of the Jnanpith award i
The Hindu
an
Greater Kashmir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahi, Rehman 1925 births 2023 deaths People from Jammu and Kashmir Kashmiri poets Kashmiri people Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kashmiri People from Srinagar Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education