Akhlaq Mohammad Khan (16 June 1936 – 13 February 2012), better known by his '' takhallus'' Shahryar'','' was an Indian

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and a doyen of

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the culture of India and Pakistan. According to Naseer Turabi, there are five major poets of Urdu: Mir Taqi Mir (d. 1810), Mirza Ghalib (d. ...

in India. As a

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

film lyricist, he is best known for his lyrics in '' Gaman'' (1978) and '' Umrao Jaan'' (1981) directed by Muzaffar Ali. He retired as the head of the Urdu Department at the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

, and thereafter he remained sought after name in '' mushairas'' or poetic gatherings, and also co-edited the literary magazine ''Sher-o-Hikmat''. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for ''Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai'' (1987), and in 2008 he won 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 ...

, the highest literary award and only the fourth Urdu poet to win the award. He has been widely acknowledged as the finest exponent of modern Urdu poetry.

Early life and education

Shahryar was born at Aonla,

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

to a Muslim Rajput family. His father Abu Mohammad Khan was posted as a Police Officer, though the family hailed from village Chaundhera in Bulandshahr District, Uttar Pradesh. He received his early education at Bulandshahr. In his childhood days, Shahryar wanted to be an athlete but his father wanted him to join the police force. It is then that he ran away from home and was guided by Khaleel-Ur-Rehman Azmi, the eminent Urdu critic and poet. He then studied at

and passed his BA in psychology in 1958. He joined MA in psychology but quit it after a year and got admission to the Urdu department of AMU. In 1961 he passed his MA in Urdu. He also completed his Ph.D. in Aligarh.

Career

Shahryar started his career as a writer at ''Hamari Zubaan'', the weekly magazine of the '' Anjuman Tarraqqi-e-Urdu'' in 1961 and worked there until 1966. After that in 1966 he joined Aligarh Muslim University as a lecturer in Urdu. He was appointed professor in 1986 and in 1996, he retired as chairman of the Urdu Department. He co-edited the literary magazine ''Sher-o-Hikmat'' (Poetry and Philosophy).

Literary career

His first poetry collection ''Ism-e-azam'' was published in 1965, the second collection, ''Satvan dar'' (''Satva yet'' in English), appeared in 1969, and the third collection titled ''Hijr Ke Mausam'' was released in 1978. His most celebrated work, ''Khwab Ke dar band hain'', arrived in 1987, which also won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for that year. In addition, he published five collections of his poetry in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

script. In 2008, he became the fourth Urdu writer to win the

, after Firaq, Ali Sardar Jafri, and Qurratulain Hyder.

Lyricist

Shahryar wrote lyrics for select films, from Aligarh where he was approached by filmmakers. Muzaffar Ali and Shahryar were friends from their student days, and Shahryar had shared some of the ghazals with him. Later when Ali made his directorial debut with '' Gaman'' in 1978, he used two of his ghazals ''Seene Mein Jalan Ankhon Mein Toofan Sa Kyun Hai'' and ''Ajeeb Saneha Mujhpar Guzar Gaya Yaaron'' in the film, and they are still considered classic. All his

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

s from '' Umrao Jaan'', 'Dil Cheez Kya Hai Aap Meri Jaan Lijiye', 'Ye Ka Jagah Hai Doston', ' In Aankhon Ki Masti Ke' etc. are among the finest lyrical works in Bollywood. He also wrote for

Yash Chopra Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian film director and film producer who worked in Bollywood, Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chopra was the reci ...

's '' Faasle'' (1985), thereafter Chopra offered him three more films to write for, but he refused as he didn't want to become a "song shop". Though he wrote for Muzaffar Ali's '' Anjuman'' (1986). He also left behind unfinished contributions to Ali's '' Zooni'' and ''Daaman''.

Personal life

Shahryar married Najma Mahmood, a teacher in the English department in the Women’s College at Aligarh in 1968. They had three children, Humayun Shahryar, Saima Shahryar, and Faridoon Shahryar who is an entertainment journalist. He died on 13 February 2012 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, after a prolonged illness due to lung cancer.

Awards

* Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for his poetry collection, ''Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai'' (1987). * The fourth Urdu writer to win the

– 2008. * Firaaq Samman * Bahadur Shah Zafar Award. Four theses have been written on Shahryar's works.

Selected bibliography

* ''Ism-e-azam'', 1965. * ''Satvan dar'', 1969. * ''Hijr Ke Mausam'', 1978. * ''Khwab Ke dar band Hain'', 1987. * ''Neend ki Kirchen'' – (English: ''Shards of Shattered Sleep''). * ''Through the Closed Doorway: A Collection of Nazms by Shahryar'', tr. Rakhshanda Jalil. 2004, Rupa & Co., . * Shahryar, Akhlaq Mohmmad Khan: ''Influence of the western criticism on the Urdu criticism'', Aligarh. * Dhund ki Roshni (English: ''The Light of Dusk''): Selected Poems of Shahryar, 2003,

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

, .

References

Cited sources

External links

*
The poet who gave Umrao Jaan her voice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Akhlaq Mohammed 1936 births 2012 deaths Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu Recipients of the Gangadhar National Award Urdu-language poets from India People from Bareilly district Indian lyricists Academic staff of Aligarh Muslim University Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Deaths from lung cancer in India Indian magazine editors Poets from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Aligarh Muslim University alumni Urdu-language writers from India