【Move to another page】
Quote
https://ift.tt/2HYHNyA
Shafi Aqeel
EnnEff: ←Created page with 'Intorduction Shafi Aqeel was a journalist, writer, poet, art critic and translator. He has edited and co-edited a number of magazines, and contributed columns o...'
Intorduction
Shafi Aqeel was a journalist, writer, poet, art critic and translator. He has edited and co-edited a number of magazines, and contributed columns on art and literature to the national Urdu-language newspaper Jang.
Aqeel was born in 1930, in suburbs of where villages were usually known as Thheh, which he claims close to Sadar Bazaar. Residential schemes have almost eaten up most of the Thhehs including the Thheh Zaildaran on which now stands a vast area of Gulberg III. (Dawn.com, Shafi on Sadequain, Ramay and other painters).
Education and early life
Aqeel did not have formal education. He learnt reading the Quran at a mosque and was compelled by circumstances to seek his own living. He is not ashamed of mentioning the poverty he spent his early life in. "Poverty is nothing to abhor or be ashamed of. Rather, it may work as a stimulus. I think if I hadn't been poor, I wouldn't have achieved what I have," he says while narrating how he started off life as a worker and struggled on to become a distinguished man of letters.
As a young man in Lahore, he had also served the National Guards, a volunteer wing of the Quaid-i-Azam-led Muslim League. "When trainloads of bodies arrived at Lahore, we removed the bodies to a tent pitched at the railway station. Initially we were frightened. But soon we became used to it. It was an awful scene, indeed," recalls Aqeel. "The stinking bodies spread cholera in the station area as many migrants had nowhere to stay but the station." While working for the guards, they were paid nothing and even had to bring food from home. The Quran connected him with words, which set him off on a journey of scholarship. In later years he passed the munshi-fazil and adeeb-fazil exams.
Writing Career
His first article appeared in the Zamindar in 1947, and he became from Mohammad Shafi to Shafi Aqeel. It was the result of his outpouring on the then raging issue of Illam Deen Shaheed. He did not have a traditional teacher for poetry, which he initiated in 1948 but began composing in earnest in 1957. "I think anybody with 'mauzoon tabiyat' — a particular bent of mind for poetry — can judge for himself whether the metre and rhyme of his lines is correct" he said.
Born in a Lahore locality in 1930, he migrated to Karachi in January 1950 in search of a living. Here he worked as a sign-painter, the art he had learnt back in Lahore, and later worked for various magazines and newspapers in different capacities, including Majeed Lahori's Namakdan, where he worked as an assistant editor. Later he got the job of a magazine editor with a salary of Rs60 per month. "It was really a big amount considering that a hearty meal cost a man only four aanas (a quarter of a rupee). A roti (flat bread) was sold for one paisa (1/16th of a rupee) and daal (lentil curry) was free with it." Bus fares would have been a bit higher as the bus travelling between Tower and PIB Colony charged five paisas. (Naseer Ahamd, Dawn 14 Feb, 2008).
He also wrote short stories and a novel. His first collection of short stories, published in 1952, titled Bhookay (Hungry), landed him in trouble with the authorities, who declared it obscene and put the author on trial in Lahore while he lived in Karachi. "The West Pakistan government charged me under the Obscenity Law (Section 292)." It was another harsh phase of his life. "My defence witnesses were Maulana Abdul Majeed Salik, Shorash Kaashmiri and Saadat Hasan Manto. During my two-and-a-half years of trial, I couldn't collect them together as either one or the other was away from the city on the day of hearing," he recalls.
Work for Children's Magazine and Akhbar-i- Jahan
"Shafi Aqeel began his career with Majeed Lahori's magazine and gradually rose to prominence in journalism. He was also a very good translator. The children's magazine which he edited (Bhai Jaan) was a veritable effort because in that he introduced many a quality writer. Then his knowledge of art is known to all and sundry. Distinguished artists likes Sadequain, Ahmed Pervaiz and BM were his friends." (Nasir Baig Chughtai)
Poet and drama director Ayub Khawar said: "I first met him when I was in college. At the time eminent poet Athar Nafees was Shafi sahib's colleague at Akhbar-i-Jahan. Athar sahib introduced me to him. He was a multidimensional man who wrote on many subjects. His insight into the world of art was exemplary. I think the void that his death has created will never be filled."
Poet and researcher Aqeel Abbas Jafri said: "He was an amiable man. He admired people with intellect. The fact that he remained associated with one organisation for 63 years is a feat in itself. He was a selfless individual too, which is why after his brother-in-law died he decided not to get married in order to support his sister.
Works and Awards
He wrote 30 books, two of which were collections of his poetry written in Punjabi. He edited and co-edited a number of magazines, and contributed columns on art and literature to the national Urdu-language newspaper Jang. He wrote numerous books in Urdu and Punjabi, and wrote weekly book reviews. He received a number of awards for his work including the Dawood Literary Prize by the Pakistan Writers' Guild, 1968; the Habib Literary Prize, Pakistan Writers' Guild, 1976; the Pakistan Book council Best Book Award, 1977; The Khushal Khan Khattak Award, Govt of The Punjab, 1990; the Sir Abdul Qadir Award, International Urdu Conference, India, 1990; the Award of Services to the Cause of Freedom of the Press, Karachi Union of Journalists, 1995; the Best Book award by the Government of Punjab for Sassi Punoon-Hashim Shah, 2002; the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, 2004; and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Press Club, Karachi, 2005.
Death
Aqeel passed away at the age of 83 on September 7, 2013. He worked with The Jang newspaper for almost sixty years, and was in charge of its literary magazine.
He lived a life of celibacy, about which he said; "The charm of words, though they sit in black on paper, was so absorbing that I did not find time to look elsewhere hard enough," (Naseer Ahamd, Dawn 14 Feb, 2008)
Bibliography:
Popular Folk Tales of the Punjab
by Shafi Aqeel, Ahmad Bashir (Translator)
Punjabi Lok Dastanain / پنجابی لوک داستانیں
Chaar Jadeed Musawwir / چار جدید مصور
Pakistan Kay Saat Musawir / پاکستان کے سات مصور
Do Musawwir: Bashir Mirza aur Azar Zubi / دو مصور: بشیر مرزا اور آذر زوبی
Namwar Adeebon aur Shayaron ka Bachpan / نامور ادیبوں اور شاعروں کا بچپن
Musawwari aur Musawwir / مصوری اور مصور
Cheeni Lok Kahaniyan / چینی لوک کہانیاں
Irani Lok Kahaniyan / ایرانی لوک کہانیاں
References:
https://ift.tt/2Fbb8Tv
https://ift.tt/2HWh6uq
https://ift.tt/2HsllwM
Shafi Aqeel was a journalist, writer, poet, art critic and translator. He has edited and co-edited a number of magazines, and contributed columns on art and literature to the national Urdu-language newspaper Jang.
Aqeel was born in 1930, in suburbs of where villages were usually known as Thheh, which he claims close to Sadar Bazaar. Residential schemes have almost eaten up most of the Thhehs including the Thheh Zaildaran on which now stands a vast area of Gulberg III. (Dawn.com, Shafi on Sadequain, Ramay and other painters).
Education and early life
Aqeel did not have formal education. He learnt reading the Quran at a mosque and was compelled by circumstances to seek his own living. He is not ashamed of mentioning the poverty he spent his early life in. "Poverty is nothing to abhor or be ashamed of. Rather, it may work as a stimulus. I think if I hadn't been poor, I wouldn't have achieved what I have," he says while narrating how he started off life as a worker and struggled on to become a distinguished man of letters.
As a young man in Lahore, he had also served the National Guards, a volunteer wing of the Quaid-i-Azam-led Muslim League. "When trainloads of bodies arrived at Lahore, we removed the bodies to a tent pitched at the railway station. Initially we were frightened. But soon we became used to it. It was an awful scene, indeed," recalls Aqeel. "The stinking bodies spread cholera in the station area as many migrants had nowhere to stay but the station." While working for the guards, they were paid nothing and even had to bring food from home. The Quran connected him with words, which set him off on a journey of scholarship. In later years he passed the munshi-fazil and adeeb-fazil exams.
Writing Career
His first article appeared in the Zamindar in 1947, and he became from Mohammad Shafi to Shafi Aqeel. It was the result of his outpouring on the then raging issue of Illam Deen Shaheed. He did not have a traditional teacher for poetry, which he initiated in 1948 but began composing in earnest in 1957. "I think anybody with 'mauzoon tabiyat' — a particular bent of mind for poetry — can judge for himself whether the metre and rhyme of his lines is correct" he said.
Born in a Lahore locality in 1930, he migrated to Karachi in January 1950 in search of a living. Here he worked as a sign-painter, the art he had learnt back in Lahore, and later worked for various magazines and newspapers in different capacities, including Majeed Lahori's Namakdan, where he worked as an assistant editor. Later he got the job of a magazine editor with a salary of Rs60 per month. "It was really a big amount considering that a hearty meal cost a man only four aanas (a quarter of a rupee). A roti (flat bread) was sold for one paisa (1/16th of a rupee) and daal (lentil curry) was free with it." Bus fares would have been a bit higher as the bus travelling between Tower and PIB Colony charged five paisas. (Naseer Ahamd, Dawn 14 Feb, 2008).
He also wrote short stories and a novel. His first collection of short stories, published in 1952, titled Bhookay (Hungry), landed him in trouble with the authorities, who declared it obscene and put the author on trial in Lahore while he lived in Karachi. "The West Pakistan government charged me under the Obscenity Law (Section 292)." It was another harsh phase of his life. "My defence witnesses were Maulana Abdul Majeed Salik, Shorash Kaashmiri and Saadat Hasan Manto. During my two-and-a-half years of trial, I couldn't collect them together as either one or the other was away from the city on the day of hearing," he recalls.
Work for Children's Magazine and Akhbar-i- Jahan
"Shafi Aqeel began his career with Majeed Lahori's magazine and gradually rose to prominence in journalism. He was also a very good translator. The children's magazine which he edited (Bhai Jaan) was a veritable effort because in that he introduced many a quality writer. Then his knowledge of art is known to all and sundry. Distinguished artists likes Sadequain, Ahmed Pervaiz and BM were his friends." (Nasir Baig Chughtai)
Poet and drama director Ayub Khawar said: "I first met him when I was in college. At the time eminent poet Athar Nafees was Shafi sahib's colleague at Akhbar-i-Jahan. Athar sahib introduced me to him. He was a multidimensional man who wrote on many subjects. His insight into the world of art was exemplary. I think the void that his death has created will never be filled."
Poet and researcher Aqeel Abbas Jafri said: "He was an amiable man. He admired people with intellect. The fact that he remained associated with one organisation for 63 years is a feat in itself. He was a selfless individual too, which is why after his brother-in-law died he decided not to get married in order to support his sister.
Works and Awards
He wrote 30 books, two of which were collections of his poetry written in Punjabi. He edited and co-edited a number of magazines, and contributed columns on art and literature to the national Urdu-language newspaper Jang. He wrote numerous books in Urdu and Punjabi, and wrote weekly book reviews. He received a number of awards for his work including the Dawood Literary Prize by the Pakistan Writers' Guild, 1968; the Habib Literary Prize, Pakistan Writers' Guild, 1976; the Pakistan Book council Best Book Award, 1977; The Khushal Khan Khattak Award, Govt of The Punjab, 1990; the Sir Abdul Qadir Award, International Urdu Conference, India, 1990; the Award of Services to the Cause of Freedom of the Press, Karachi Union of Journalists, 1995; the Best Book award by the Government of Punjab for Sassi Punoon-Hashim Shah, 2002; the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, 2004; and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Press Club, Karachi, 2005.
Death
Aqeel passed away at the age of 83 on September 7, 2013. He worked with The Jang newspaper for almost sixty years, and was in charge of its literary magazine.
He lived a life of celibacy, about which he said; "The charm of words, though they sit in black on paper, was so absorbing that I did not find time to look elsewhere hard enough," (Naseer Ahamd, Dawn 14 Feb, 2008)
Bibliography:
Popular Folk Tales of the Punjab
by Shafi Aqeel, Ahmad Bashir (Translator)
Punjabi Lok Dastanain / پنجابی لوک داستانیں
Chaar Jadeed Musawwir / چار جدید مصور
Pakistan Kay Saat Musawir / پاکستان کے سات مصور
Do Musawwir: Bashir Mirza aur Azar Zubi / دو مصور: بشیر مرزا اور آذر زوبی
Namwar Adeebon aur Shayaron ka Bachpan / نامور ادیبوں اور شاعروں کا بچپن
Musawwari aur Musawwir / مصوری اور مصور
Cheeni Lok Kahaniyan / چینی لوک کہانیاں
Irani Lok Kahaniyan / ایرانی لوک کہانیاں
References:
https://ift.tt/2Fbb8Tv
https://ift.tt/2HWh6uq
https://ift.tt/2HsllwM
April 24, 2018 at 08:08AM
