Akhtar Sheerani

Akhtar Shīrānī (Template:Langx; born Muhammad Dawood Khan; 4 May 1905 – 9 September 1948), also spelled Sheerani or Sherani, was an Urdu romance poet.

Early life and career

He was born on 4 May 1905 as Muhammad Dawood Khan, into a family belonging to the Pashtun Shirani tribe which migrated to India with Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and later settled in Tonk, Rajasthan. He was the son of Hafiz Mahmood Shirani, a scholar and teacher who began teaching at Islamia College, Lahore in 1921 before moving to Oriental College, Lahore, in 1928.

Dawood moved to Lahore at a young age and spent most of his life there. He completed his Munshi Fazil (منشی فاضل) in 1921 and Adeeb Fazil (ادیب فاضل) in 1922, earning degrees in Arabic and Persian from Oriental College.

He decided to pursue poetry full-time after graduating. His ustad (mentor) was Maulana Tajwar Najibabadi, who had been published in literary magazines. Since his birth name was relatively common, he adopted Akhtar Shirani as his pen name.

Personal life

Shirani's son, Javed Mahmood, died at an unknown time. He had another son, Dr. Mazhar Mahmood Shirani, a professor at Government College University who died in 2020.

Works

Akhtar wrote columns for the daily newspapers Hamdard and Zamindar, published by Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, respectively. He also published his magazine Romaan, which introduced many emerging writers, including Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi and Qudratullah Shahab.

He became known as شاعرِ رومان (The Poet of Romance) because of his philosophical and inspiring poems.

His best-known poetry collections include Akhtaristan, Nigarshat-e-Akhtar, Lala-e-Toor, Tayyur-e-Aawara, Naghma-e-Haram, Subh-e-Bahaar, and Shahnaz. From 1923 to 1939, he served as the editor of several literary magazines, including Intikhab, Bahaaristan, Khyaalistan, and Romaan.

Style and influence on Urdu poetry

Template:Peacock section Much of Akhtar's poetry focuses on youth. Additionally, he wrote romantic poetry that described both the physical beauty of women and the beauty of being a lover, wife, mother, and sister.

His famous poems include:

• "Ae ishq kahin le chal"
• "O des se aane wale bata"
• "Ae ishq humein barbad na kar", a poem sung by Nayyara Noor
• "Main aarzoo-e-jaan likhoon ya jaan-e-aarzu"
• "Kuch to tanhai ki raaton ka sahara hota"
• "Barsaat"
• "Tumhein sitaron ne be ikhtiar dekha hai"
• "Woh kehtain hain ranjish ki baatain bhula dein", a ghazal sung by Malika Pukhraj
• "Woh kabhi mil jayen to kya kijiye", a ghazal sung by Ghulam Ali

Death and legacy

Agha Shorish Kashmiri, a literary, political, and social figure in Lahore at the time, commented that seeing Shirani would leave one deeply saddened, regarding his physical and mental state. He was admitted to Mayo Hospital, Lahore, on 3 September 1948, and died in Lahore on 9 September 1948, while visiting a friend, Hakeem Nayyar Wasty, in Masti Gate, two days before the death of Quaid-e-Azam.

Pakistan Postal Services issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor in 2005 in its 'Poets of Pakistan' series.

See also

• Shahab Nama, a book by Qudratullah Shahab

External links

• 'Ae Ishq Hamein Barbad Na Kar' poem by Akhtar Sheerani sung by Nayyara Noor on YouTube
• Poem of Akhtar Sheerani sung by Malika Pukhraj on YouTube
• Akhtar Sheerani: Poet of Romance
• Akhtar Sheerani: Urdu Description