Iftikhar Arif
Iftikhar Hussain Arif commonly known as Iftikhar Arif was born on 21st March, 1943 in Lucknow. He is an Urdu poet, intellectual and litterateur from Pakistan. He adopts romantic Urdu poetry style. During this period he got his education from Lucknow University where Ehtisham Hussian was his teacher. He also studied in “Madressa-i-Nizamia, Farangi Mahal and Government Jubilee College Lucknow. He also got M.A degree from Lucknow University. He has been brighten with “Hilal-e-Imtiaz”, “Sitara-e-Imtiaz” and Presidential “Pride of Performance” which is highest literary award by Government of Pakistan.
He came to Pakistan in 1965 and soon consequently won fame not only on account of his poetry but also for his performance in program “Kasauti” along with Obaidullah Baig on Pakistan Television. After coming Pakistan he was settled in Karachi and started his career as a “Radio Pakistan Newscaster” and after this through Altaf Gauhar “Federal Information Secretary” he was selected and appointed as head of scripts in Karachi Television Centre. He spent 13 years in England and work for “Bank of Credit and Commerce International” (BCCI) – sponsored Urdu Markaz. After coming back from England he worked as head of “National Language Authproty” (Muqtadara Qaumi Zaban) and then as chairman of Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL).
Currently he is working again as a chairman of National Language Authority “Muqtadara Qaumi Zaban”. Three collections of Iftikhar Arif’s poetry “Mehr-i-Doneem, Harf-i-Baryab and Jahan-e-Maloom” have been published in many editions. In the introduction of his first book Faiz Ahmed Faiz says that “He has not only found traces of Meer and Ghalib in Iftikhar’s poetry but also of “Firaq Gorakhpuri and Noon Meem Rashid”. Annemarie Schimmel, Mumtaz Mufti, Meerza Adeeb, Ahmed Nadeem Qasim, Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi, Anna Suvorova and Upinder Nath Ashk have also paid him tributes. The “Oxford University Press” has selected a portion of Iftikhar Arif’s poetry and had it translated into English.
This collection has been published under title “Written in the Season of Fear”. The introduction of this book was written by “Harris Khalique” a poet in English, Urdu and Punjabi. His poetry was translated into a number of languages like “English, Russian, German, Persian, Hindi and Bhasha”.
Awards
» Hilal-i-Imtiaz (2005)
» Sitara-e-Imtiaz (1999)
» Pride of Performance (Literature 1990)
» Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq Award (Poetry 1995)
» Naqoosh Award (1994)
Books & Publications
» Mehr-i-Doneem (1983)
» Harf-i-Baryab (1994)
» Jahan-e-Maloom
» Shehr-e-Ilm ke derwazay per (2006)
» Written in the Season of Fear (English translation)
» The Twelfth Man (translation of Barhwan Khilari by Brenda Walker, 1989)
» Kitab-e-Dil-o-Dunya (2009)
He came to Pakistan in 1965 and soon consequently won fame not only on account of his poetry but also for his performance in program “Kasauti” along with Obaidullah Baig on Pakistan Television. After coming Pakistan he was settled in Karachi and started his career as a “Radio Pakistan Newscaster” and after this through Altaf Gauhar “Federal Information Secretary” he was selected and appointed as head of scripts in Karachi Television Centre. He spent 13 years in England and work for “Bank of Credit and Commerce International” (BCCI) – sponsored Urdu Markaz. After coming back from England he worked as head of “National Language Authproty” (Muqtadara Qaumi Zaban) and then as chairman of Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL).
Currently he is working again as a chairman of National Language Authority “Muqtadara Qaumi Zaban”. Three collections of Iftikhar Arif’s poetry “Mehr-i-Doneem, Harf-i-Baryab and Jahan-e-Maloom” have been published in many editions. In the introduction of his first book Faiz Ahmed Faiz says that “He has not only found traces of Meer and Ghalib in Iftikhar’s poetry but also of “Firaq Gorakhpuri and Noon Meem Rashid”. Annemarie Schimmel, Mumtaz Mufti, Meerza Adeeb, Ahmed Nadeem Qasim, Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi, Anna Suvorova and Upinder Nath Ashk have also paid him tributes. The “Oxford University Press” has selected a portion of Iftikhar Arif’s poetry and had it translated into English.
This collection has been published under title “Written in the Season of Fear”. The introduction of this book was written by “Harris Khalique” a poet in English, Urdu and Punjabi. His poetry was translated into a number of languages like “English, Russian, German, Persian, Hindi and Bhasha”.
Awards
» Hilal-i-Imtiaz (2005)
» Sitara-e-Imtiaz (1999)
» Pride of Performance (Literature 1990)
» Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq Award (Poetry 1995)
» Naqoosh Award (1994)
Books & Publications
» Mehr-i-Doneem (1983)
» Harf-i-Baryab (1994)
» Jahan-e-Maloom
» Shehr-e-Ilm ke derwazay per (2006)
» Written in the Season of Fear (English translation)
» The Twelfth Man (translation of Barhwan Khilari by Brenda Walker, 1989)
» Kitab-e-Dil-o-Dunya (2009)
http://www.urduwriters.com/