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Akhtar Sheerani

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Akhtar Shirani
Native name
اختر شیرانی
BornMuhammad Dawood Khan
(1905-05-04)4 May 1905
Tonk, Rajputana Agency, British India
Died9 September 1948(1948-09-09) (aged 43)
Lahore, Pakistan
Pen nameAkhtar Shirani, Akhtar Sheerani, Akhtar Sherani
OccupationUrdu poet
NationalityBritish Indian, Pakistani
CitizenshipBritish India, Pakistan
Period1905–1948
GenreNazm and Ghazal
Literary movementUrdu poetry
RelativesHafiz Mehmood Sheerani (Father)

Akhtar Shīrānī (born Muhammad Dawood Khan; 4 May 1905 – 9 September 1948), also spelled Sheerani or Sherani, was an Urdu romance poet.[1][2]

Early life and career

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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.[3][4][unreliable source]

Personal life

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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.[5]

Works

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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 own 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.[6]

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

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Much of Akhtar's poetry focuses on youth. Additionally, he wrote romantic poetry that described both the physical beauty of women and the beauty in 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[6]
  • "Main aarzoo-e-jaan likhoon ya jaan-e-aarzu"[7][unreliable source]
  • "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[4]
  • "Woh kabhi mil jayen to kya kijiye," a ghazal sung by Ghulam Ali

Death and legacy

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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.[3][6]

Pakistan Postal Services issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor in 2005 in its 'Poets of Pakistan' series.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Akhtar Shirani - Profile & Biography". Rekhta. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  2. ^ Congress, The Library of. "Ak̲h̲tar Shīrānī, 1905-1948; ‏شيرانى، اختر،‏ ‏1905-1948 - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | Library of Congress, from LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  3. ^ a b Parekh, Rauf (13 April 2015). "LITERARY NOTES: Urdu writers and poets who died young". Dawn (newspaper). Pakistan. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Akhtar Sheerani". www.urdupoetry.com. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  5. ^ "Dr Shirani passes away". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  6. ^ a b c K. C. Kanda (2009). Masterpieces of Urdu Nazm - Profile of Akhtar Sheerani (pages 297 to 316). Sterling Publishers Pvt. ISBN 9788120719521. Retrieved 25 August 2021. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Ghazals of poet Akhtar Sheerani Rekhta.org website. Retrieved 23 August 2021
  8. ^ "Rs five note is out, Rs5 stamp in". Dawn. July 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2021.

Bibliography

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  • Hasani, Yunus (1976). Ak̲h̲tar Shīrānī aur jadīd Urdū adab [Ak̲h̲tar Shīrānī and Modern Urdu Literature] (in Urdu). Karachi: Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu. OCLC 21482347.
  • Jahan, Qamar (1987). Ak̲h̲tar Shīrānī kī jinsī aur rūmānī shāʻirī [Romantic Poetry of Akhtar Shirani] (in Urdu). Bhagalpur: Seema Publications. OCLC 21300986.
  • Tonki, Mukhtar (2012). Mut̤ālaʻah-yi Ak̲h̲tar Shīrānī: talāsh o tajziyah [Study on the works of Ak̲h̲tar Shīrānī]. New Delhi: Modern Publishing House. OCLC 1023825148.
  • Singhal, Hanuman (1993). Akhtar Śhīrānī, fan aura śak̲h̲siyat (in Hindi and Urdu). Tonk: Sāhitya Kalā Saṅgama. OCLC 29316038.
  • Nim, Pushpendra Kumar (2019). Rūmānī shāʻir, Ak̲h̲tar Shīrānī [The Romantic Poet: Akhtar Shirani]. Delhi: Educational Publishing House. OCLC 1232011161.
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