{"id":344446,"date":"2023-07-01T00:24:23","date_gmt":"2023-07-01T05:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=344446"},"modified":"2023-07-01T00:24:35","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T05:54:35","slug":"anisur-rahmans-latest-offering-is-a-treat-for-urdu-poetry-lovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/anisur-rahmans-latest-offering-is-a-treat-for-urdu-poetry-lovers\/","title":{"rendered":"Anisur Rahman\u2019s latest offering\u00a0 is a treat for Urdu poetry lovers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Hazaar Rang Shaairi is Anisur Rahman\u2019s second major work focusing on the nazms. He had earlier in 1995, published his book on nazms titled- Fire and the Rose, where he focused on modern Urdu\u00a0 nazm, translating the verse of forty-five poets from 1930s to 1980s. And in this latest volume, he has expanded the range, bringing to the fore, many more verses of many more poets of the passed-by centuries.
A book review by Humra Quraishi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Title of the book \u2013Hazaar Rang Shaairi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher –  Harper Collins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selected, Edited and Translated by \u2013 Anisur  Rahman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pages – 522<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price \u2013 Rs 699<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book is indeed laden, or shall we say loaded, with the best of Urdu poetry. Selected, edited and translated by the well-known literary personality, Anisur Rahman, this volume stands out. Tucked in are 140 nazms, from the sixteenth century to the present times\u2026Poets and their verse from the Deccan region to the Northern states and regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is Anisur Rahman\u2019s second major work focusing on the nazms. He had earlier in 1995, published his book on nazms titled- Fire and the Rose, where he focused on modern Urdu  nazm, translating the verse of forty-five poets from 1930s to 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in this latest volume, Anisur Rahman has expanded the range, bringing to the fore, many more verses of many more poets of the passed-by centuries. To quote  him on the various aspects to this volume: \u201cThe poets represented in this  volume are divided  into  six  literary  periods as  I  conceived  them  for  the  convenience  of  the  readers\u2026I  have  tried  to make  this collection  fairly  representative  of  ages, poets, forms, styles  and  thematic  concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Credit goes to him for putting together<\/a> this diverse selection of nazms in their translated form, and also taking pains to explain to the reader the various details and backgrounders and the relevant significance to the nazm. To quote him from this volume, \u201cNazm is a  Arabic word which, as a noun, means arrangement, and as a verb, it implies, an act of  stringing together, maybe of  beads or  pearls. Nazm also  means  verse, or poetry, which  interestingly enough, is also  born out of  an act of stringing, not of  beads or pearls but of  words. Metaphorically speaking, words are the beads or pearls, which the poet strings together in the larger body of a poem, in the many ways and forms as desired.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that take off, tucked in the volume are the nazms of Vali Deccani, Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah, Mir Taqi  Mir, Mohammad Iqbal,  Kaifi Azmi, Ali Sardar  Jafri, Sahir  Ludhianvi,  Shahryar, Balraj Komal, Nida  Fazli, Sarwat  Hussain and  many other  poets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving you with this verse, of Nida Fazli, titled \u2018Identification\u2019, tucked in this volume:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identification<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(For Hajira Begum, whose four children were  burnt alive  by rioters in Jalgaon)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018No, not he,\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not he,\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not even he \u2013 <\/strong>\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know who they were \u2013 <\/strong> \/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these are like me, \/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little moons twinkle in their heartbeat,\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these are like me, the fuel of time\u2019s furnace\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who broke into my hut last night and  burnt my children\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alive before me,\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were some others \u2013 <\/strong>\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those faces are no longer in my memory, Your Honour! \/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if they were close by\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would know them by their smell \u2013 <\/strong>\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had come from a jungle\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where women don\u2019t bear any children\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their laps don\u2019t twinkle\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the smiles of infants.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hazaar Rang Shaairi is Anisur Rahman\u2019s second major work focusing on the nazms. He had earlier in 1995, published his book on nazms titled- Fire and the Rose, where he focused on modern Urdu\u00a0 nazm, translating the verse of forty-five poets from 1930s to 1980s. And in this latest volume, he has expanded the range, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[650,23,2205],"tags":[16929,16928,16930],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344446"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344448,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344446\/revisions\/344448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/344447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}