Akhtar Shīrānī (; 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
Pashtuns 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 taught 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 language 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 Intekhab Press, Bahaaristan, Khyaalistan, and Romaan.
Style and influence on Urdu poetry
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"
[ Ghazals of poet Akhtar Sheerani Rekhta.org website. Retrieved 23 August 2021]
-
"Kuch to tanhaai ki raaton ka sahara hota"
-
"Barsaat"
-
"Tumhein sitaaron ne be-ikhtiar dekha hai"
-
"Woh kehte hain ranjish ki baatain bhula dein", a ghazal sung by Malika Pukhraj
[
]
-
"Woh kabhi mil jayen toh 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's physical and mental state would leave one deeply saddened. 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
Lahore Fort, 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
Bibliography
External links
