Yagana Changezi

Yaas Yagana changezi

Mirza Yaas Yagana Changezi (1884-1956) was an Indian Urdu-language poet.

Life

Changezi was born as Mirza Wajid Hussain (chronological name Mirza Fazl ali Baig).He was born in Azeemabad, now Patna (Bihar), India, in 1884. He was a bright student who won scholarships, but he could not proceed beyond the entrance examination that he passed at Calcutta University. At an early period of his life he shifted to Matyaburj, in Calcutta, where he became the tutor of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah’s grandson Mirza Muqeem and his children. The climate of Matyaburj did not suit him and he returned to Azeemabad and later shifted to Lucknow.

Initially he used the pen name 'Yaas', whiuch means despair, and addressed himself as Yaas Azeemabadi, but changed it later on to 'Yagana' (meaning unique), and became Yagana Lackhnawi (and finally Yagana Changezi). He considered himself from the Changezi mughal lineage.He was in the sixth generation of ancestors who migrated from Iran during Mughal era. According to the foreword in his first poetry collection,Nashtar-e-Yaas, two brothers Hasan Ali Baig Chughtai and Murad Ali Baig Chughtai came from Iran, and became part of Mughal court, one of whom got the jagir of Azeemabad and settled there. He was in the lineage of Mirza Hasan Baig Chughtai.

Seeing Ghalib's veneration, he attacked Ghalib's iconic status and that earned him hostility of his contemporaries in Lucknow and elsewhere. He was ostracized and harassed for his views and writings. Finally he was declared apostate and went through extreme kind of humiliation at the hands of people in Lucknow; the very people he had so fondly adopted that he changed his mame from Yaas Azeemabadi to Yagana Luckhnawi. He himself writes:

"Watan ko chhod kar jis sar zameen se dil lagaya tha"
"Wohi abkhoon ki pyaasi hui hai Karbala ho kar"

("Having left the motherland, gave heart to the place which has now become thirsty of my blood like Karbala").

He died on 2 February 1956 after battling a long illness and loneliness in the later years of his life.

Work and contribution

Yagana’s first collection of poetry was Nashtar-i-Yaas, which appeared in 1914 when he was 30 years of age. His second collection was Aayat-i-Wijdani, which was published in 1927. In 1933 came Tarana, and in the years 1934 and 1945, the second and third edition of Aayat-i-Wijdani appeared. Each edition of Aayat-i-Wijdani was enlarged. In 2003 Kulliyat-i-Yagana was compiled by Pakistani scholar and writer Mushfiq Khwaja and has the opinion that Yagana or his publishers appeared to be naive regarding the art of presentation. Thus, Yagana has four collections of poems to his credit: Nishtar-i- Yaas (1914), Tarana (1933), Aayat-i-Wijdani (1927) and Ganjina (1948), besides his works in prose, which include Ghalib-Shikan.

In 1946, Sajjad Zaheer persuaded Yagana to prepare his Kulliyat so that it could be published by the publication house of the Communist Party of India: Qaumi Darul Ishaat, Bombay. Yagana agreed and the Kulliiyat saw the light of the day. "This collection, however, proved to be so unwholesome that we could consider it a major tragedy. Some couplets were added and some corrected (rather changed to the extent that Yagana lost his cool and blew up)".

According to novelist, short story writer and columnist Intezar Husain, "Mushfiq Khwaja has done a great job. He has managed to pull out a poetic genius from the oblivion where he had been pushed by his hostile contemporaries. They saw to it that he was personally humiliated as a poet. His uncompromising attitude in respect of his literary opinions and his unorthodox thinking in matters of religion made their task easy. While still alive, he was consigned to the grave along with his poetry. His poetic work remained unpublished. Most of us had heard of him only as a crackpot with no respect for the greats of Urdu poetry."

His following couplets which are referred to as anti-religion are in no way a statement against religion and Persian and Urdu poetry is full of similar kind of verses.

Khudi ka nasha charhha, aap main raha na gaya
Khuda banay thay Yagana, magar bana na gaya
Sab terey siwa kafir, Aakhir iss ka matlab kya
Sar phira dey insaan ka, Aisa khabt-e-mazhab kya

The compilation of Kulliyat-e-Yagana by Mushfiq Khwaja is considered to be an event of significant literary importance and resurrection of the great poet to his deserving status in Urdu literature.

www.urdubhasha.blogspot.com/yaganachangezi

Tilok Chand Mehroom

Talook Chand Mehroom
Tilok Chand Mehroom (1887-1966) (Hindi: तिलोक चंद महरूम )  was an eminent Urdu poet who was admired not only for his writings but also for his simple lifestyle and evident deep dislike of religious discrimination.

Early life

Mehroom was born in the village of Mousa Noor Zaman Shah (Mianwali District, Punjab,[now Pakistan]) on 1 July 1887. The small village, consisting of some 20-25 homes, was under constant threat of flooding from the Indus River and was destroyed & rebuilt many times before his family gave up their farm & shop and moved to Isakhel.

Education

At the age of 6/7 years he joined the Vernacular Middle School where he topped the class every year and received scholarships in the 5th & 8th years. He passed the Matriculation examination in 1907 attaining a first class certificate from the Diamond Jubilee School, Bannu (there was no high school in Isakhel). Following this, he entered the Central Training College, Lahore where he trained as a teacher and graduated with BA degree.

Career

In 1908 he joined the Mission High School at Dera Ismail Khan as a teacher of English. Shortly afterwards he transferred to Isakhel for domestic reasons. His concern about the lack of clean water in Isakhel led to his move to Kaloorkote as headmaster of the local middle school in 1924.

Following his son's (Jagan Nath Azad's) move to Rawalpindi in 1933 for higher education, Mehroom sought a transfer there and accepted the post of headmaster at the Cantonment Board School. He worked there till 1943.He was the first headmaster of school wich is now famous as F.G.Technical High School.Tariq abad(Lalkurti)Rawalpindi.

A short time later, he became a lecturer in Urdu and Persian at Gordon College. The partition of India brought his stay in Rawalpindi to an end. He left the College in December 1947 and moved permanently to Delhi, India. He returned to Gordon College in 1953 for its Golden Jubilee celebrations.

On arrival in Delhi, he was appointed Editor of Tej Weekly, the literary section of Tej Daily, for a brief period.

The Government of India approved Punjab University's (divided at the time of partition of India) proposal to open a college in Delhi to deal with the issue of adult education for refugees. Camp College was established in Hastings School and Mehroom was appointed to the post of Professor of Urdu. He held this post until his retirement in December 1957.

Mehroom died on 6 January 1966 after an illness of five weeks.

Jagan Nath Azad, his son, donated Mehroom's collection of books to the Allama Iqbal Library, University of Kashmir, where they are now classified as the Tilok Chand Mehroom Collection.

Poetry

There were no libraries in the schools of North West Frontier Province when Mehroom was growing up. With no formal training or instruction and very limited access to literary works, it is remarkable that he developed a love of poetry and achieved acclaim as a poet himself. He found, read eagerly and was inspired by poetry collections of Mirza Ghalib &Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq during his 4 years in Bannu. He wrote simple couplets whilst still at primary school, but it was in Bannu that he started taking his writing seriously. He composed a nazm entitled Khidmat-e-Validain when he was about 12/13 years old. It earned him the praise not only from the Divisional Inspector of Schools but also from the Director of Education.

By the time he finished his studies at Diamond Jubilee School (Bannu), his poems were being published in Makhzan (Lahore) and Zamana (Kanpur). Once he moved toRawalpindi, he became a frequent invitee to the annual mushairas organised by Khwaja Abdul Raheem in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad). Regulars to these mushairas included Jigar Moradabadi & Hafeez Jullundhri among others.

After the death of his beloved wife, Mehroom wrote poems reflecting his disenchantment with the ephemerality of life and the instability of relationships. The most famous of these is Ashk-e-Hasrat (part of his collection entitled Toofan-e-Gham).

Mehroom's first major publication was Ganj-e-Ma'ani which contained a rich variety of 175 nazms as well as many rubais, qasidas, sehras, and nohas. Poets & literary critics like Niaz Fatehpuri, Muhammad Iqbal, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Kaifi Azmi, Josh Malsiani & Ejaz Hussain have admired his poetry.

Ethics and views

On Religion: Born in a Hindu family, Mehroom grew up in a predominantly Muslim community. This mix of cultures in his early years was greatly influential on his thinking. When his daughter Shakuntala died, her remains were buried (Muslim manner), not cremated (Hindu way). He gave precedence to "the man" over "his religion". When he died, his pall-bearers were two Hindus, one Muslim & one Sikh, and the Dasween (ceremony performed on the 10th day after death) included recitals from the Vedas & Bhagavad Gita (Hindu), the Qura'an (Muslim) and Sukhmani Sahib (Sikh).

On Politics: Mehroom was not a political activist but, as with much literature of this period, some of his poems reflect the political unrest in the country. His friendship with Allama SirMuhammad Iqbal did not dissuade him from disagreeing with Allama's proposals for 'India's independence' at the Round Table Conference in London.

Honours and awards

The annual Sahitya Samaroh (literary convention) of the Government of Punjab, India dedicated its 1962 session to Mehroom for his "services to literature" and presented him with a robe of honour, a testimonial and a purse. (Forty-five years earlier, the contemporary Government of Punjab had awarded him a cash prize for his service to literature.).

Famous works

• Ganj-e-Maani (Latest edition published by Mehroom Memorial Literary Society, New Delhi, India - 1995)
• Rubaiyat-e-Mehroom (Latest edition published by Mehroom Memorial Literary Society, New Delhi, India - 1995)
• Nairang-e-Maani (Latest edition published by Mehroom Memorial Literary Society, New Delhi, India - 1996)
• Karwan-e-Watan (Published by Maktaba-e-Jamia Ltd, New Delhi, India - 1960)
• Shola Nawa (Published by Maktaba-e-Jamia Ltd, New Delhi, India - 1965)
• Bahar-e-Tifli (Published by Maktaba-e-Jamia Ltd, New Delhi, India - 1965)
• Bachchon Ki Duniya (Published by Maktaba-e-Jamia Ltd, New Delhi, India - 1967)
• Maharishi Darshan (Published by Aiwan-e-Adab, Lahore, British India - 1937)

www.urdubhasha.blogspot.com/talookchandmehroom

Seemab Akbarabadi

Seemab Akbarabadi born Aashiq Hussain Siddiqui (Urdu: عاشق حسین صدیقی‎) on 5 June 1882 – died 31 January 1951, was an acclaimed Urdu poet from India.

Early life

Seemab Akbarabadi a descendant of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, the first Caliph of Islam,^[2] was born in Imliwale makaan of Kakoo Gali, Nai Mandi, Agra, as the eldest son of Mohammad Hussain Siddiqui, who was himself a Urdu poet, author of several books, a disciple of Hakim Amiruddin Attaar Akbarabadi, and an employee of the Times of India Press, Ajmer. Seemab had said that his forefather had migrated from Bukhara sometime during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and made Agra his home, however, according to Mohan Lal^[3] his great-grandfather had migrated from Bukhara during Aurangzeb's reign. Seemab learnt Persian, Arabic and logic from Jamaluddin Sarhadi and Maulavi Rashid Ahmed Gangohi. The death of his father in 1897 forced Seemab to give up his studies and seek a livelihood first in Agra and then in Kanpur before joining the railways service at Ajmer, from which he resigned in 1922 and returned to Agra. In 1923 he founded the publishing imprint, Qasr-ul-adab. He had four sons and two daughters and the youngest son, Mazhar Siddiqui, continued his work in Karachi and published many of his father's manuscripts. He belonged to the Daagh School. He hailed from Agra where his family had lived for nearly three hundred years.

Literary career

Seemab began ghazal writing in 1892 and in 1898 became a disciple of Nawab Mirza Khan Daagh Dehlawi (1831–1905) to whom he was personally introduced by Munshi Nazar Hussain Sakhaa Dehlawi at the Kanpur Railway Station.^[4] After founding "Qasr-ul-adab" in 1923 with Saghar Nizami as its editor, he started publishing the Monthly "Paimana". In 1929, he started the Weekly "Taj" and in 1930 the Monthly Shair. The publication of "Paimana" ceased in 1932 when Saghar Nizami separated from Seemab and moved to Meerut.Shair continued to be published long after Seemab’s death, managed and edited (since 1935) by his son, Aijaz Siddiqi, and "Wahi-e-manzoom" published by his son Mazhar Siddiqui from Karachi was graced ith a Hijra Award on 27 Ramzan by the President of Pakistan, General Zia-Ul-Haq.

Seemab never enjoyed a comfortable financial position, yet he always appeared immaculately dressed in a neat sherwani and white wide payjama with a Turkish topi covering his head. He did not have a beard. Seemab wrote in all literary formats and on various social and political topics. In 1948, he went to Lahore and then to Karachi in an unsuccessful search for a publisher for his monumental work, "Wahi-e-Manzoom", an Urdu translation in verse form of the Quran. Seemab did not return to Agra. In 1949 he suffered a massive paralytic stroke from which he never recovered and he died on 31 January 1951. His translation of the Qur'an was published thirty years later.

Works

Beginning with the publication of his first collection of poems," Naistaan" in 1923, Akbarabadi published seventy-five books throughout his life. These included twenty-two books of poetry, not including "Loh-e-mahfooz" (1979), "Wahi-e-manzoom" (1981) and "Saaz-e-hijaz" (1982), all published long after his death. He is best known for his ghazals particularly by those sung by Kundan Lal Saigal. He also wrote short stories, novels, dramas, biographies and critical appraisals and was acknowledged as a master of Urdu,Persian and Arabic language and grammar.

Scholarship

Works on Akbarabadi's life and literary contributions include:

• "Dastan-e-chand" written by Raaz Chandpuri
• "Islah-ul-islah" by Abr Ahasani Gunnauri
• "Khumkhana-e-Javed " Vol 4 by Lala Sri Ram
• "Zikr-e-Seemab" and "Seemab banaam Zia", both by Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi
• "Seemab Akbarabadi " by Manohar Sahai Anwar
• "Rooh-e-Mukatib" by Saghar Nizami
• "Seemab Ki Nazmiya" Shayari by Zarina Sani
• "Seemab aur Dabistan-e-Seemab " by Iftikhar Ahmed Fakhar

Partial bibliography

Seemab Akbarabadi’s works include:

• Naistan (1923)
• Ilhaam-e-manzoom (1928)
• Kaar-e-imroz (1934)
• Kaleem-e-ajam (1936)
• Dastur-ul-islah (1940)
• Saaz-o-aahang (1941)
• Krishna Gita (1942)
• Aalam Aashool (1943)
• Sadrah almantaha (1946)
• Sher-e-inqlaab ( 1947)
• Loh-e-mahfooz (1979)
• Wahi-e-manzoom (1981)

www.urdubhasha.blogspot.com/seemabakbarabadi

Shibli Nomani

Shibli Noumani

Allamah Shibli Nomani (June 3, 1857 - November 18, 1914, Azamgarh district) was a scholar of Islam from Indian subcontinent during British Raj.He was born at Bindwal in Azamgarh district of present-day Uttar Pradesh. He is known for the founding the Shibli National College in 1883 and the Darul Mussanifin in Azamgarh. Shibli was a versatile scholar in Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Turkish and Urdu. He was also a poet. He collected much material on the life of Prophet of Islam, Muhammad but could write only first two volumes of the planned work the Sirat-un-Nabi. His disciple, Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, made use of this material and added his own and wrote remaining five volumes of the work, the Sirat-un-Nabi after the death of his mentor.

Early life

He was born to Shaikh Habibullah and Moqeema Khatoon. Although his younger brothers went to London for education and later returned as barristers,employed at Allahabad High Court, Shibli received a traditional Islamic education. His teacher was Maulana Muhammad Farooq Chirayakoti, a rationalist scholar. He went to Mecca for the Hajj and there he devoted his time to furthering his studies in Islamic theology, history, philosophy and Sufism from different scholars in Arabia.

In the Middle East

When he returned to India he met Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817–1898) who had just established Aligarh Muslim University. Nomani was offered and joined a teaching position at the university on February 1, 1882. He taught Persian and Arabic languages at Aligarh for sixteen years where he met Thomas Arnold and other British scholars from whom he learned first hand modern Western ideas and thoughts. He traveled with Thomas Arnold in 1892 to Syria, Egypt, Turkey and other countries of the Middle East and got direct and practical experience of their societies. His scholarship influenced Thomas Arnold on one hand, and on the other he was influenced by Thomas Arnold to a great extent, and this explains the modern touch in his ideas. In Cairo, he met noted Islamic scholar Sheikh Muhammad Abduh.

In Hyderabad and Lucknow

After the death of Sir Syed Ahmed in 1898, he left Aligarh and became an advisor in the Education Department of Hyderabad State. He initiated many reforms in the Hyderabad education system. From his policy, the Osmania University of Hyderabad adopted Urdu as the medium of instruction. Before that no other university of India had adopted any vernacular language as the medium of instruction in higher studies. In 1908 he left Hyderabad and went to Lucknow to become the principal of Nadwat tul-‘Ulum (Nadwa). He introduced reforms in the school's teaching and curriculum. He stayed at the school for five years but the orthodox class of scholars became hostile towards him, and he had to leave Lucknow for his birthplace, Azamgarh, in 1913.

Founding of Darul Mussanifin

Earlier at Nadwa he wanted to establish Darul Musannifin or the House of Writers but there he could not do this. He bequeathed his bungalow and mango orchard and motivated the members of his clan and relatives to do the same and succeeded. He wrote letters to his disciples and other eminent persons and sought their cooperation. Eventually one of his disciples, Syed Sulaiman Nadvi fulfilled his dream and established Darul Musannifin at Azamgarh. The first formal meeting of the institution was held on November 21, 1914, within three days of his death.

Shibli's ideology

Shibli’s genius had its flowering in Aligarh University when he came into contact with Sir Syed Ahmed and British scholars. Both Shibli and Sir Syed Ahmed wished for the welfare of Muslims, and wanted to have Western thinking and style come along with it. However, Sir Syed wanted to save the Muslims from the wrath of the British rulers after their active participation in the War of Independence, called the "Sepoy Mutiny" by the British colonialist rulers, whereas, Shibli wanted to make them self-reliant and self-respecting by regaining their lost heritage and tradition.

Shibli was a staunch supporter of Pan-Islamism. He wrote poems and articles decrying the British and other Western powers when Turkey was defeated in the Balkan Wars and he urged the world Muslims to unite. In 1913, when the British Administration in India stormed the Kanpur Mosque, Shibli condemned them.

Aligarh movement

According to some scholars, Shibli was against the Aligarh movement. He opposed the ideology of Sir Syed and that is why he was debarred from the services of MAO College.Kamleshwar wrote a novel ‘Kitne Pakistan’ (How Many Pakistan?) ^[3] and in that novel he portrays Maulana Shibli Nomani as a narrow minded Muslim theologian. In another book, ‘Ataturk Fi Karbala by Dr. Arif ul Islam ’, the author alleged that Shibli was not happy with Sir Syed’s policies and ideologies and was involved vehemently against Aligarh movement.^[4] It is a false propaganda that he was till his last breath closely associated with Aligarh Muslim University.

Aligarh movement

There does not appear to be evidence of any difference of opinion between Shibli and Sir Syed either in the former's writings or correspondence during the life-time of the latter.Shibli's first critical reference is not to Sir Syed but of Hali with reference to "Hayat-i-Javed" which Shibli referred as "sheer hagiography" (sarasar madah sarai). It was only later, i.e. after 1907 that Shibli made many critical references to 'Aligarh College' and occasionally to the founder Sir Syed.

From these writings one is inclined to agree with the reasons assigned by Shaikh Ikram for this change of attitude. These are; (a) Shibli's desire to show that the traditionalist model of Nadwa was superior to that of Nadwa.

(b) Shibli's affection and reliance on Abul Kalam Azad who was allergic to Aligarh and Sir Syed. One of the primary objectives of 'Al Hilal' was "Aligarh ke Aiwan-i-Ghulami ko girana. Shibli and Azad's desire that promoters of the proposed Muslim University should not give up the demand for an all India affiliating jurisdiction.

(c) lack of equation between Shibli and Viqarul Mulk unlike his deep relations with Mohsinul Mulk who had appointed Shibli as the first Secretary of the Anjuman Taraqq-i-Urdu which started as a subsidiary of the All India Muslim Educational Conference.

(d) The effect of pro Congress Muslim families of Bombay on Shibli.

Personal life

Allama Shibli had two daughters, Rabia Khatoon and Fatima Jannutul, and one son, Hamid Hassan Nu'mani. He was born in 1882 and died in 1942. He had a son who died soon after birth, and five daughters who lived their life. They are:

• Dr Naseem Jehan, retired director of health, Bangladesh, died in Karachi in 1994. She was married in 1940 to Dr Zafrul Huda of Dhaka University. He died in 1978 at Dhaka. They have one daughter.
• Shamim Jehan (died in Karachi in 2005), married in 1940 to Ehtesham Ahmed, who died in 1982. They have eight sons and seven daughters.
• Tehseen Jehan, married in 1940 to Shaukat Sultan, principal of Shibli College, Azamgarh. She is living in Karachi Pakistan these days. They have three sons and four daughters.
• Mohsina Sultana, married in 1950 to Amanullah Khan, director of industries,Uttar Pradesh, India. They have four sons and one daughter.
• Momina Sultan, married in 1952 to Capt. Khan Sohail Sultan. They have four sons.

Works

Shibli was Great Shibli the progress of science and education in the West. He wanted to inspire the Muslims to make similar progress by having recourse to their lost heritage and culture, and warned them against getting lost in Western culture. In keeping with this goal, he wrote the following books;

• Sirat-un-Nabi
• Sirat an-Nu'man,
• Al-Faruq,
• Al-Ma’mun,
• Al-Ghazali,
• Imam Ibn-e-Tamia (Edited by Mohammad Tanzeel-ul-siddiqi al-husaini ),
• Mawlana Rumi
• Aurangzeb Alamgir Par Ek Nazar
• Shiʾr al-ʻAjam, a history of Persian poetry
• "Ilm-Kalam", The best book on the history of Muslim theology
• Safar Nama e Rome-o-Misr-o-Sham

“Lot of injustice has been done to Shibli. While Maulana Aslam Jairajpuri pointed out errors in “Sher-ul-Ajam”, it was not mentioned that Shibli was the first to write biography of Maulana Rumi. Though differences between Sir Syed and Shibli are highlighted but it has not been pointed out that in spite of Sir Syed’s opposition to the writing of “Al-Farooq”, Shibli never complained about it. He lamented that Shibli’s Persian poetry was never tested on its merit and was wrongly associated with his acquaintance and close friend with an enlightened intellectual lady of the time Madam Atiya Fyzee. He refuted Shaikh Mohammad Ikram’s claim in this regard and subtly highlighted delicacy of Shibli’s thought moulded into his Persian poetry”

www.urdubhasha.blogspot.com/shibliNoumani

Seemab Akbarabadi

Seemab Akbarabadi born Aashiq Hussain Siddiqui (Urdu: عاشق حسین صدیقی‎) on 5 June 1882 – died 31 January 1951, was an acclaimed Urdu poet from India.

Early life

Seemab Akbarabadi a descendant of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, the first Caliph of Islam,^[2] was born in Imliwale makaan of Kakoo Gali, Nai Mandi, Agra, as the eldest son of Mohammad Hussain Siddiqui, who was himself a Urdu poet, author of several books, a disciple of Hakim Amiruddin Attaar Akbarabadi, and an employee of the Times of India Press, Ajmer. Seemab had said that his forefather had migrated from Bukhara sometime during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and made Agra his home, however, according to Mohan Lal^[3] his great-grandfather had migrated from Bukhara during Aurangzeb's reign. Seemab learnt Persian, Arabic and logic from Jamaluddin Sarhadi and Maulavi Rashid Ahmed Gangohi. The death of his father in 1897 forced Seemab to give up his studies and seek a livelihood first in Agra and then in Kanpur before joining the railways service at Ajmer, from which he resigned in 1922 and returned to Agra. In 1923 he founded the publishing imprint, Qasr-ul-adab. He had four sons and two daughters and the youngest son, Mazhar Siddiqui, continued his work in Karachi and published many of his father's manuscripts. He belonged to the Daagh School. He hailed from Agra where his family had lived for nearly three hundred years.

Literary career

Seemab began ghazal writing in 1892 and in 1898 became a disciple of Nawab Mirza Khan Daagh Dehlawi (1831–1905) to whom he was personally introduced by Munshi Nazar Hussain Sakhaa Dehlawi at the Kanpur Railway Station.^[4] After founding "Qasr-ul-adab" in 1923 with Saghar Nizami as its editor, he started publishing the Monthly "Paimana". In 1929, he started the Weekly "Taj" and in 1930 the Monthly Shair. The publication of "Paimana" ceased in 1932 when Saghar Nizami separated from Seemab and moved to Meerut.Shair continued to be published long after Seemab’s death, managed and edited (since 1935) by his son, Aijaz Siddiqi, and "Wahi-e-manzoom" published by his son Mazhar Siddiqui from Karachi was graced ith a Hijra Award on 27 Ramzan by the President of Pakistan, General Zia-Ul-Haq.

Seemab never enjoyed a comfortable financial position, yet he always appeared immaculately dressed in a neat sherwani and white wide payjama with a Turkish topi covering his head. He did not have a beard. Seemab wrote in all literary formats and on various social and political topics. In 1948, he went to Lahore and then to Karachi in an unsuccessful search for a publisher for his monumental work, "Wahi-e-Manzoom", an Urdu translation in verse form of the Quran. Seemab did not return to Agra. In 1949 he suffered a massive paralytic stroke from which he never recovered and he died on 31 January 1951. His translation of the Qur'an was published thirty years later.

Works

Beginning with the publication of his first collection of poems," Naistaan" in 1923, Akbarabadi published seventy-five books throughout his life. These included twenty-two books of poetry, not including "Loh-e-mahfooz" (1979), "Wahi-e-manzoom" (1981) and "Saaz-e-hijaz" (1982), all published long after his death. He is best known for his ghazals particularly by those sung by Kundan Lal Saigal. He also wrote short stories, novels, dramas, biographies and critical appraisals and was acknowledged as a master of Urdu,Persian and Arabic language and grammar.

Scholarship

Works on Akbarabadi's life and literary contributions include:

• "Dastan-e-chand" written by Raaz Chandpuri
• "Islah-ul-islah" by Abr Ahasani Gunnauri
• "Khumkhana-e-Javed " Vol 4 by Lala Sri Ram
• "Zikr-e-Seemab" and "Seemab banaam Zia", both by Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi
• "Seemab Akbarabadi " by Manohar Sahai Anwar
• "Rooh-e-Mukatib" by Saghar Nizami
• "Seemab Ki Nazmiya" Shayari by Zarina Sani
• "Seemab aur Dabistan-e-Seemab " by Iftikhar Ahmed Fakhar

Partial bibliography

Seemab Akbarabadi’s works include:

• Naistan (1923)
• Ilhaam-e-manzoom (1928)
• Kaar-e-imroz (1934)
• Kaleem-e-ajam (1936)
• Dastur-ul-islah (1940)
• Saaz-o-aahang (1941)
• Krishna Gita (1942)
• Aalam Aashool (1943)
• Sadrah almantaha (1946)
• Sher-e-inqlaab ( 1947)
• Loh-e-mahfooz (1979)
• Wahi-e-manzoom (1981)

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