Agha Sadiq
Encyclopedia
Syed Agha Sadiq Hussien Naqvi (1909-1977) was a prolific writer and poet
, based in Quetta
, Pakistan
, from 1943 till his death in July 1977.
He was born in Jalandhar
, Punjab
, in 1909 as the Son of Syed Khair Ali Shah and grandson of Syed Ahmed Ali Shah from one the great houses of area. Mostly self educated and schooled in the family compound, he began to take up posts in the education establishment as the British
withdrew from India
. He was saved from the terror of partition
because of his transfer to Quetta in 1943 but lost all his ancestral land in Dieran Syedan and was never able to return.
He was responsible for 40 works through his lifetime, in four different languages, dominated by Urdu
but including Arabic, Persian
and Middle-Persian. His work is distinctive if in its balance, elegance and depth of thought and is modelled clearly on his great hero Iqbal
. He acknowledges his debt in his extensive analysis of Iqbal's poetry "Iqbal Shinaasi". Through collections such as "Parishaan" and the sufi
stic/religiously inspired "Chasm-e-Kauthar" demonstrate that he had a style
and voice uniquely his own.
Although born to a privileged home and enjoying a comfortable life he was always driven by the needs of the poor and oppressed. This meant he steered a course away from poetry based on love or courtly form to focus on the needs of those he considered voiceless.
He was known as a poet but his work was not limited to poetry. He was an expert in the music
, rhythm and its relation to poetry writing "Arooz" still regarded as one of the premier works on the technical aspect or Urdu poetry. "Nikaat-E-Fun" was a posthumous publication of "Arooz" and two other volumes and essay on Music and poetry by his sons Syed Hasan Javed Naqvi and Syed Naveed Hasan.
Although he has since been largely forgotten due to literary fashions and time, as a man he was respected by colleagues like Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and students such as Ashoor Kazmi and Akbar Ahmed. His ability in the Urdu language and his linguistic expertise, as well as his knowledge seeking nature made him one of the most respected men in his field and a man whose work lives on in the minds and hearts of those who truly love the Urdu language.
He was survived by two sons:
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, based in Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, from 1943 till his death in July 1977.
He was born in Jalandhar
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...
, Punjab
Punjab (British India)
Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...
, in 1909 as the Son of Syed Khair Ali Shah and grandson of Syed Ahmed Ali Shah from one the great houses of area. Mostly self educated and schooled in the family compound, he began to take up posts in the education establishment as the British
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
withdrew from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He was saved from the terror of partition
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
because of his transfer to Quetta in 1943 but lost all his ancestral land in Dieran Syedan and was never able to return.
He was responsible for 40 works through his lifetime, in four different languages, dominated by Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
but including Arabic, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and Middle-Persian. His work is distinctive if in its balance, elegance and depth of thought and is modelled clearly on his great hero Iqbal
Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal , commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal , was a poet and philosopher born in Sialkot, then in the Punjab Province of British India, now in Pakistan...
. He acknowledges his debt in his extensive analysis of Iqbal's poetry "Iqbal Shinaasi". Through collections such as "Parishaan" and the sufi
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
stic/religiously inspired "Chasm-e-Kauthar" demonstrate that he had a style
Style (fiction)
In fiction, style is the manner in which the author tells the story. Along with plot, character, theme, and setting, style is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction.-Fiction-writing modes:...
and voice uniquely his own.
Although born to a privileged home and enjoying a comfortable life he was always driven by the needs of the poor and oppressed. This meant he steered a course away from poetry based on love or courtly form to focus on the needs of those he considered voiceless.
He was known as a poet but his work was not limited to poetry. He was an expert in the music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, rhythm and its relation to poetry writing "Arooz" still regarded as one of the premier works on the technical aspect or Urdu poetry. "Nikaat-E-Fun" was a posthumous publication of "Arooz" and two other volumes and essay on Music and poetry by his sons Syed Hasan Javed Naqvi and Syed Naveed Hasan.
Although he has since been largely forgotten due to literary fashions and time, as a man he was respected by colleagues like Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and students such as Ashoor Kazmi and Akbar Ahmed. His ability in the Urdu language and his linguistic expertise, as well as his knowledge seeking nature made him one of the most respected men in his field and a man whose work lives on in the minds and hearts of those who truly love the Urdu language.
He was survived by two sons:
- Syed Javed Hasan Naqvi (b.1935 d.2006)
- Syed Naveed Hasan (b.1940 d.2007)