Majnun Gorakhpuri
Encyclopedia
Ahmad Siddiq "Majnun Gorakhpuri" Urdu
:احمد صدیق مجنوں گورکھپوری was an eminent and leading Urdu
short story (Afsana
) writer, poet and literary critic of his time.
short story (Afsana
) writer and literary critic of his time. He was born in 1904 in Gorakhpur
, Uttar Pradesh
, the-then United Provinces
.
He was educated at Allahbad University and became close friend and associate of Firaq Gorakhpuri
who also hailed from Gorakhpur and was now settled in Allahbad. Firaq himself recalls, "Majnun Gorakhpuri came to Allahabad those days and got admitted to a college.
He was staying with me and his company dispelled my loneliness a little...". "In those days I used to spend a good deal of my time in the company of Majnun Gorakhpuri and Munshi Premchand
. Their company helped to awaken my poetic instincts and kindle my thoughts..."
Here he became associated with Progressive Writers Movement since its inception.
He earned his MA in English from Agra University and thereafter earned an MA in Urdu from the University of Calcutta
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/the-era-of-romanticism-ended-with-majnoon-gorakhpuri-159.
, Gorakhpur University and the University of Karachi
. He taught at Aligarh Muslim University
in the department of Urdu. He was one of the luminaries to have been associated with the department at AMU
, but migrated to Pakistan
in late 1960s and went on to live in Karachi
and taught at Karachi University till his last years of life. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/the-era-of-romanticism-ended-with-majnoon-gorakhpuri-159
He was one of the builders of progressive literary campaign and Anjuman Taraqqi Pasand Musannafeen. His works may be divided into his collections of short stories and compilations of his research and literary criticism of writers in Urdu.
Literary Criticism
Adab aur zindagi: Majnun Gorakhpuri ki chand tanqidat ka majmu'ah, tarmim-o-izafah ke sath (1944)
Iqbal: Ijmali tabsirah (1945)
Tanqidi hashi'e: Tanqidi mazamin ka majmu'ah (1945)
Nuqūsh-O-Afkār [1955]
Sher Aur Ghaazal [1962]
Adab Aur Zindagī ; Majnoon, Ahmad Siddiq [1964]
Ghazal Sara(1964)
Ghālib : Shakhs Aur Shāir, (Karāchī : Maktabah-i Arbāb-i Qalam, 1974)
Armaghān-I-Majnūn-1980-1984-A book on progressive literature in two volumes by Majnoon Gorakhpuri 'Adab aur zindagi compiled in the writer's life, was a very useful book for all those who were interested in the study of literature and Majnun Gorakhpuri.
Jamaliat (aesthetics)
Masnavi-i-Zahr-i ishq, Mirza Shauq : tabsire by Majnun Gorakhpuri and Mohsin Faruqi; (digar rumani dastanen, Mohsin Faruqi tazkirah va tanqid) Criticism and interpretation on Zahr-i-ishq, poetical work written in 1855 by Mirzā Shauq; includes criticism on different folk tales by Mohsin Fārūqī.
Pardesi ke Khutut
Collections of Short stories
Zaidi Ka Hashr a novel influenced by Hardy dealing with human tragic situation but not related with contemporary social situation.
Khvab-o-khayal aur dusare afsane(1943)
Saman posh aur dusre afsane, jin ka ta'alluq ruhaniyat se hai (1971)
Translations:
King Lear by Shakespeare into Urdu
Shamshoun Mubariz (Samson Agonistes by John Milton)
He also edited 'Aivan' literary journal/magazine from Gorakhpur 1931-35.
Majnun Gorakhpuri, along with Ehtesham Husain, Ale Ahmed Suroor, Akhtar Ansari and Hasan Askari
was leading Urdu critic of pre-Independence era. He contributed immensely to Urdu literary criticism, short story and novel.
He was Presidential Medal Tamgha-E-Imtiaz winner in Pakistan which he accepted reluctantly by then President of Pakistan General Zia Ul Haque, for he was totally against dictatorship and so called Islamic Rule by force in Pakistan, but at the time, his Son-In-Law Iqbal Ahmad was working for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and his eldest son Zafar Alam was in Telecommunication and Telegraph (T&T) of Pakistan and they both were instrumental in him accepting the award.
His whole world revolved around his eldest grandson Kamran whom he always called Sohrab ji, as his only daughter was named Tahmina and Tahmina's son was Sohrab in classical Persian literature and mythology. Further readings on Sohrab and Tahmina are available in Shahnameh by Firdausi.
Armughan-E-Majnoon Vol I Published by Majnoon Academy Karachi
Armughan-E-Majnoon Vol II Published by Majnoon Academy Karachi
Contact No= +923336345517
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...
:احمد صدیق مجنوں گورکھپوری was an eminent and leading 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...
short story (Afsana
Afsana
Afsana may refer to:* A style of short story in Urdu literature*Afsana - a 1951 Bollywood film directed by Baldev Raj Chopra...
) writer, poet and literary critic of his time.
Life
Ahmad Siddiq "Majnun Gorakhpuri" was an eminent and leading UrduUrdu
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...
short story (Afsana
Afsana
Afsana may refer to:* A style of short story in Urdu literature*Afsana - a 1951 Bollywood film directed by Baldev Raj Chopra...
) writer and literary critic of his time. He was born in 1904 in Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, near the border with Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur District and Gorakhpur Division. Gorakhpur is one of the proposed capitals of the Purvanchal state which is yet to be formed...
, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, the-then United Provinces
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...
.
He was educated at Allahbad University and became close friend and associate of Firaq Gorakhpuri
Firaq Gorakhpuri
Raghupati Sahay , better known under his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri , was a writer, critic, and one of the most noted contemporary Urdu poets from India...
who also hailed from Gorakhpur and was now settled in Allahbad. Firaq himself recalls, "Majnun Gorakhpuri came to Allahabad those days and got admitted to a college.
He was staying with me and his company dispelled my loneliness a little...". "In those days I used to spend a good deal of my time in the company of Majnun Gorakhpuri and Munshi Premchand
Munshi Premchand
Munshi Premchand , was a famous writer of modern Hindi-Urdu literature. He is generally recognized in India as the foremost Hindi-Urdu writer of the early twentieth century...
. Their company helped to awaken my poetic instincts and kindle my thoughts..."
Here he became associated with Progressive Writers Movement since its inception.
Education
His early education took place in Gorakhpur and he went to Allahbad University for higher education.He earned his MA in English from Agra University and thereafter earned an MA in Urdu from the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/the-era-of-romanticism-ended-with-majnoon-gorakhpuri-159.
Academic career
He taught at different colleges and universities throughout his life including Aligarh Muslim UniversityAligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
, Gorakhpur University and the University of Karachi
University of Karachi
The University of Karachi is a public university located in Karachi, Pakistan. It serves an on-campus student population of more than 24,000. According to the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, it is ranked among the top three universities of the country...
. He taught at Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
in the department of Urdu. He was one of the luminaries to have been associated with the department at AMU
AMU
As an abbreviation, AMU may refer to:* Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland* African Mathematical Union* Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India* American Military University, Charles Town, West Virginia* Arab Maghreb Union...
, but migrated to 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...
in late 1960s and went on to live in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
and taught at Karachi University till his last years of life. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/the-era-of-romanticism-ended-with-majnoon-gorakhpuri-159
Literary Work and Contribution
Majnoon Gorakhpuri was a multi-faceted personality who besides his collection of short stories and 35 books on Urdu literature, left a score of forewords, critical analyses etc. as his memory and legacy.He was one of the builders of progressive literary campaign and Anjuman Taraqqi Pasand Musannafeen. His works may be divided into his collections of short stories and compilations of his research and literary criticism of writers in Urdu.
Literary Criticism
Adab aur zindagi: Majnun Gorakhpuri ki chand tanqidat ka majmu'ah, tarmim-o-izafah ke sath (1944)
Iqbal: Ijmali tabsirah (1945)
Tanqidi hashi'e: Tanqidi mazamin ka majmu'ah (1945)
Nuqūsh-O-Afkār [1955]
Sher Aur Ghaazal [1962]
Adab Aur Zindagī ; Majnoon, Ahmad Siddiq [1964]
Ghazal Sara(1964)
Ghālib : Shakhs Aur Shāir, (Karāchī : Maktabah-i Arbāb-i Qalam, 1974)
Armaghān-I-Majnūn-1980-1984-A book on progressive literature in two volumes by Majnoon Gorakhpuri 'Adab aur zindagi compiled in the writer's life, was a very useful book for all those who were interested in the study of literature and Majnun Gorakhpuri.
Jamaliat (aesthetics)
Masnavi-i-Zahr-i ishq, Mirza Shauq : tabsire by Majnun Gorakhpuri and Mohsin Faruqi; (digar rumani dastanen, Mohsin Faruqi tazkirah va tanqid) Criticism and interpretation on Zahr-i-ishq, poetical work written in 1855 by Mirzā Shauq; includes criticism on different folk tales by Mohsin Fārūqī.
Pardesi ke Khutut
Collections of Short stories
Zaidi Ka Hashr a novel influenced by Hardy dealing with human tragic situation but not related with contemporary social situation.
Khvab-o-khayal aur dusare afsane(1943)
Saman posh aur dusre afsane, jin ka ta'alluq ruhaniyat se hai (1971)
Translations:
King Lear by Shakespeare into Urdu
Shamshoun Mubariz (Samson Agonistes by John Milton)
He also edited 'Aivan' literary journal/magazine from Gorakhpur 1931-35.
Majnun Gorakhpuri, along with Ehtesham Husain, Ale Ahmed Suroor, Akhtar Ansari and Hasan Askari
Hasan Askari
Muhammad Hasan Askari was one of the most respected name among scholars, critics, writers and linguists of modern Urdu. He was an important voice within the modernist movement....
was leading Urdu critic of pre-Independence era. He contributed immensely to Urdu literary criticism, short story and novel.
He was Presidential Medal Tamgha-E-Imtiaz winner in Pakistan which he accepted reluctantly by then President of Pakistan General Zia Ul Haque, for he was totally against dictatorship and so called Islamic Rule by force in Pakistan, but at the time, his Son-In-Law Iqbal Ahmad was working for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and his eldest son Zafar Alam was in Telecommunication and Telegraph (T&T) of Pakistan and they both were instrumental in him accepting the award.
His whole world revolved around his eldest grandson Kamran whom he always called Sohrab ji, as his only daughter was named Tahmina and Tahmina's son was Sohrab in classical Persian literature and mythology. Further readings on Sohrab and Tahmina are available in Shahnameh by Firdausi.
Suggested Readings
“Majnoon Gorakhpuri-Life and Art” written by Dr. Abdul Sattar NiaziArmughan-E-Majnoon Vol I Published by Majnoon Academy Karachi
Armughan-E-Majnoon Vol II Published by Majnoon Academy Karachi
See also
Futher contact Prof. Dr. Abdul Sattar NiaziContact No= +923336345517