Mehr Afshan Farooqi

2 months ago | dawn.com | Mehr Afshan Farooqi |Muhammad Amir Rana |Abbas Nasir |Muna Khan

The pronoun ‘hum’ or ‘we’ is added to many of Farsi-Urdu nouns to create poetic, evocative compounds such as humsafar [fellow-traveller], humraaz [sharer of secrets], humdum [sharer of breaths] and so on. While each compound is poignant in its own way, none perhaps is as heartwarming as humzubaan [sharer of one’s language], especially if one lives in a foreign land.

Dec 7, 2024 | dawn.com | Mehr Afshan Farooqi |Mohammad Yaqoob |Abbas Nasir |Muhammad Amir Rana

My mother had been Father’s greatest admirer and supporter in all his endeavours. Her unexpected passing after sustaining an accidental fall, which resulted in post-surgery complications, was heart-breaking for all of us. It is unfathomable for a daughter to imagine the impact of this loss — my parents had been together for 50 some years; they were growing old together in harmony. Mother ran the household seamlessly; she allowed Father unlimited space for his literary engagements.

Oct 6, 2024 | dawn.com | Mehr Afshan Farooqi |Abbas Nasir |Ishrat Husain |Muhammad Amir Rana

I grew up in a home lovingly filled with books; there were books in every room. Books defined who we were. My mother was an educationist and Father was a civil servant and a rising writer. He spent whatever time he could snatch from his busy life, reading and writing. But there was no designated study or workplace for Father as the house wasn’t big enough.

Aug 3, 2024 | dawn.com | Mehr Afshan Farooqi |Abbas Nasir |Muhammad Amir Rana |Muna Khan

It is perplexing that Muhammad Husain Azad (1830-1910), author of the scintillating, so-called ‘first history of Urdu poetry’, Aab-i-Hayat (The Nectar of Immortality, 1880), chose to leave out Momin Khan Momin from the first edition. Ustad Ibrahim Khan Zauq, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib and Momin Khan Momin, three great Urdu poets, were contemporaries. They lived and wrote in the first half of the 19th century.

Jun 1, 2024 | dawn.com | Mehr Afshan Farooqi |Tahir Mehdi |Abbas Nasir |Muhammad Amir Rana

Seldom has a book of poems in English resonated with me as this slender volume, Yardstick of Life. Perhaps the poet’s visceral connection with ghazal, particularly Ghalib’s ghazal, and a certain artful way with words grabbed my attention. I read and reread the poems; marked my favourites and began to think about their delicate structure and the deep emotions within. The emotions are cocooned in a translucent web that the reader can both see and feel.