Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi Passed Away

Ahmed Nadeem Qasimi sahib was a night-in-gale, a ``bulbul`` of Pakistan.

His memories will always reverberate in the corridors of literary world, and he will always stay alive in human hearts.

Let us remember him through his following verse:

gul teraa rang churaa laaye hain gulzaaron mein


gul teraa rang churaa laaye hain gulzaaron mein
jal rahaa huun bhari barasaat ki buchhaaron mein

mujh se kataraa ke nikal jaa magar ai jaan-e-hayaa
dil ki lau dekh rahaa hun tere rukhasaaron mein

husn-e-begaanaa-e-ehasaas-e-jamaal achchaa hai
Gunche khilate hain to bik jaate hain baazaaron mein

zikr karate hain teraa mujh se bay unavaan-e-jafaa
chaaraagar phuul piro laaye hain talvaaron mein

zakhm chhup sakate hain lekin mujhe fan ki saugaundh
Gam ki daulat bhi hai shaamil mere shaahakaaron mein

mujh ko nafarat se nahiin pyaar se masluub karo
main to shaamil huun mohabbat ke gunah gaaron mein

Inna lillaha wa inna ilayhi raaji`oon.

I saw the sad news of Qasmi sahib`s passing away on GEO news last night along with short clips of him in his old age and on his deathbed.

Sadly, he is one writer of Urdu whom I have heard of, of course, but seldom read since I`ve been engrossed in the classic writers such as Ghalib, Mir and Iqbal.

I hope to read more about him on Chowk in this thread. Perhaps one of us should translate a short story/some poems of his as a tribute.

I came to know Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi as a short story writer in my college days. At that time the short story writers who impressed me greatly were Manto, Ismat Chughtai, Krishan Chandar, Rajinder Singh Bedi, among a few others (although I hadn`t read Balwant Singh much, I liked his story Pehla Pathhar). Of course there were Ashfaq Ahmad and his wife Bano Qudsia also but they belonged to the younger generation. Qasmi was essential part of this group.
Later on, I came to know that Qasmi wrote poetry also but I didn`t read much of it because it was the age of Faiz who totally dominated the scene. Faiz and Qasmi were kind of colleagues also. Faiz edited The Pakistan Times and Qasmi edited the sister Urdu newspaper Imroze. Qasmi also edited the weekly Lail-o-Nahar. As far as editing of Urdu magazines is concerned, Qasmi had a distinguished career. He edited Adab-i-Lateef, Naqoosh, Fanoon among others.
In recognition of Qasmi`s achievements, he was honored with the highest civil award of the government of Pakistan, Sitara-i-Imtiaz. He was also the recipient of President`s Pride of Performance and the Pakistan Academy of Letters` lifetime achievement awards.
He had a (fond) habit of adopting sisters (Mansoorah was his adopted daughter). Alluding to it, Manto made a humorous comment. When under the Public Safety Act, the Punjab Government arrested Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi and Zaheer Kashmiri, Manto wrote, ``Is the government out of its mind? Both of them are extremely harmless people. One is fond of making sisters, and the other is fond of making brothers.``
In the end, let me quote one of his beautiful verses:

Tujh sey kis tarah mein azhar-e-tammana karta
Lafz soojha tau ma`ani ney baghawat kar dee

Mohammad Gill

Quasmi sahib was ``saved`` by the ethos of his family background. He belonged to the respected Quasmi clan. That also enabled him to avoid getting pidgeon-holed & labeled. There is no question that because of his multi-farious achievements his poetry & prose took a back-seat or got spread too thin. Nevertheless whatever , especialy in prose, he has written is quite amazing and a some unsurpassable [` Al-hamduLillah` , the short story is case in point].

His mujahid [jihadi?] aspect will endear to us all for like Faiz he put into practice what he preached & his defence of Manto & imprisonment under ``safety``act [ugly Britto legacy] is an eye-opening testimony for all those hankering and hungering for justice. It is remarkable to note that this jihad by him was not under the aegis of the commie mushroom-eaters.

He did what any Shaaer (not poet , mind you but Shaer--there is tremendous difference) would do anywhere. He did as per Faiz `` ...sirf mushahidaa hee naheeN, bulkay mujahidaa bhee hai...``..Dast-i-Saba preface. [ not simply observing, but striving as well..l]

``Naa muskurae gaa ghunchaa bahaar aanay tUk
voh laakh noak-i sinaaN sey kali ka dil cheeraiN``..Eve ofMartial Law in Pakistan.1958

tr: The bud will never bloom till spring comes, no matter how hard they pry the bud at bayonet-point.



We`ll continue as interacts move...

Re: # 5

I consider Quasmi sahib a greater humanist than poet and prose writer. Although he belonged to the Pakistani progressive/commie left, yet he was a kind of person for whom the ideology takes a backseat to humanity. This attribute is no walk in the park but it is a walk on pull-e-siraat and only thing that keeps you falling is your sincerety. Quasimi was a kind of person who are embodiment of ``love for all and malice for none`` and every word that he has written can be summed up in one word, ``honesty``.

He is probably, the first and only progressive who has seldom written on prostitutes, as compared to his peers who seem to be obssessive compulsive about ``aurat`` and ``tawaif``. I specially appreciate his work on depicting a society that belongs to rural punjab though I think he was a purest linguist. Being a purist was actually his greatest handicap, since the amalgamation of Punjabi and urdu started happening right after Pakistan. But this marriage of two languages took on warp speed after the new blood entered into post `71 Pakistan. Some of the literary giants in this category are Bano Qudsia, Mumtaz Mufti, and Ashfaque Ahmad.

Quasmi was a good and honest man, and he will always be remembered in the annals of urdu literature:

My tribute to him in Ghalib`s words:

``wafadari bashartay ustawari asl Iman hai
maray butkhanay main tou Ka`aba main garo barahman ko ``

Farewell Quasmi Sahib.

His soul be in peace. I have not read much of his writings..only few of his short stories translated into Punjabi.... but I once transliterated his article on Ahmad Rahi to Gurmukhi...I think even though he wrote in Urdu he loved Punjabi from heart.

#1 Thanks Echoboom sahib; that beautiful couplet has always intrigued me, but call me sluggish for not looking up its poet and you did the job for me.

Qasmi`s death is indeed an irredeemable loss to Urdu literature. I remember reading some of his short-stories and poems in our Urdu textbooks at school. Even though he wasn`t quite one of my favourites, his contributions to Urdu language and its proliferation are greatly commendable.

Inna lillahe wa inna ilaihe rajeoon.

Well he lived a chequered & full life. He will continue to reside in the hearts of many of his admirers and disciples.

I think he was over or close to 90. I interviewed him for TV 5/6 years ago [was not telecast]

``Kaun kehtaa hai kay maut aaee toa mUrr jaooN gaa
MeiN toa darya hooN, Samunder meiN uter jaooN gaa``....Ahmed Nadeem Quasmi [aatish-i Gul]

P.S: Chowk staff: I especially thank you for saying ````From God we are and to Him shall we return.``

Re: # 1
Dear Echoboom....thank you for a sharing a wonderful couplet of Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi.

He was a great poet and short story writer, a multi-faceted personality. When he visited

Toronto we interviewed him live and that interview is on my website www.drsohail.com

in Urdu Interviews section. He was a great optimist even in the era of pessimism.

He wrote

meri umeed ki pathra gai aankhain laikin

main nay is laash ko seenay say laga rakha hay

...sincerely sohail