Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi Passed Away

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http://members.aol.com/nkhanani/qasminazm.gif

http://www.bizbrowse.com/UrduDiegest/UrduPoetry/AhmadNadeemQasimi/006/poetry15.gif

C: qasminazm.jif

This belongs here; it got popted an the ``flower..`` board by mistake.

Qasmi`s column : `` Fifty years after Manto`s death``. Great stuff to read

19:
Go tothe top left hand. See address written there? paste the copy there where http//..chowk is written. Replace that with the url & enter.

Dear echoboon

Thank you for encouraging me but I still fail to work it. Here is the URL of your post at 12 without (``...``) as you advised:

http://www.bizbrowse.com/UrduDiegest/UrduPoetry/AhmadNadeemQasimi/006/poetry15.gif

What to do next now? Where to copy/paste it now?

Teshah sahib:

You are doing fine, which means you are not an ``old parrot``.

just remove the (``...``) on both ends & copy/paste it. It works.

I like this poem, hope you like it too.

#14 by teshah

you`re more than welcome.

You treat the urdu page just as a picture. Double right click. Properties. left one click on properties & copy paste the url. You can also copy ``image location`` on the pop-up & copy/paste.

Try it on the poem I posted at 12. post it but do not submit it..& you will see it work.

Re: # 15

Thank you dear echoboon but sorry I could not make it. I can paste the relevant URL here as you advised but nothing happens. Here it is:
``http://www.bizbrowse.com/UrduDiegest/UrduPoetry/AhmadNadeemQasimi/006/poetry15.gif``

Please guide me what to do further. Please mind that you are teaching an `old parrot`. It would perhaps be better if we communicate direct through our personal email if you have no reservations. My email address is:talawat@hotmail.com

Dear all,
Assalam o Alaikum,

I am searching profile of Dr. Arifa Syed, a well known literary personality of urdu, however i have not find any detail about her, i had seen her several programs at PTV and specially a documentary on ``Life in Lahore``, she is a admirer of Lahori Culture.

Can anybody provide me any web link or web address of Dr. Arifa ? plz

Re: # 12

Thank you dear Echoboon for the beautiful poems of Qasmi you let us read. I wonder why I did not see much of his writings when as a young boy I did read both his short stories and poems and appreciated them much. One of his `shehr` (a couplet) which I had read as a young boy I ever remember whenever I am in a depressed and despondent state of mind:

Yoon biphar jaate hein mahowl-o-muqaddar ke naqeeb
jeise fitrat ka khilona hoon mein insaan naheen hoon

(I wish I could have posted it in Urdu font but I don`t know how to do it as echoboon did so beautifully. Will he please let me know how to do it?)

A na`aat* by Ahmed Nadeem Quasmi.


*
(poem expressing love, devotion & respect for the prophet (pbuh). There is no word in english for Na`at; for it is not a eulogy, not a sonnet, not a hymn, & not `glory hallelujas`. An extremely difficult genre)

A big loss to the lietrary world in general and urdu literature in particular. Besides a sensitive writer and poet, he was a great person as well.

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