Najm Hosain Syed (born 1935) is a Pakistani writer of Punjabi language. He has written poetry and plays in the

Punjabi language Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 ...

as well as literary criticism on

Punjabi literature Punjabi literature, specifically literary works written in the Punjabi language, is characteristic of the historical Punjab region of India and Pakistan and the Punjabi diaspora. The Punjabi language is written in several scripts, of which the Sha ...

in his ''Recurrent Patterns in Punjabi Poetry'' (1968).

Early life and career

Najm Hosain Syed was born in 1935 in

Batala Batala is the eighth largest city in the state of Punjab, India in terms of population after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Mohali and Hoshiarpur. Batala ranks as the second-oldest city after Bathinda. It is a municipal corpo ...

Punjab, British India Punjab was a province of British India. Most of the Punjab region was annexed by the East India Company in 2 April 1849, and declared a province of British Rule, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British ...

and later moved to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

, Pakistan after the independence of Pakistan in 1947. He received his master's degree in English from

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is an private liberal arts university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church. The university follows an American-style curriculum. Founded in 1864 by America ...

, Lahore in 1958. For his career, he joined the Pakistan Civil Service and worked there until his retirement in 1995. He was married to classical singer Samina Syed, who died in 2016. Najm Hosain Syed has mentored many writers and has been a source of guidance for many others interested in Punjabi literature. He reportedly does not give interviews on television or radio. He chooses to publish his books with relatively less-known publishers.

Major works

Najm Hosain Syed has written poetry, criticism and plays in Punjabi. He has published over 85 books. He is considered pioneer of the modern Punjabi literature. His Major Works include: *Deewa Mundri (2010), *Gal Waar Di (2010) * Khyal Dukkad (2011) * Rang (2000) * Khappay (1986) - Punjabi Adabi Markaz, Lahore * Kafian (1976) *Chandan Rukh Tay Vehda *Kkyal keh Khayal *Takht Lahore *Alfo Pairni Di Vaar * Bar di Var (1969) Download-able PDFs of his books are available on http://www.faridbhandar.org/. His music compositions, sung by his late wife Samina Hasan Syed and daughter Risham Syed, an eminent Visual artist are on https://m.soundcloud.com/saminahasansyed Many works of Syed are directed in the form of plays by Huma Safdar's theatre "Sangat" such as "Rajni" and Ik Raat Ravi Di.

References

External links

Articles by: Najm Hosain Syed on Academy of the Punjab in North America (APNA) website
Pakistani dramatists and playwrights Living people 1936 births Punjabi-language writers Punjabi-language poets Forman Christian College alumni Pakistani civil servants Punjabi people {{pakistan-writer-stub