Aab-e hayat (, English: ''Elixir of Life'') is a commentary (or '' tazkira'') on

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

poetry written by

Muhammad Husain Azad Muhammad Husain Azad ( — ; 5 May 1830 – 22 January 1910) was an Urdu writer and scholar who wrote both prose and poetry, but is mostly remembered for his prose. His best known work is Aab-e-Hayat ("Elixir of Life").

in 1880.Introduction to Excerpts from Aab-e Hayat http://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/12029 The book was described as "canon-forming" and "the most often reprinted, and most widely read, Urdu book of the past century." The book is regarded as the first chronological history of Urdu poetry. Aab-e hayat became the single most influential source for both anecdotes and historical theories about Urdu poetry. Its second edition in 1883 was incorporated into the official curriculum at Punjab University and several other schools. It provides an important perspective on the origin of Urdu:

References

External links

Āb-e Ḥayāt
nbsp;— a copy of the text translated and edited by Frances Pritchett Urdu-language books 1880 books 19th-century Indian books {{IndoAryan-lang-stub