Ali Akbar Natiq (born 22 December 1974) is a Pakistani poet, novelist and short-story writer. Acclaimed as one of the brightest stars in Pakistan's literary firmament, Natiq has published many books.

Early life and education

Ali Akbar Natiq was born at village 32/2L, in

Okara District Okara District ( Punjabi and ), is a district of Punjab, Pakistan. It became a separate district in 1982, prior to that it was part of Sahiwal District.Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city located in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated on the southern bank of the River Saryu about 6.5 km from Ayodhya City, the district headquarter, ...

, near

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, to

Firozpur district Firozpur district, also known as Ferozepur district, is one of the twenty-three districts in the state of Punjab, India. Firozpur district comprises an area of . Firozpur (Ferozepur) is the capital city of the district. It is situated inside t ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

at the turn of the 20th century, and then during the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947, they emigrated to Pakistan, coming from

Firozpur Firozpur, (pronunciation: ɪroːzpʊr also known as Ferozepur, is a city on the banks of the Sutlej River in the Firozpur District of Punjab, India. After the Partition of India in 1947, it became a border town on the India–Pakistan bor ...

via

Sulemanki Headworks Sulemanki Headworks is a headworks on the River Sutlej in Sulemanki Village, in Minchanabad Tehsil in Bahawalnagar District of the Punjab province of Pakistan, used for irrigation and flood control. This headworks is located about from the In ...

, and settled in Okara. Natiq studied up to

matric Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

at his village high school and passed FA exam from Government College, Okara. After that, due to poor economic conditions, he started working and got his BA and MA degrees privately from

Bahauddin Zakariya University Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) () is a public university with its main campus located in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. Bahauddin Zakariya University was founded in 1975 as Multan University, and is the 2nd largest university in Punjab follow ...

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

. Natiq started working as a

mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...

and skilled at building

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s and

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s. Meanwhile, his studies of

Urdu literature Urdu literature (, ) comprises the literary works, written in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal'' () and '' nazm'' (), it has expanded into other styles of writing, includin ...

and history also continued. He also read the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

books which his father had brought from

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

where he went on work. Whenever he got free time from work, he was busy studying. In 1998, he also stayed in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and the Middle East for some time as a laborer. He learned a lot in this journey.

Career

His first collection of poetry "Beyaqeen Bastiyon Mein" appeared in 2010, followed by a book of short stories "Qaim Deen" published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 2012. All two books have received UBL and Oxford Awards.

Penguin Random House India Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was originally founded in 1935 and Random House was fou ...

published the English version of the aforementioned collection of the short stories titled "What Will You Give For This Beauty?". His story "Mason's Hand" has been featured in international literary magazine

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

in its special issue on Pakistan in 2011. In 2013, he published another book of poems "Yaqoot Ke Warq", from which selected poems were translated into

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. His first novel "Naulakhi Kothi" was launched at 6th

Karachi Literature Festival Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) is an annual international literary festival held in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the first festival of its kind in Pakistan. It is one of the world's youngest and fastest growing literary festivals. Till 2019, ten ...

. The novel is being translated into English and is expected to be published by Penguin India and America. In 2015, after being inspired by Natiq's book Qaim Deen, Indian actor and theatre director

Danish Husain Murtaza Danish Husaini, credited by his stage name Danish Husain, is an Indian actor, storyteller, poet and theatre director. He has also been credited as Dan Husain and Murtaza Danish Husain. Early life, family and education Murtaza Danish Husa ...

adapted four of his short stories in his play "Ek Punjab Ye Bhi" which opened during the Prithvi Theatre Festival at

Prithvi Theatre Prithvi Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre located in the upscale neighbourhood of Juhu, Mumbai. Prithviraj Kapoor the spearhead of one of the most influential actor and director families in Bollywood, the Kapoor family, founded the trave ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. Natiq next published second book of short stories named "Shah Muhammad Ka Tanga" in Urdu. This book has been translated into Hindi and English in same name from Delhi by Jagarnath Publishing, India. Beside poetry and fiction, Natiq also wrote a book with a critical account on poetry of famous poet

Allama Muhammad Iqbal ''Allamah'' () is an Islamic honorary title for a profound scholar, a polymath, a man of vast reading and erudition, or a great learned one. The title is carried by scholars of Islamic fiqh (jurisprudence) and philosophy. It is used as an hon ...

and a book aiming at discussing the critical aspects of the art of versification. He was former professor of Urdu at Uswa College, Islamabad and a former assistant professor at

University of Lahore The University of Lahore (), abbreviated as UOL, is a private university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The University of Lahore was founded at the collegiate level in 1999, under the IBADAT Educational Trust and was granted full degree a ...

, Department School of Creative Art. On 16 July 2018, the American daily newspaper

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

published his article on the topic of

democracy in Pakistan Politics in Pakistan refers to the ideologies and systems by which Pakistan was established in 1947. As envisaged by the nation's founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan is a nation-state, constitutionally a democratic parliamentary repu ...

. He originally wrote the article in Urdu language, which was translated by Basharat Peer in English. His second novel "Kamari Wala" was published in 2020.

Writings

* Naulakhi Kothi (Novel) (نو لکھی کوٹھی), 2015 * Kamari Wala (Novel) (کماری والا), 2020 * Qaim Deen (Short Stories) (قائم دین) * Shah Muhammad Ka Tanga ( Short stories) (شاہ محمد کا ٹانگہ) * Fakeer Basti Main Tha (فقیر بستی میں تھا) * Sabz Bastion Ke Ghazaal (سبز بستیوں کے غزال) * Be Yaqeen Bastion Main (Poetry) (بے یقین بستیوں میں) * Yaqoot Ke Warq (Poetry) (یاقوت کے ورق)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Natiq, Ali Akbar 1974 births Living people People from Okara District Pakistani Shia Muslims Pakistani male poets Pakistani male novelists Pakistani male short story writers Urdu-language short story writers Urdu-language novelists Urdu-language poets from Pakistan Urdu-language writers from Pakistan 20th-century Shia Muslims 20th-century Pakistani poets 20th-century Pakistani male writers 20th-century Pakistani novelists 20th-century Pakistani short story writers 20th-century Urdu-language writers 21st-century Pakistani poets 21st-century Pakistani novelists 21st-century Pakistani short story writers 21st-century Urdu-language writers