Halqa-e Arbab-e Zauq () is a Pakistani Urdu

literary movement Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features, as opposed to divisions by genre or period. Like other categorizations, literary movements provide language for comparing ...

begun in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

British Punjab The Punjab Province, officially the Province of the Punjab, was a province of British India, with its capital in Lahore and summer capitals in Murree and Simla. At its greatest extent, it stretched from the Khyber Pass to Delhi; and from th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 29 April 1939. Early members included

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 ...

language poets Noon Meem Rashid, Qayyum Nazar, and

Meeraji Mohammad Sanaullah Dar (25 May 1912 – 3 November 1949), better known as Miraji was an Indian Urdu poet. He lived the life of a bohemian, working only intermittently. Early life Born into a Kashmiri family of Gujranwala and named Mohamme ...

, the latter of whom was invited by Nazar. The Halqa is the second modern literary movement in Urdu poetry in the 20th century, founded just a couple of years after the

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

Progressive Writers' Movement The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' () or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगतिश� ...

and is considered to be the most influential group in modern poetry in the

language. Its first meeting was held under the name ''bazm-e dāstāngo'' (Storytellers' gathering) and organized by writers looking for a non-political meeting, and the name was changed to 'Halqa-e Arbab-e Zauq' soon after. Unlike the Progressives, the Halqa was not politically driven, but reflected a traditional

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

mode of

modernist literature Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...

with new styles of prose and new subject areas outside of classical Urdu poetry, with some experimenting with themes relating to the personal experiences of the subjects of the British rule in India. Noon Meem Rashid, for example, while not politically engaged, was influenced by Western

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

poets

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

and

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

in exploring new verse forms. Urdu poet Meeraji, who introduced

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech. Free verse encompasses a large range of poetic form, and the distinction between free ...

and is considered to be the founder of

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

in Urdu poetry, was also a prominent member of Halqa-e Arbab-e Zauq in its early days. Under his guidance, the Halqa moved from poetry reading events to become a group who also made active critiques on members' poetry. Although strongly influential on modernist Urdu poetry, the group included and welcomed members whose prose and poetry was more traditional, including writers of the

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

. As time went by, left-wing progressives were also welcome as members both in India and Pakistan. These members included short story writer,

Krishan Chander Krishan Chander (23 November 1914 – 8 March 1977) was an Indian Urdu and Hindi writer of short stories and novels. Some of his works have also been translated into English. He was a prolific writer, penning over 20 novels, 30 collections ...

, playwright

Rajinder Singh Bedi Rajinder Singh Bedi (1 September 1915 – 11 November 1984) was an Indian Urdu writer of the progressive writers' movement and a playwright, who later worked in Hindi cinema as a film director, screenwriter and dialogue writer and he is grandfa ...

, and avowed

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and leading Urdu poet,

Faiz Ahmad Faiz Chaudhry Faiz Ahmad Faiz (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984) was a Pakistani poet and author of Punjabi language, Punjabi and Urdu literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated, popular, and influential Urdu writers of his time, and his ...

. Halqa continues to have regular sessions in various cities of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, most notably in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

, and

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

.Halqa-e Arbab-e Zauq, Islamabad branch
Retrieved 8 March 2021 While the organization was originally based in Lahore, Punjab in 1936, the Halqa (Circle) has branches wherever the Urdu language enthusiasts live—including India, Pakistan, Europe, and in North America.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halqa-e Arbab-e Zauq Indian literature Pakistani literature Literary movements Urdu-language literature Organisations based in Lahore Urdu-language literary movements