Syed Hussain Sibt-e-Asghar Naqvi, commonly known by his

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Jaun Elia, (14 December 1931 – 8 November 2002), was a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. One of the most prominent modern Urdu poets of (odes), popular for his unconventional ways, he "acquired knowledge of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

Islamic history The history of Islam is believed, by most historians, to have originated with Muhammad's mission in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE, although Muslims regard this time as a return to the original faith passed down by the Abra ...

, the Muslim

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

tradition, Muslim religious sciences,

Western literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, and is shaped by the periods in which they were conceived, with each period containing prominent weste ...

, and ''Kabbala''". He was fluent in

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 ...

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 ...

, Sindhi, English, Persian,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Early life and family

Jaun Elia was born on 14 December 1931 in Amroha,

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 ...

into an educated

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

family. His father, Shafiq Hasan Elia, was a scholar of literature and astronomy well-versed in the Arabic, English, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit languages, and who corresponded with leading intellectuals like

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

. Jaun Elia was the youngest of his siblings: his brother Rais Amrohvi was a poet and psychoanalyst while another brother, Syed Mohammed Taqi, was a philosopher and a translator who had translated

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

's ''

Das Kapital ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' (), also known as ''Capital'' or (), is the most significant work by Karl Marx and the cornerstone of Marxian economics, published in three volumes in 1867, 1885, and 1894. The culmination of his ...

''. Indian film director Kamal Amrohi was his first cousin. Another relative in Pakistan is actor Munawar Saeed, famous for his roles as a villain. Described as a child prodigy, Jaun was initially educated at the Syed-ul-Madaris in Amroha, a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

affiliated with the

Darul Uloom Deoband Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic university and seminary ( darul uloom) in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, India, at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. Established in 1866 by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Fazlur Rahman Usmani, Sayy ...

. He married writer Zahida Hina in the year 1970. They divorced in the year 1984.

Writing career

He began writing poetry when he was 8 but published his first collection, ''Shayad'', when he was 60.

Political views

Partition and migration to Pakistan

Being a communist, Elia opposed the partition of India. However, he eventually migrated to Pakistan in 1957, and decided to live in

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 ...

Communism

In his poems, he supported communism in Pakistan. References to

class consciousness In Marxism, class consciousness is the set of beliefs that persons hold regarding their social class or economic rank in society, the structure of their class, and their common class interests. According to Karl Marx, class consciousness is an awa ...

are also seen in his poems. He also was described as ''"An

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

, a nihilist, and a poet"'' b
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Legacy and popular culture

Poet Pirzada Qasim said: In 2020, Punjabi rapper Kay Kap's album ''Rough Rhymes for Tough Times'' featured a song entitled ''Bulaava'' which had couplets from the poem ''Pehnaayi Ka Makaan'' written and recited by Jaun Elia. In 2020, Pakistani rock-fusion band Nishtar Park released a single ''Purane Aur Naye Sawal'' which was based on Elia's ghazal ''Umr Guzaregi Imtihan Mein Kya''. In 2023, Urdu rapper Talha Anjum’s album ''Open Letter'' featured a song entitled ''Secrets'' which was strongly influenced by Jaun Elia’s poem ''Be-dilli Kya Yuhin Din Guzar Jaenge''. Talha Anjum’s other works are also heavily influenced by Jaun Elia’s poetry.

Works

Poetry collections

*''Sukhan Meri Udasee Hai'' * *''Mubada'' *''Tumharey Aur Mere Darmiyan'' *''Daricha Haye Kheyal'' *''Qitaat'' *''Jaun Elia Ki Tamam Ghazlain'' (parts I-III) *''Inshaye aur Mazaameen'' *''Farnood'' * *''firaaq'' * * * *

Prose work (mainly translations)

Elia was not just a poet but was also an editor and a translator, especially of old

, Mutazili and

Ismaili Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept ...

treatises. * ''Masih-i-Baghdad Hallaj,'' * ''Jometria,'' * ''Tawasin, usman'' * ''Isaghoji,'' * ''Rahaish-o-Kushaish,'' * '' Hasan bin Sabah'' * ''Farnod, Tajrid,'' * ''Masail-i-Tajrid,'' * ''Rasail Ikhwan al Safa'' Above are some of his translations from Arabic and Persian. Not only did he translate these books but also introduced several new words in the Urdu language.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

Collection of writings on Jaun Elia

Jaun Elia sher/ghazal/nazm collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elia, Jaun 1931 births 2002 deaths Muhajir people Indian scholars Linguists of Urdu Linguists from Pakistan Pakistani literary critics Pakistani Shia Muslims Poets from Karachi Urdu-language theologians 20th-century Urdu-language writers Urdu-language poets from Pakistan 20th-century Pakistani poets Indian emigrants to Pakistan People from Amroha Members of the Pakistan Philosophical Congress 20th-century Pakistani linguists 20th-century Pakistani philosophers Indian communist poets Pakistani communist poets Writers from Karachi Urdu-language writers from Pakistan