Tag Archives: Urdu literature
Meena Kumari Naaz – مینا کماری ناز: “The Coquet” Posted by Rachael on Apr 11, 2018
Meena Kumari (مینا کماری), born Mahjabeen Bano (ماہجبین بانو) on August 1, 1933, is recognized today as one of the finest actresses the Hindi film world has ever known. In addition to her stunning beauty, this actress was famous for her multifaceted talents as an actress, singer and poet who published verse under the pen…
Kaifi Azmi’s “The Son of Mary” (Part 2) Posted by Rachael on Mar 28, 2018
This week, I will go into more depth with the poem we discussed last time: “The Son of Mary” (ابنِ مریم) by renowned poet and lyricist Kaifi Azmi (کیفی عظمی). In this second half of the poem, Azmi’s tone becomes progressively more intense and combative, as you’ll see in the following lines. Comment below if…
Kaifi Azmi’s “The Son of Mary”/”کیفی اعظمی کی “ابنِ مریم Posted by Rachael on Mar 21, 2018
This week, let’s return to another of the unforgettable poet and lyricist, Kaifi Azmi’s, poems. Similar to “Daera/The Circle” (دائره), Azmi uses his knowledge of diverse belief systems and cultures to enrich his verse and complicate his philosophical stance. This quality of Azmi’s poetry, in addition to his seemingly simple, yet at times abstruse and…
Kaifi Azmi’s “The Circle” Posted by Rachael on Feb 20, 2018
Kaifi Azmi (کیفی اعظمی, or Sayyid Akhtar Hussein Rizvi, as he was born) is one of Urdu’s greatest poets (شاعر/shaayar) and remains legendary to this day as a poet capable of expressing the subtlest of sentiments with uncanny astuteness and daring. You may recognize his name from that of Shabana Azmi, a famous Indian actress who…