Amjad Islam Amjad was (August 1944-February 2023) a Pakistani Urdu poet, playwright and screenwriter. He is a writer of more than 70 books.
He also received several awards for his literary works. He received the Pride of Performance and Sitara-e-Imtiaz Awards.
Amjad Islam Amjad was born in Punjab in British India. After getting his secondary education he earned a Master of Arts degree in Urdu literature and began his career as a lecturer.
He also worked as a director at Pakistan Television Corporation. He was also appointed Director General of the Urdu Science Board.
For the Children’s Library Complex, he also worked as a project director. Amjad is also a writer of different drama series for PTV.
He wrote many columns but he focused on writing Nazams, a kind of Urdu poetry. He is no more with us, but the legacy he left will always keep him present among all of us.
It is a common thing that some good playwrights are bad poets and vice versa. It is the uniqueness of Amjad that he is excellent in both departments. He preceded many of his successors.
The Seasoned Poet
He made his name as a poet and was a regular feature in Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi’s literary magazine Fanoos. Those who read his poetry consider him a special poet.
One who is well versed in the language as well as who understands storytelling could be excellent in both categories and Amjad Islam Amjad did easily.
His poetic works “Barzakh” and “Zindagi Ke Meley” consisted of more than a dozen books that are impressive and appealing to readers.
He did not stop because he was not content with one-dimensional work and went on to pen ghazals that became popular later. He also wrote lyrics for films in both Pakistan and India.
You will be surprised to learn that Noor Jehan’s song “Main Tere Sang Kaise” and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s “Mann Ki Lagan” were penned by him.
His songs for children were also published in multiple volumes. It is also a great honour for Amjad Islam Amjad that he also translated poems from other languages notably English and Arabic and his poetic work was published in Italian and Turkish.
He conquered two different fields playwriting and poetry. After that, it was natural for him to switch his attention to prose.
He also published his TV dramas into novels. He also wrote travelogues which put him in competition with his contemporary Mustansar Hussain Tarar.
It is also noteworthy related to his poetic work that his criticism of literature, his anthologies especially on women, and his sketches of people he met have more than fifty books available.
It is impossible for a normal human being to venture into so many disciplines simultaneously, but he was always engaged in doing what he believed.
Amjad Islam Amjad Urdu Nazam
Urdu Nazam is a type of Urdu poetry and is used to present a broad view. There is also a central idea of a Nazam on which something is allotted to the Nazam.
In a Nazam there is no restriction on rhyming words. One can easily find a large collection of Amjad’s Urdu poetry.
There are also very famous Amjad’s Urdu poems on different online means. Nazam is a major part of Urdu poetry and at present it is written in modern prose style but in ancient it was penned in rhymed words.
In Nazam, a single thought is portrayed throughout the poem. The tilt of every name is also significant and it beholds the central idea of the Nazam.
In a Nazam there are certainly starting, developing thoughts and logical conclusions of a thought which writne keeps in his or her mind.
Moreover, a Nazam penned by him has a particular topic through each verse and sentence. There is also the uniqueness of his poetry that rhyme scheme or traditional pattern is not followed and it is called free verse in poetic language.
As far as the composition of a Nazam is concerned a Nazam must have objective of its poetry. There should be a narration of the theme.
A Nazam must contain philosophy and explain it in short words. It includes meaningful and expressive forms of verse.
Undoubtedly it is one of the specific genres. In his nazams there are often couplets one after the other but it is not necessary as Nazam may also have a paragraph of four sentences or more than four.
As it is clear that couplets are a part of a large paragraph and the size of the paragraph is not always constant. In his poetic work, the rhyming pattern of a Nazam and Ghazal is different from each other.
The message is conveyed by the usage of simple words regardless of making them rhythmic. In his early days, Sahir Ludhianvi and Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s romantic revolutionary poetry left a deep impact on Amjad Islam Amjad.
Meanwhile, the neoclassical ghazals of Jiger Muradabadi also affected him. After that, he was inspired by Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi who became his mentor.
During the days of General Ayub Khan’s dictatorship, he penned a revolutionary poem “Hawa-i-shehar-i-wafa Sharaan” which was edited by Hanif Ramay and widely circulated. But with time the revolutionary element began to diminish and romantic strands kept strengthing.
His love poetry is romantic, idealistic, imaginative, and platonic and to some extent is realistic. It invokes dreams, memories, thoughts, and fantasies of love and romance.
Amjad’s poetry including his famous poetry has left a profound impact on the world of literature. Around the world, readers celebrate and cherish his verses which possess an individual ability to intricately capture the essence of human emotions.
Amjad Islam Amjad’s extensive body of work weaves vivid imagery and profound insights. His impression of Urdu literature is undeniable and makes his poetry a treasure that resonates across generations.
