Ale Ahmad Suroor

Last updated

Ale Ahmad Suroor
Born9 September 1911
Badaun district, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, India
Died9 February 2002(2002-02-09) (aged 90)
Delhi, India
OccupationProfessor, Poet, Critic
Language Urdu
NationalityIndian
Alma mater Aligarh Muslim University
Genre Literary criticism, Ghazal
Notable awards Padma Bhushan (1991)
Sahitya Akademi Award (1974)

Ale Ahmad Suroor (1911-2002) was an Urdu poet, critic and professor from India. He is best known for his literary criticism. In 1974 he was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award by the Government of India for his literary critic work, Nazar aur Nazariya. In 1991 he was also awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award. [1] [2] [3] He was awarded a special gold medal by the President of Pakistan on the centenary of the birth of Muhammad Iqbal. [4] [5]

Contents

Early life

Suroor was born in the Badaun city of Uttar Pradesh on 9 September 1911. He studied Science and graduated from St John's College, Agra. He completed his master's degree in English literature in 1934. From 1958 to 1974 he worked as professor and Head of Urdu at Aligarh Muslim University. [1] [5]

Philosophy

I am a Musalman and, in the words of Maulana Azad, “caretaker of the thirteen hundred years of the wealth that is Islam.” My deciphering of Islam is the key to the interpretation of my spirit. I am also an Indian and this Indianness is as much a part of my being. Islam does not deter me from believing in my Indian identity.

-Quote of Suroor from his autobiography [5] [6]

Suroor's autobiography, Khwab Baki Hai (Dream Still Remain), states, "Criticism takes the help of science but it is not a science; it is a branch of literature". Regarding poetry Suroor states that poetry does not bring "revolutions" but it creates right environment to make sudden change in mind, it is not "sword" but the "lancet". [5]

Work

Suroor wrote extensively on Urdu poet Muhammad Iqbal. Suroor was the founder director of the "Iqbal institute" in Kashmir University which is now known as the "Iqbal institute of Culture and Philosophy". The "Iqbal Chair" was established at Kashmir University in 1977 where Suroor was appointed as Iqbal professor. [7] [8]

Books

Suroor authored many books. The following is an incomplete list of Suroor's books. [5]

The following are some of books written by Suroor on Iqbal's legacy. [5]

Awards and recognition

Suroor was honoured by following major awards [5]

Related Research Articles

Literature of Kashmir has a long history, the oldest texts having been composed in the Sanskrit language. Early names include Patanjali, the author of the Mahābhāṣya commentary on Pāṇini's grammar, suggested by some to have been the same to write the Hindu treatise known as the Yogasutra, and Dridhbala, who revised the Charaka Samhita of Ayurveda.

Intizar Hussain or Intezar Hussain was a Pakistani writer of Urdu novels, short stories, poetry and nonfiction. He is widely recognised as a leading literary figure of Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kartar Singh Duggal</span> Indian writer (1917–2012)

Kartar Singh Duggal was an Indian writer who wrote in Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, and English. His works include short stories, novels, dramas and plays. His works have been translated into Indian and foreign languages. He has served as director of the All India Radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qurratulain Hyder</span> Indian Urdu writer (1928-2007)

Qurratulain Hyder was an Indian Urdu novelist and short story writer, an academic, and a journalist. One of the most outstanding and influential literary names in Urdu literature, she is best known for her magnum opus, Aag Ka Darya, a novel first published in Urdu in 1959, from Lahore, Pakistan, that stretches from the fourth century BC to post partition of India.

Muhammad Hasan Askari (1919 – 18 January 1978) was a Pakistani scholar, literary critic, writer and linguist of modern Urdu language. Initially "Westernized", he translated western literary, philosophical and metaphysical work into Urdu, notably classics of American, English, French and Russian literature. But in his later years, through personal experiences, geopolitical changes and the influence of authors like René Guénon, and traditional scholars of India towards more latter part of his life, like Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi, he became a notable critic of the West and proponent of Islamic culture and ideology.

Ali Sardar Jafri was an Indian writer of Urdu language. He was also a poet, critic and film lyricist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firaq Gorakhpuri</span> Indian Urdu poet

Raghupati Sahay, also known by his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri, was an Indian writer, critic, and, according to one commentator, one of the most noted contemporary Urdu poets from India. He established himself among peers including Muhammad Iqbal, Yagana Changezi, Jigar Moradabadi and Josh Malihabadi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamsur Rahman Faruqi</span> Indian Urdu language poet, author, critic, and theorist (1935–2020)

Shamsur Rahman Faruqi was an Indian Urdu language poet, author, critic, and theorist. He is known for ushering modernism to Urdu literature. He formulated fresh models of literary appreciation that combined Western principles of literary criticism and subsequently applied them to Urdu literature after adapting them to address literary aesthetics native to Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. Some of his notable works included Sher-e-Shor Angez (1996), Ka’i Chand The Sar-e Asman (2006), The Mirror of Beauty (2013), and The Sun that Rose from the Earth (2014). He was also the editor and publisher of the Urdu literary magazine Shabkhoon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jainendra Kumar</span> Indian writer

Jainendra Kumar was a 20th century Indian writer who wrote in Hindi. He wrote novels include Sunita and Tyagapatra. He was awarded one of India's highest civilian honours, the Padma Bhushan in 1971. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award by the Sahitya Akademi in 1966, for his work Muktibodh (novelette), and its highest award, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gopi Chand Narang</span> Indian theorist, literary critic and scholar (1931–2022)

Gopi Chand Narang was an Indian theorist, literary critic, and scholar who wrote in Urdu and English. His Urdu literary criticism incorporated a range of modern theoretical frameworks including stylistics, structuralism, post-structuralism, and Eastern poetics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amjad Islam Amjad</span> Pakistani poet and lyricist (1944–2023)

Amjad Islam Amjad, PP, Sitara-e-Imtiaz was a Pakistani Urdu poet, screenwriter, playwright and lyricist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Jawad Zaidi</span>

Syed Ali Jawad Zaidi was an Indian Urdu poet, scholar, and author of over 80 books in several languages. He was also an Indian independence activist, lawyer and later, a civil servant, but is best known for his work in Urdu literature.

Akhlaq Mohammad Khan, better known by his takhallusShahryar, was an Indian academician, and a doyen of Urdu poetry in India. As a Hindi film lyricist, he is best known for his lyrics in Gaman (1978) and Umrao Jaan (1981) directed by Muzaffar Ali. He retired as the head of the Urdu Department at the Aligarh Muslim University, and thereafter he remained sought after name in mushairas or poetic gatherings, and also co-edited the literary magazine Sher-o-Hikmat.

Rasheed Amjad was an Urdu fiction writer, critic and scholar. He was born on 5 March 1940 in Srinagar, Indian occupied Kashmir but migrated to Pakistan after independence and later on lived in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Mohammad Yousuf Taing, also known as M. Y. Taing, is a researcher, scholar, critic, writer, politician and historian. He is also biographer of Sheikh Abdullah. He is a prolific literary thinker writing in three Indian languages.

Yusuf Husain Khan (1902–1979) was an Indian historian, scholar, educationist, critic and author. He mastered the languages of Arabic, English, French, Urdu, Hindi and Persian.

Niaz Fatehpuri (1884–1966) was the pen name of Niyaz Muhammed Khan, a Pakistani Urdu poet, writer, and polemicist. He was also the founder and editor of Nigar. In 1962, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India for "Literature and Education."

Masud Husain Khan was an Indian linguist, the first Professor Emeritus in Social Sciences at Aligarh Muslim University and the fifth Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, a Central University in New Delhi.

Leeladhar Jagudi is an Indian teacher, journalist and poet of Hindi literature. He is the author of several poetry anthologies including Natak Jari Hai and Shankha Mukhi Shikharon Par and is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, for his 1997 anthology, Anubhav Ke Aakash Mein Chand. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for his contributions to Hindi literature.

Khwaja Ghulam Saiyidain (1904–1971) was an Indian educationist, writer and the Secretary at the Ministry of Education of the Government of India, known for his contributions to Indian educational sector. Born in 1904 in the historic city of Panipat, in the Indian state of Haryana, Saiyidain authored several publications on Indian culture and education including a 1960 report which is reported to have served as the blueprint for the establishment of National Service Scheme, a youth-centric social programme sponsored by the Union Government. He wrote in Urdu and English languages and his book, Andhi Mein Chirag, won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1963. Iqbal's Educational Philosophy, The Crisis in Modern Society, Education, Culture and the Social Order and The School of the Future are some of his other notable works. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1967, for his contributions to Indian education sector.

References

  1. 1 2 Mohan Lal (1992). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 4240–. ISBN   978-81-260-1221-3.
  2. "Obituaries". The Milli Gazette. Vol. 3, no. 5. Pharos Media. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  3. "Padma Bhushan Awardees – Padma Awards – My India, My Pride – Know India: National Portal of India". archive.india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Pakistan is equally my country". The News International, Pakistan. 16 August 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Viasat Internet Florida | Satellite Internet Provider FL". www.americantv.com. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  6. Suroor, Ale Ahmad. Khwab Baqi Hai. Aligarh: Educational Book House, 2000. p. 341.
  7. Mehr Afshan Farooqi (3 July 2012). Urdu Literary Culture: Vernacular Modernity in the Writing of Muhammad Hasan Askari. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 263–. ISBN   978-1-137-02692-7.
  8. Fazil, Takseen (9 February 2012). "Prof. Ale Ahmad Suroor". Greater Kashmir. Retrieved 9 November 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. Jalil, Rakhshanda (2002). "Ale Ahmed Suroor: "Khwab Baqi Hain"". Indian Literature. 4 (210): 85–89. JSTOR   23345647.
  10. "Book Excerptise: The Oxford India Anthology of Modern Urdu Literature: Poetry and Prose Miscellany by Mehr Afshan Farooqi (ed)". Cse.iitk.ac.in. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  11. "Rediff On The NeT: Jeelani Bano shares Urdu literary award with Pakistani writer". rediff.com.