SYED Masood- ul- Hasan Tabish Dehlvi (1911- 2004) was a connoisseur and virtuoso of Urdu literature and civility, and a broadcaster. Today is his 13th death anniversary.

Born in Delhi, his forefathers hailed from Delhi and migrated to United Province following the 1857 tragic events. His childhood was spent in Lucknow where he had his preliminary education and moved to Delhi for his education.

He learnt Arabic and Persian and the holy Quran from a Hindu teacher, Maulvi Shiv Dayal, a unique personality and an embodiment of Hindu - Muslim culture who would offer daily prayers like Muslims and perform Hindu rituals as well.

His great grandfather, Nizam Uddin Nizami, was a renowned scholar of Persian who authored two famous books Anaqid- e-Nauras and Sarood - e-Mastana. His maternal grandfather Shamsul Ulema Munshi Zakaullahand and a maternal uncle, Maulvi Enayatullah, were Nazims of Darul Tarjuma of Hyderabad Deccan. Tabish came to Hyderabad for further education in 1924 and remained for 15 years. It was in Hyderabad from where he started his literary journey in 1925.

Historians have categorised Tabish Dehlvi as a learned poet of his time. His classical poetry was greatly influenced by all school of thoughts of Delhi. Though, Ghazal became one of his hallmarks, he explored Nazm, Nasr, Marsia and Haiku and became an authority in all spheres of Urdu literature. He has to his credit seven books of poetry and prose besides several awards.

His broadcasting career began in 1941 at All India Radio as an announcer. Soon the then Director General, A.S. Patras Bukhari, who liked his voice, word delivery and pronunciation, promoted him to news reader. Masood Tabish as he was known in the broadcasting field was a newscaster par excellence and ruled the mike for several decades.

Tabish was a man of principles and character respected for his civility. He symbolised the refinement and sophistication of 20th century Muslim culture of the Sub-continent.

Asad Subuktagin

Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2017