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Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi remembered as 'the greatest Urdu writer after Ghalib'

Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi remembered as 'the greatest Urdu writer after Ghalib'

Members of the Urdu literati pay tribute to famed writer Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi who passed away yesterday
Updated 21 Jun, 2018

Writer and humourist Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi’s death on Wednesday saddened lovers and practitioners of Urdu language and literature.

Poet Iftikhar Arif was crestfallen. Talking to Dawn, just as he was about to take a flight from Islamabad to Karachi to attend Yousufi sahib’s funeral, he said: “He was the greatest [Urdu] prose writer after Ghalib."

"It would be wrong to box him as a humourist. He was more than that. He was a great prose writer. In the presence of Shafiqur Rehman, Patras Bukhari, Col Mohammad Khan, Ibn-i-Insha etc, he was the tallest. He was unique and his contemporaries wholeheartedly acknowledged his greatness. Just like there was no other example like that of Faiz Ahmed Faiz [among his contemporaries], he was one of his kind.

“He wrote even at the age of 90. If you’ve read his books, you would know that how different an author he was. People remember his paragraphs [not just sentences or lines] like the way they memorise good couplets. Also, he led a pure, uncontroversial life. He never became part of any literary clique. I thought of him as my teacher, my father. I’ve learned a lot from him.”

Journalist and poet Mahmood Shaam was of the view that although the Yousufi era of humour has come to an end, his writings will live on. Readers have memorised not just his lines but entire essays. He was the kind of humorist and satirist who is known and recognised in all those regions of the world where Urdu is understood.

“My contemporaries and I have learned how to write from him. The way he used to pen a sentence was exemplary. His death has created a void, and I’m not saying it just like that [rasmi taur per nahin keh raha]. It will have to be seen as to who fills that void,” said Mr Shaam.

This feeling was echoed by eminent playwright Haseena Moin. She also felt that it would be difficult to find Yousufi sahib’s replacement.

“There isn’t anyone who can write humour in literature the way he did. I had known him for a long time, from the time when I was in college. He was a relative of one of my friends. I remember I was once writing a serial and wasn’t able to come up with a title for it. Someone suggested let’s name it Chiragh Taley, but then it was pointed out that it was also the title of his book, so we needed his permission to use it. When I sought his permission he said ‘yes’ and added ‘writer ka naam bhi likh dena’ [mention the writer’s name as well]. Whatever he wrote was of great quality. You couldn’t stop laughing after reading his lines.”


Originally published in Dawn, June 21st, 2018

Comments

Sarmad Hassan Jun 21, 2018 10:02am
He was a "Writer" yes, indeed he was! Now his real life begins for which he was made for. May his soul rest in Peace.
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Naqad Jun 21, 2018 11:44am
"He was the greatest [Urdu] prose writer after Ghalib" now that is a stretch; Ghalib belong to different class and Yousufi had his own class! Period!
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shakky Jun 21, 2018 04:59pm
great people never died their works always alive and they always remember and mesmerise always even he was 90 but he was brave in his writing and his thinking his memory fresh and powerful who never let him down great people never reborn but their works always left in the hearts of peoples
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M. Emad Jun 22, 2018 08:15am
'the greatest Urdu writer after Ghalib' ---- too much praise !
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Dr. Sajjad Naqvi Jun 24, 2018 02:44pm
May Allah bless his soul with eternal peace and ever lasting smile because this is what he did with his readers. Every time you read him and it makes you smile with a complete relaxation.
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