LAHORE: At the first session of the virtual version of the Lahore Literary Festival on Thursday, titled ‘Kaie Chaand Thay Sar-e-Asman’, a conversation was held in memory of great writer, poet, researcher Shamsur Rahman Faruqi.

The session had Deli-based Urdu language critic and playwright Shamim Hanfi, Indian educator and writer Syeda Hameed, also from Delhi and writer, critic Nasir Abbas Nayyer, as panelists, while it was moderated by Harris Khalique, a known literary figure.Opening the conversation, Mr Nayyer said Faruqi would be remembered for years to come for his massive body of work and vastness of his subjects. He said during the six or seven decades he remained active as a writer, Faruqi raised new questions in literature. He was an expert in many languages, knowing their literary traditions well. He started writing in the late 1950s, at a time when movements of modernism and progressive writers were very much alive. In his early years, Faruqi followed western writers and also wrote in English. But, later he developed an admiration for the classical literature and had a great contribution as a critic as well.

Nayyer said Faruqi in his fiction, mostly wrote about writers and also wrote his first short story on Ghalib. His novel Qabza-e-Zaman was reviewed by Intizar Hussain. His fiction was always dotted with research. He said Faruqi’s novel ‘Kaie Chaand Thay Sare-e-Asman’ is one of his important writings. He left a deep imprint on Urdu fiction.

Syeda Hameed said she had a great fascination with the work Faruqi did on tales. “There is a great treasure trove of tales that is still unexplored,” she said. She said Faruqi’s style of tale writing was just like a piece of art and verses in those tales were placed like diamonds. “His tales are highly decorated like [they] let a million flowers bloom”.

Prof Hanfi was of the view that Faruqi was the greatest scholar of his times. “I have known him for over 70 years”. He said Faruqi started writing after the 60s and used to publish a magazine ‘Shab Khoon’ from Allahabad. However, his preferences in criticism were different, he said.

Hanfi said Faruqi was not much influenced by writer and critic Muhammad Hassan Askari, adding that initially his role model was Kaleemuddin Ahmad. He had great interest in the mechanics of literature, he said. He lauded Faruqi’s work on tales and also on Mir Taqi Mir. Hanfi said Faruqi would admire Mir, but Ghalib was not on his priority list and that he used to dislike Firaq and say Ahmed Mushtaq was a much better poet than him (Firaq).

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2021