DURING an interview, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi narrated an interesting incident. He said when he was on a visit to China with a delegation, he was introduced as one of the leading poets and prose writers. Upon which someone from the hosts asked about number of copies of his works sold. As put by Qasmi Sahib, telling the real number would have been an insult to me and my country, so I multiplied the number by 10 and said the first edition usually sold 10,000 copies. The hosts were surprised and informed him that a veteran writer’s new book in China would have a print order of 100,000 copies.
Mushfiq Khwaja once remarked, half-jokingly, that his book Tehqeeq Nama had sold 17 copies and it surprised him because, as he said, he had written the book for 15 persons and was curious as to who the two other persons buying the book.
Jokes aside, Qasmi Sahib had narrated the incident some 50 years ago. Our population and so-called literacy rate might have increased threefold since then, but the number of copies printed has gone even further down. Our Chinese friends would perhaps faint if they knew now the number of copies of a new book printed in Pakistan stood at 500, even 300 in some cases.
In past, Urdu’s literary books would have a print run of 1,000 copies. Some printers would offer to print 100 additional copies free of charge to attract customers. The standard form of wording on the copyright page of Urdu books in Pakistan was “copies printed: 1100”, even in 1960s and 1970s.
Literary magazines were all the rage back then. Arrival of some literary magazine’s new issues used to be news, good news. Being published by Nuqoosh, a landmark in Urdu’s literary journalism, was an honour for any author. Literary magazines, such as Funoon, Afkaar, Auraaq, Sawera, Adab-i-Lateef, Saheefa, Maah-i-Nau, Takhleeqi Adab, Urdu, Nigaar, to name but a few, were received with much enthusiasm and their contents were discussed in tea houses or informal gatherings. This writer still remembers seeing a banner announcing arrival of annual issue of Seep, a literary magazine, at a newsstand at Karachi’s Regal Chowk some 40 years ago, as it was an important literary event. These stands apparently sold newspapers but served as mini bookshops, too.
Then began the downslide and the dwindling readership of literary magazines forced many of them to close down for good. Today, those stands at Regal Chowk are a shadow of their former past. Nearby Sunday old book bazaar, too, where sight of old literary magazines was something to cherish, has lost its glory as folks now either read books online or do not read at all. Publishing literary magazines is now just a passion of a few and it costs you time, money and energy as most of the copies are distributed complimentarily.
In such disheartening circumstances, it comes as a surprise that some literary magazines still survive — against all odds — and keep on bringing out new issues. In recent months quite a few Urdu literary magazines have appeared and here we can only briefly introduce them.
Makhzan
Published by Lahore’s Quaid-i-Azam Library, Makhzan is a reincarnate of famous magazine of the past with the similar name, launched from Lahore by Sir Abdul Qadir in 1901. It has now entered its 23rd year of publication. The latest issue, 43rd, is published under the editorship of Tehseen Firaqi. The latest issue has some significant articles on classical Urdu and Persian literatures. For example, The Art of Masnavi and Shauq Qidvai, by Rukhsana Saba; Attar Nishapuri, by Anjum Hameed; Jami and the City of Herat, by Tehseen Firaqi. An interesting tradition in Urdu is to look for the incorrect attribution and/or incorrect text of famous Urdu and Persian verses. Qazi Abdul Wadood had begun this research activity under the title Avara Gard Ash’aar. Later on, Ata Kakuvi and some others continued this work. An article on the topic by Rahmatullah Shervani has been reproduced in Makhzan, with such Persian couplets.
Zeest
Published from Karachi and edited by Ansaar Sheikh, Zeest is a literary journal that does not have any institutional support, but tries to remain afloat and relevant. Its two recent issues show the editor’s commitment and hard work. Issue 18 carries a special section on Palestine.
Iqbal
Bazm-i-Iqbal, Lahore, has been publishing the research journal Iqbal for the last 69 years. Ever since Tehseen Firaqi took over as its director, it has been infused with new life and the magazine’s new issue has also been published. In addition to valuable articles on Allama Iqbal, M.D. Taseer’s hitherto unpublished article on the East India Company is truly eye-opening.
Some other literary magazines recently published include Mukalma (Karachi), Akhbar-i-Urdu (Islamabad) and Qaumi Zaban (Karachi).
Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2024
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