FAME is a shadow that shifts gradually, almost imperceptibly, but shift it does for sure. Often it takes decades, but sometimes this transformation is so dramatic that one cannot believe that the shining stars of recent past are gone so quickly, leaving no trace behind and almost completely forgotten. Just like shadows, fame has no substance of its own, it seems.

Munshi Teerath Ram Firozpuri (1885-1954) is an example of how quickly the sands of time shift and how easily a once-popular writer whose writings are loved fades into oblivion after all that fame, becoming almost unbeknown to the new generations. Before the Independence, Teerath Ram Firozpuri was so popular that his Urdu novels, mostly translations of English thrillers, were despatched through mail to hundreds of readers every month. His publisher, Narain Dutt Sehgal & Sons, Lohari Gate, Lahore, had a list of permanent subscribers who paid in advance and waited impatiently for the post to arrive. Teerath Ram Firozpuri was, perhaps, the only writer of Urdu in those days whose novels were sent to readers every month like a magazine, says Jam’e Urdu Encyclopaedia (Delhi, vol. 1, Adabiyaat, 2003, p. 184). Today, most of the readers fond of Urdu detective fiction may not recall or even know who Teerath Ram Firozpuri was. In the post-Independence era, though, it was Ibn-i-Safi whose detective Urdu novels were distributed every month, albeit mostly through hawkers and newsstands.

The total count of T. R. Firozpuri’s books, both translations and original works, is 170 or so, as per conservative estimates, with many going through several reprints. But, strangely enough, very little is known about this prolific author’s life who was immensely popular in his time. Urdu encyclopaedia, quoted above, has given his birth and death years as 1885-1954, and C.M. Naim wrote in his article on Firozpuri that these years “seem convincing”. The only other printed source that offers some useful information is Basharat Ali Khan Farogh’s Vafiyaat-i-Mashaheer-i-Urdu, but it mentions 1950 as Firozpuri’s year of death (Delhi, 2000, p. 174). C. M. Naim’s research article on the author was first published in Annual of Urdu Studies. It includes a bibliography of the author, listing his 169 works, which means Firozpuri’s books may add up to some 50,000 pages.

T. R. Firozpuri was born in Firozpur, also spelt Ferozepur, Punjab, British India. An epithet added to his name was ‘lala’, which shows Firozpuri’s caste origins, says Naim. Moving to Lahore — as Lahore was a centre of Urdu publishing with a large number of newspapers and magazines brought out from there — Firozpuri became the editor of an Urdu magazine Tarjumaan in 1914, but the magazine could not survive long. A little earlier, Firozpuri had begun contributing to Urdu literary magazines, especially to Adeeb, Allahabad, as shows a book titled Naubat Rai Nazar Ka Adeeb, presented by Patna’s Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library under its series Urdu Adab Ki Bazyaaft, or retrieval of Urdu literature (1988). The series did a wonderful job of reproducing facsimiles of numerous old Urdu literary magazines. The book, edited by Abid Reza Bedaar, offers pieces of invaluable information on writers and contributors, too. But it is disappointing to see that while other writers’ brief biographies are included in it, only a single line is given about Firozpuri: “the well-known translator of English novels into Urdu”.

Most of T. R. Firozpuri’s translated works fall in the category of thrillers, mysteries and horrors: full of suspense, keeping the pace fast and mixing danger with shocks, making them absolute page-turners. But Firozpuri’s art is essentially adapting the book to match the local taste, with consideration for the sensitivities of the local reader and a diligent use of the Urdu language. He believed in idiomatic translation, not following the original text strictly and peppering the text with occasional Urdu proverbs and poetic lines. The use of plain yet idiomatic and lively language, unlike his contemporaries, was one of the factors contributing to his huge circle of fans.

Considering Firozpuri’s use of language and his command over Urdu, C. M. Naim speculated that he must have received some education in Persian and Arabic and must knew English quite well. This seems quite plausible. Firozpuri migrated to India after 1947 and settled in Jalandhar. His publisher Narain Dutt Sehgal, too, moved there and they joined hands again. But Firozpuri sounded quite nostalgic in his intros to the works published from India after 1947, with a bittersweet longing for the days gone by, as he had lived the best part of his life in Lahore. His death in 1954 ended his dream to make it big again. Today, his name mostly draws blank stares.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2026