LAHORE, Sept 3: Born on November 12, 1923, at Koocha Dharam Singh in Amritsar, Ahmad Rahi began his literary career when he was an intermediate student at the MAO College there.

His contemporaries included Saadat Hasan Manto, Saifuddin Saif, Zaheer Kashmiri, Hameed Akhtar, Intizar Husain and Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi. He was greatly influenced by people like Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Dr M.D. Taseer, and Dr Rashid Jehan, who were on the faculty of the MAO College, Amritsar.

He worked for the Progressive Writers’ Association (PWA) and the Communist Party of India before and after partition.

After migration to Lahore, he edited different magazines for the party, including Naya Zamana, Sehr and Apna Watan and later joined hands with Sahir Ludhianvi as an assistant editor of the prestigious quarterly, Savera. When Sahir was forced to leave Pakistan, he became editor of Savera where Zaheer Kashmiri also joined him.

Many of Rahi’s close female relatives had fallen victim to the partition frenzy in Amritsar. Inspired by Amrita Preetam’s famous poem on partition Aj aakhan Waris Shah Noo, he quietly wrote a series of Punjabi poems on the human tragedy that never appeared in any literary magazine of those days. But his friends, specially Manto and Qasmi, prevailed upon him to publish these poems in the form of a book titled Trinjan in 1952 which proved to be a trend-setter in the Punjabi poetry.

Manto and Qasmi wrote introduction and preamble of the book which is still the most popular Punjabi book written after independence and is considered the best asset Rahi has left for the coming generations.

Ahmad Rahi was very close to the Amritsari writers, including Manto, under whose influence he joined the film industry as a song writer in 1948. His first film was Bailee, written by Manto. Its music was composed by Rashid Atray.

As a lyricist, he wrote about 1,900 lyrics and songs, most of which were composed by distinguished music director Khwaja Khursheed Anwar. Some 1,700 songs were sung by melody queen Noor Jehan. A selection of his Punjabi lyrics and songs titled Nimmi Nimmi Wa was published recently. He also wrote scripts, screenplays and stories for over 250 Urdu and Punjabi movies during his career.

The launching of the book was the last public occasion where the poet appeared despite his illness. When he was asked to express his views, he just recited the mukhra of his film song:

Sunjay dil walay boohey

Ajey mein naheeon dhoey

Rahi had told this scribe on Saturday that it was the best film song he had ever written.

A few minutes later he said:

Ponch kay vi assin kithay na ponchay

Koi hor na Rahi howay

Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, whose association with the poet spanned over half a century, told Dawn that Rahi was an ideological person who never compromized on his beliefs and ideals. “His death has created a vacuum in the Punjabi literature that cannot be filled. He gave a literary touch to the film songs as well.”

Writer and columnist Hameed Akhtar, who was all in tears, said: “Rahi was more than a brother to me.”

Novelist Intizar Husain said he was a good human being and friend. “He hated hypocrisy. His death has brought an era of Punjabi literature to an end.”

Poet and Pakistan Academy of Letters chairman Iftikhar Arif said Mr Rahi introduced progressive ideas to Punjabi poetry. Besides, he maintained the traditions of the great Punjabi literature.

Academy’s director-general Gulzar Ahmad and Lahore resident director Qazi Javed said Mr Rahi’s death has brought to an end a golden period of Punjabi poetry.

Governor Khalid Maqbool said the late Mr Rahi played a significant role in the promotion of Punjabi literature and culture. — Zaheer Siddiqui