literary notes: Two literary figures figure out subtleties of translation
HAVING a piece of expert advice from those who have drunk deep from the fountains of knowledge can truly be an exhilarating experience, though such polymaths are usually unpretentious and do not reveal their true self easily, perhaps out of humbleness or shyness.
But a letter, written to a near and dear one, with guards down, can sometimes tell the real feelings. A candid letter by a scholar also records insightful pieces of knowledge. So reading the correspondence between two friends — who happened to be literary figures known for their erudition — can be enlightening. Muhammad Umar Memon and Naiyer Masud were the two critics and researchers of Urdu who were friends despite living continents apart, as Memon taught at a university in USA and Naiyer taught at a University in India. They regularly wrote to each other, exchanging a large number of letters between them over a period of some 20 years. In these letters, they mostly discussed literary issues. But in their letters the matters related to the art of translation and fiction writing were the pet topics. With the passage of time, Memon, a masterful translator, and Masud, a bewitching short story writer of Urdu, came closer, unknowingly making up a team that would leave an enduring effect on how Urdu literature was to be read and perceived in the West.
After Naiyer Masud’s death, Timsal Masud, his son, wanted to compile these letters and Umar Memon had agreed to it. But soon after, Memon passed away. Fortunately, Memon had kept in a file the letters that Naiyer Masud had written to him. Memon’s wife, Nakako Memon, found these letters and sent them to Timsal Masud. Memon’s letters addressed to Naiyer Masud were already preserved as he had donated them to Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu Hind, Delhi. So Timsal Masud compiled and edited in chronological order the letters penned by both of these scholars who shared the love of fiction and translation. Titled Muraasalat, the anthology was first published by Karachi’s Aaj KI Kitaben and then by ‘Arshiya Publications, Delhi.
As Timsal Masud puts it in his intro, these letters are important not only from the point of view of Urdu literature’s history, but also serve as a summary that narrates the history of how South Asian literature reached readers around the world through translations. Memon not only began translating Naiyer Masud’s Urdu short stories himself and publishing them in Annual of Urdu Studies, a research journal published from Department of Languages and Culture of Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, but also got some of them translated by other scholars, such as, Frances Pritchett. Memon took utmost care in translations and would discuss with Naiyer Masud the connotations and cultural nuances of certain words. Masud would candidly but respectfully let him know, through his letters, his views on translation of a certain word or phrase. Some of Masud’s stories were, in turn, translated from English into some other European languages, such as, Finnish, French, Spanish and Czech. As mentioned by Timsal Masud, the book also offers critical views on Urdu fiction and translations.
Muhammad Umar Memon was born in Aligarh in 1939. His father Prof Abdul Aziz Memon, a great scholar of Arabic, taught Arabic at Aligarh Muslim University. The family migrated to Pakistan in 1954. Umar Memon obtained his master’s degree from Karachi University, another master’s from Harvard University and a PhD from University of California. After retirement, he was made Professor Emeritus of Urdu Literature and Arabic Studies at Wisconsin University. His works include Imam Taimiya’s Struggle against Popular Religion, Book of Urdu Short Stories, An Epic Unwritten, Studies in Urdu Ghazal and Prose Fiction. His translations of Naiyer Masud’s Urdu short stories into English were published in two volumes: The Snake Catcher and Essence of Camphor. Muhammad Umar Memon died in Madison, Wisconsin, on June 3, 2018.
Naiyer Masud, a scholar, translator and short story writer, was born in Lucknow in 1936. His father Masud Hasan Rizvi Adeeb, a renowned scholar, taught Urdu and Persian at Lucknow University. Naiyer Masud served Lucknow University as Professor of Persian. Aside from the translations, especially of Kafka’s works, Naiyer earned kudos for his own short stories, known for their unique atmosphere and cultural and historical touch. Collections of his short stories are: Seemiya, Itr-i-Kaafoor, Ganjifa and Taoos-i-Chaman Ki Maina. Naiyer Masud died on July 24, 2017.
Timsal Masud, being a scholar himself, has taken into account all the parameters considered must for such editing works. An index at the back of the book, often ignored in Urdu works, is an added attraction.
Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2025