ISLAMABAD, March 4: The main focus of Urdu festival "Urdu Hai Jiska Naam" scheduled to begin here from March 9-13 would be on the poetry of Faiz, Ghalib, Iqbal and Meer.

Eminent men of letters such as the Indian scholar Gopi Chand Narang, Russian expert on Faiz Dr Ladulla, Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal and Dr Aftab Ahmad Khan are expected to attend the International Urdu Conference, also an important segment of the festival. Poet Kishwar Naheed is looking after this aspect.

Poets and scholars have been writing on the magnificence of Ghalib's poetry. However, Ghalib is equally a landmark of Urdu prose that awaits celebration. In this regard, we recall the name of Mukhtar Ahmad popularly known as Parto Rohila, who has been busy since 1998 researching Ghalib's prose.

Parto Rohila now takes a place among the scholars, who have done monumental work in rediscovery as well as Urdu translation of Ghalib's Persian letters in books such as Nama Hai Farsi Ghalib (1999), Muassir Ghalib (2000), Muttafaraiqath Ghalib (manuscript awaiting publication), Bagh Do Dar (2000), Ahang Panjam (2004), Ghalib Ke Mushkil Urdu Ashaar Ki Sharah (published in Naqoosh) and scholarly essays on Ghalib letters such as Three Critical Aspects of Ghalib's life, Glossary of Ghalib's Poetry as well as Annotation on Sufi Tabassum's Persian poetry.

The translation done in Nama Hai Ghalib became so popular that the Indian Urdu journal Sab Ras, published from Hyderabad Deccan, decided to publish the entire translation, which was then repeated in the Lahore-based journal Suraj.

Parto Rohila not only held Ghalib's poetry in high esteem but also became profoundly interested in the grandeur and majesty of his prose. "I am a prisoner of both Ghalib's poetry and prose," Parto Rohila told this reporter.

Celebrated Urdu critic and scholar the late Mushfiq Khwaja, who died in Karachi recently, was the head of Majlis-i- Yadgar Ghalib, which published a number of Parto Rohila's works.

Mushfiq Khwaja was among those who had persuaded Mr Rohila to do the translation. In Mushfiq Khwaja's words Parto Rohila has undertaken a difficult task to unravel Ghalib's literary prose.