Shahryar, one of the most celebrated Urdu poets, passed away in Aligarh on Monday, at the age of 76, battling lung cancer.
The real name of the Bareily born poet was Akhlaq Mohammed Khan. The master of the nazm and ghazals had chosen to write under the pen name \\\’Shahryar\\\’.
The doyen of Urdu poetry preferred to write on social affairs, modernity, progress, change and the world as it was.
His first poetic collection Ism-e-Azam was published in 1965, the second collection entitled as Satwan Dar came in 1969 followed by Hijr Ke Mausam in 1978. His most celebrated work- Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai was published in 1985.
His other works are Neend Ki Kirchein (1995), Mere Hisse Ki Zameen (1998), Hasil-e-Sair-e-Jahan (2001) and Shaam Hone Wali hai (2004).
He had also penned down lyrics for few Bollywood classics, including Gaman, Umrao Jaan and Anjuman and gave some superhit ghazals like Yeh kya jagah hai doston, Dil Cheez Kya Hai, Ajeeb Saneha Mujh Par Guzar Gaya and Gulab Jism Ka.
He joined the Aligarh Muslim University as an Urdu lecturer in 1986 and retired as the head of the Urdu department in 1996.
He was conferred the Sahitya Academy award and the Jananpith Award in 2008. Besides these he was honoured with number of other prestigious awards like Bahadur Shah Zafar Award, Iqbal Samman, Gangadhar Puraskar and UP Urdu Academy Award.
Shahryar was born on June 16, 1936, in a village named Anwalla in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. He received his early education at Bulandshahr and then studied at Aligarh Muslim University.
Urdu writer Hasan Kamal said the poet was not just one of the best poets in modern urdu Literature but also a fine human being.
Film maker Muzaffar Ali said he was shocked to hear the tragic demise of Shahryar. “It appears as if I had lost my voice,” Ali added.
Shahryar was media shy and had a quiet life away from politics but his witings always spoke for him.