Iftikhar Arif

Infobox Writer
name = Iftikhar Arif


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birthname = Iftikhar Hussain Arif
birthdate = birth date and age|1943|03|21
birthplace = Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, British India
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occupation = Urdu poet
nationality = Pakistani
ethnicity = Urdu speaking
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genre = Ghazal
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notableworks = "Mehr-i-Doneem", "Harf-i-Baryab", and "Jahan-e-Maloom"
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influences =
influenced = Urdu poetry
awards = Pride of Performance Sitara-e-Imtiaz Hilal-e-Imtiaz


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Iftikhar Hussain Arif, PP, SI, HI (Urdu: افتخار حسین عارف) commonly known as Iftikhar Arif (Urdu: افتخار عارف) (b. March 21, 1943 Lucknow) is an Urdu poet, scholar and littérateur from Pakistan. His style is romantic Urdu poetry. He has headed "Muqtadra Quami Zaban", the National Language Authority and currently, he is the Chairman of "Academy Adbiyat", the Pakistan Academy of Letters. He has been decorated with Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Presidential Pride of Performance, highest literary awards by Government of Pakistan.

Early days and education

Iftikhar Arif was born in Lucknow in 1943 and lived there till his migration to Pakistan in 1965. During this period he received his education at the Lucknow University where one of his teachers was Ehtisham Husain. He also studied at the "Madressa-i-Nizamia", "Farangi Mahal", and Government Jubilee College, Lucknow. He obtained a M.A. from the Lucknow university.

Career

Iftikhar Arif came to Pakistan in 1965 and soon thereafter won fame not just on account of his poetry, but also for his performance in the programme "Kasauti", along with Obaidullah Baig on Pakistan Television. Coming to Pakistan and settling in Karachi, Iftikhar Arif started his career as a Radio Pakistan newscaster. It was through Altaf Gauhar, then federal information secretary, that he was selected and appointed head of scripts in the Karachi television centre. He teamed up with Obaidullah Baig and won the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) quiz show of the 1970s, "Kasouti". Later, he spent 13 years in England working for the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) -sponsored Urdu Markaz. Coming back to Pakistan, he worked first as head of the National Language Authority (Muqtadara Qaumi Zaban), and then as chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL).

Works and achievements

Iftikhar Arif is a poet of Urdu. Three of his collections, "Mehr-i-Doneem", "Harf-i-Baryab" and "Jahan-e-Maloom" have been published in many editions. In the introduction to the first book, Faiz Ahmed Faiz says that he has not only found traces of Meer and Ghalib in Iftikhar’s poetry but also of Firaq Gorakhpuri and Noon Meem Rashid. Tributes have also been paid to him by such persons as Annemarie Schimmel, Mumtaz Mufti, "Meerza Adeeb", Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi, and "Upinder Nath Ashk". [http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php] Prof Mujtaba Husain feels that “Iftikhar Arif’s poetry has the dash and pomp of Aatish and Yagana but he is without their aggression.” [http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php]

The Oxford University Press has selected a portion of Iftikhar Arif’s poetry and had it translated into English. The collection has been published under the title, "Written in the Season of Fear". The introduction to the book was written by Harris Khalique, a poet in English, Urdu and Punjabi.

Arif's poetry has been translated into a number of languages, including English, Russian, German, Persian, Hindi and "Bhasha". A recording company has released a Pakistan Television Production of ghazals titled “Chup Durya” containing poems by Iftikhar Arif rendered by a number of prominent Pakistani singers, including Malka-i-Mooseeqi, the late Roshan Ara Begum, the late Madame Noor Jehan and Iqbal Bano etc.

A number of theses have been written on his poetry by post-graduate students in various universities of Pakistan. [http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php]

Awards

Hilal-i-Imtiaz (2005),Sitara-e-Imtiaz(1999), Pride of Performance (literature 1990), Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq Award, (poetry, 1995), Naqoosh Award (1994), Faiz International Award for Poetry by Aalami Urdu Conference and a number of other prestigious National and International literary awards.

Theses written

Theses of post graduate level on life and works by Nargis Gul Malik from Karachi University "Iftikhar Arif: Fun Aur Shakhsiyat", Liaqat Ali of Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan "Iftikhar Arif ki Shaeri ka Funni Wa Fikri Tajzia" and Ayza Qureshi of Islamia University Bahawalpur "Iftikhar Arif Bahaesiyat Shaer." [http://www.academy.gov.pk/resume.php]

Books & Publications

*"Mehr-i-Doneem" (1983)

*"Harf-i-Baryab" (1994)

*"Jahan-e-Maloom"

*"Shehr-e-Ilm ke derwazay per" (2006)

*"Written in the Season of Fear" (English translation)

*"The Twelfth Man" (translation of "Barhwan Khilari" by Brenda Walker, 1989)