Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi
Encyclopedia
Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi was noted a Pakistani writer. He was born on May 22, 1906 in Delhi.
Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi had never thought of doing a job. His father, Basheeruddin, was a high-ranking official in India. His grandfather, Moulvi Nazeer Ahmad Dehlvi
, one of the great writers of Urdu in the 19th century, held high posts and had left behind a reasonable fortune. Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi got married even before passing his high school examination, as early marriage was the tradition in those days. Later, he joined Lahore’s F.C. College, planning to pass intermediate’s pre-medical exam before joining a medical college. But owing to his wife’s illness, he had to return to Delhi, his hometown.
After doing his BA Honours in English literature, Shahid launched ‘Saqi’ from Delhi, a literary magazine that was to become hugely popular but to remain a money-losing concern almost for its entire lifespan. But its sister concern ‘Saqi Book Depot’ slowly but surely started making money when Shahid and ‘Saqi’ became well known and some real good books by famous authors got published by the depot.
With the independence in 1947 everything was lost, including the magazine, the depot and the bank balance. Crossing over into Pakistan in 1947, Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi first reached Lahore and sought a declaration for ‘Saqi’, which was denied. Moving on to Karachi and looking for a job, Shahid decided to use his talent in music, which had been his hobby. As a well-off youth, he had learnt to play and sing and he had learnt quite well. So he got a job at Radio Pakistan’s Karachi station. Few people knew that the person playing and singing on radio, named S.A. Dehlvi, was none other than the grandson of Shams-ul-Ulema Moulvi Nazeer Ahmad Dehlvi, also known as Deputy Nazeer Ahmad, the famous novelist. The abbreviated name was of course a deliberate attempt to conceal his real personality as it would have brought shame to the family of great Nazeer Ahmad.
He re-launched ‘Saqi’ from Karachi in 1948 but it remained, as before, a source of great satisfaction and fame, and also a monetary loss, to Shahid.
What made Shahid more famous were his sketches. In his chaste, idiomatic Urdu and a lucid style, he wrote sketches of Delhi personalities. With his sketches he brought to life not only the people he wrote about but also the city, the culture and the times. Aside from his sketches, collected in three volumes titled ‘Ganjina-i-Gauhar’, ‘Bazm-i-Khush Nafsan’ and ‘Taaq-i-Nisyan’, Shahid has preserved the life and times of the city of Delhi in ‘Dilli Ki Bipta’ and ‘Ujra Diyar’ -- the former is a reportage on Delhi’s bloody riots that ensued partition in 1947 and the later is a collection of essays on Delhi.
Translations were another source of joy -- and income -- for Shahid. As mentioned by Dr Jameel Jalibi in an essay, Shahid had to translate for money as well. He rendered over 25 English books into Urdu and prominent among them are translations of Faust
by Goethe, Maeterlinck’s work and some novels of Nathaniel Hawthorn. Most of the remaining translations are either novels by minor authors or are books on child psychology. He also wrote on music.
Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi was instrumental in founding the Pakistan Writers’ Guild and was one of the founding members with Qurat-ul-Ain Hyder
, Qudratullah Shahab, Jameeluddin Aali
and others.
Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi belonged to the culture and times that were strictly traditional and aristocratic. The need to adapt to the new realities in a different environment must have given him a tough time but he stuck to high morals, keeping the flag of at least some traditions high, while fighting it out bravely. His brave fighting must have made his eminent ancestors proud of him but what would have been their reaction to his not-so-traditional ways in the new land is anybody’s guess.
Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi died in Karachi on May 27, 1967.
Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi had never thought of doing a job. His father, Basheeruddin, was a high-ranking official in India. His grandfather, Moulvi Nazeer Ahmad Dehlvi
Deputy Nazir Ahmad Dehlvi
Deputy Nazeer Ahmad Dehlvi'Diptee' Nazeer Ahmad was a leading Urdu writerwho was also a social and religious reformer, and a prominent scholar...
, one of the great writers of Urdu in the 19th century, held high posts and had left behind a reasonable fortune. Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi got married even before passing his high school examination, as early marriage was the tradition in those days. Later, he joined Lahore’s F.C. College, planning to pass intermediate’s pre-medical exam before joining a medical college. But owing to his wife’s illness, he had to return to Delhi, his hometown.
After doing his BA Honours in English literature, Shahid launched ‘Saqi’ from Delhi, a literary magazine that was to become hugely popular but to remain a money-losing concern almost for its entire lifespan. But its sister concern ‘Saqi Book Depot’ slowly but surely started making money when Shahid and ‘Saqi’ became well known and some real good books by famous authors got published by the depot.
With the independence in 1947 everything was lost, including the magazine, the depot and the bank balance. Crossing over into Pakistan in 1947, Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi first reached Lahore and sought a declaration for ‘Saqi’, which was denied. Moving on to Karachi and looking for a job, Shahid decided to use his talent in music, which had been his hobby. As a well-off youth, he had learnt to play and sing and he had learnt quite well. So he got a job at Radio Pakistan’s Karachi station. Few people knew that the person playing and singing on radio, named S.A. Dehlvi, was none other than the grandson of Shams-ul-Ulema Moulvi Nazeer Ahmad Dehlvi, also known as Deputy Nazeer Ahmad, the famous novelist. The abbreviated name was of course a deliberate attempt to conceal his real personality as it would have brought shame to the family of great Nazeer Ahmad.
He re-launched ‘Saqi’ from Karachi in 1948 but it remained, as before, a source of great satisfaction and fame, and also a monetary loss, to Shahid.
What made Shahid more famous were his sketches. In his chaste, idiomatic Urdu and a lucid style, he wrote sketches of Delhi personalities. With his sketches he brought to life not only the people he wrote about but also the city, the culture and the times. Aside from his sketches, collected in three volumes titled ‘Ganjina-i-Gauhar’, ‘Bazm-i-Khush Nafsan’ and ‘Taaq-i-Nisyan’, Shahid has preserved the life and times of the city of Delhi in ‘Dilli Ki Bipta’ and ‘Ujra Diyar’ -- the former is a reportage on Delhi’s bloody riots that ensued partition in 1947 and the later is a collection of essays on Delhi.
Translations were another source of joy -- and income -- for Shahid. As mentioned by Dr Jameel Jalibi in an essay, Shahid had to translate for money as well. He rendered over 25 English books into Urdu and prominent among them are translations of Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
by Goethe, Maeterlinck’s work and some novels of Nathaniel Hawthorn. Most of the remaining translations are either novels by minor authors or are books on child psychology. He also wrote on music.
Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi was instrumental in founding the Pakistan Writers’ Guild and was one of the founding members with Qurat-ul-Ain Hyder
Qurratulain Hyder
Qurrat-ul-Ain Haider was an influential Urdu novelist and short story writer, an academic, and a journalist. One of the most outstanding literary names in Urdu literature, she is most known for her magnum opus, Aag Ka Darya , a novel first published in Urdu in 1959, from Lahore, Pakistan, that...
, Qudratullah Shahab, Jameeluddin Aali
Jamiluddin Aali
Nawabzada Mirza Jamiluddin Ahmed Khan better known as Jamiluddin Aali , PP, HI, is a noted Urdu poet, critic, playwright, essayist, columnist, and scholar of Pakistan...
and others.
Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi belonged to the culture and times that were strictly traditional and aristocratic. The need to adapt to the new realities in a different environment must have given him a tough time but he stuck to high morals, keeping the flag of at least some traditions high, while fighting it out bravely. His brave fighting must have made his eminent ancestors proud of him but what would have been their reaction to his not-so-traditional ways in the new land is anybody’s guess.
Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi died in Karachi on May 27, 1967.