Majeed amjad biography

I had written about Majeed Amjad, a forgotten but outstanding Urdu poet of twentieth century. Today, a friend tagged me (on facebook) with another of his wistful poems. There is a translation along with the poem. I am posting both for readers here. Majeed Amjad’s style is difficult to render in any other language; however, the effort by Yasmeen Hameed (below) is quite competent. Once again this is a powerful, stark poem leaving you immensely moved. The hallmark of great poetry is that it has a unique impact on the reader/listener. Majeed Amjad leaves the reader standing in the ruins of the heart, he often writes about. I also found an audio archive of Amjad reciting his poems in a deep, soulful voice with a slight Punjabi accent.

Its a shame that Pakistan has not acknowledged this great poet. He died in oblivion and the literary establishment is divided about him. Amjad lived and died as an individual in a society that functions along groups, camps and clans. This is why he is so different from most of Urdu poets of his age.

Here is the poem:

These neighborhood dwellings, these little homes, these casements, these courtyards, even before us were as tranquil, as resplendent.

Those who left did not deny the homes their love, were not so eager to leave. Who could have held them back, though, the stooping arches had no arms. 

Hordes, bound by the chain of fate, could have taken them along, but for the walls which had no feet.

Their spirits now wail and sob, one with the echoing, dusty winds. To them belong these dwellings: biers burning on the debris of fallen eras.

Moulded of a hot mixture of ashy bones and tears, only these bricks can recount the magnitude of our defeat. 

It changed us all: the distress of the fractured bricks; our own suffering we dismissed, entrapped in the mesh of stone and hay; we clashed with each other.

These neighborhood dwellings, their edged roof-tops, the palatial houses, the tent-homes, but for the countless walls that di

Punjabi writer, Urdu poet (1914–1974)

Majeed Amjad (Punjabi, Urdu: مجید امجد) (29 June 1914 – 11 May 1974) was an Urdupoet from Pakistan. One newspaper described him as a "philosophical poet of depth and sensitivity". His ghazals have been sung by various Pakistani singers.

Personal life

Background

Amjad was born on 29 June 1914 in Jhang, a small town in the Pakistani province of Punjab. He was taught by his maternal grandfather. Then for a few years he studied Arabic and Persian under the supervision of his maternal grandfather Noor Muhammad at a local mosque before enrolling in first grade in a government school. He obtained his Matriculation certificate in the first division from Islamia High School, Jhang. Two years later he completed his Intermediate exam, also in the first division from Government College, Jhang. Later he moved to Lahore for higher education that was not available in Jhang. He eventually received his bachelor's degree in 1934 from Islamia College Lahore.

During the Great Depression, economic opportunities were limited even for educated people like Amjad, who returned to Jhang and joined a weekly newspaper named Arooj. He remained as an editor of the newspaper until 1939 and regularly published his own prose and poetry. At the advent of the Second World War, a poem of his against the British Empire was printed on the front page of Arooj and he was forced to leave the newspaper. After that he found a job as a clerk in the Jhang District Board. In 1944, the government set up a civil supplies department to ration food and clothing. He passed an entrance exam and joined this department and served on with the Food Department until his retirement in 1972. He lived in many small and large towns all over Punjab during his employment with the Food Department includin

When one thinks of poets who gave a new direction to Urdu poetry in the modern era, the names of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Noon Meem Rashid and Miraji always come to mind. There were other distinguished poets as well, such as Akhtarul Iman, Ali Sardar Jafri and Makhdoom Mohiuddin, who were contemporaries of the big three mentioned above. Slightly younger, but nonetheless a rising star, was Nasir Kazmi.

These poets, regardless of their politico-literary affiliations, ushered in a trend broadly called “the new poetry.” The “new poets” pushed the conventional boundaries of Urdu verse to include a variety of subjects that were personal and unorthodox, such as a more direct engagement with love and loss. They refurbished and expanded the range of classical metaphors and popularised styles that were idiosyncratic, even whimsical.

These poets mostly favoured the nazm as a mode of expression because it allowed more space for experimentation. In this cluster of dazzling poets, a name that often gets overlooked is that of Majid Amjad.

Abdul Majid Amjad (1914-74) was from Jhang, a small town in Punjab. His first sustainable job as editor of a weekly journal Urooj ended in 1939. Thereafter, he qualified as inspector of civil supplies in the Department of Food and Agriculture in 1944. He lived in Sahiwal for the most part of his life.

The unassuming, reticent, reclusive Amjad did not belong to any literary group, fashionable or otherwise. Younger contemporaries fondly remember his slight figure riding a bicycle to work in the morning and returning in the evening to hang out with a group of local poet-friends at the Stadium Hotel. He lived alone.

His marriage to a cousin had failed and there were no offspring. Cycling down Canal Road to his office every day, Amjad was deeply attached to the stately trees that flanked the canal. The pain he felt at the cutting down of those trees for urban expansion was poured into one of the most achingly

Mohtaram Majeed Amjad (1914-1974)

is arguably among the top 5 modern Urdu poets.  He has written poems, long poems, ghazals as well as geet  (songs). 

    His poetry shows an amazing breadth of content ranging from personal love to the social problems facing an emerging Pakistan.

    His diction includes words from Hindi, Arabic, Persian and Urdu, all assimilated into flawless, rhythmic phrases which bring forth a very nuanced imagery.

   Sensitive to the human condition and always seeing the infinite in the infinitesimally minute details of life around him, his poems are colorful canvases portraying his age and his unique view of the people and places he lived in.

As of 2016, I have decided to divide the presentation of this great modern Urdu poet's poems into certain self-defined categories ... I realize this may appear artificial to some critics but I feel now   that this is an attractive option to showcase this poet's immense talent and aid younger readers' appreciation of Majeed's poetry ... Drum roll please... The categories are:

Majeed Amjad: Early Poems

Majeed Amjad: Romantic Poems

Majeed Amjad: On Man and his Abode
Majeed Amjad: Socio-Political Poems

Majeed Amjad: Poems about Children

Majeed Amjad: Poems about Art