THE body of work produced by Aziz Hamid Madni, a modern poet of Urdu, is no more available to the lovers of cerebral poetic output. Born in Raipur on June 15, 1922, Madni Sahib died in Karachi on April 23, 1992. He had produced four collections of poetry, Chashm-i-Nigara’n, Dasht-i-Imkaa’n, Nakhl-i-Gumaa’n and Gil-i-Adam. A compilation of all the four collections was published as Kulliyat-i-Aziz Hamid Madni published in 2011.

Madni Sahib had not married. After the demise of his elder brother in 1976, he had become the guardian of the former’s family. His nephew, former vice-chancellor of Karachi University Dr Zafar Saeed Saify, is the rightful heir to all the published and unpublished works of Madni Sahib, including his letters and translations of modern French poetry into Urdu.

As mentioned by Prof Sahar Ansari in his essay on Madni Sahib, unlike many translation works that are usually done without permission of the writers and publishers, he had actually made efforts to acquire the relevant permissions from France. He decided not to publish them as his correspondence remained unanswered.

Dr Saify, with whom Madni Sahib spent the last 30 years of his life, should seriously consider publishing these important assets of literature.

Minhaj Ali
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Exceptional Assembly
Updated 01 Mar, 2025

Exceptional Assembly

Both the govt and the NA remained completely unbothered by public perceptions in their first year.
Haqqania bombing
Updated 01 Mar, 2025

Haqqania bombing

If the seminary attack is indeed traced to IS, it would signal a fresh security challenge in KP.
Blood and drugs
01 Mar, 2025

Blood and drugs

FREQUENT news stories about bone-chilling murders show that the face of crime is changing — there is a marked rise...
No remorse
Updated 28 Feb, 2025

No remorse

Disturbingly, the regime seems to grow bolder in its defiance of its obligations with each passing day.
Affordable Ramazan
28 Feb, 2025

Affordable Ramazan

WITH the month of Ramazan commencing in a day or two, a price spiral peculiar to the fasting month has kicked off....
Grotesque vision
28 Feb, 2025

Grotesque vision

THE Trump administration has sunk to a new low in its cavalier approach to the Gaza crisis. It seems all sense has...