ADABIYAAT is an Urdu literary magazine. Published quarterly by Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), Islamabad, Adabiyaat is no run-of-the-mill journal as it accommodates diverse topics. Bringing writers, poets and intellectuals from all over Pakistan under one umbrella is one of PAL’s basic mandates, so its publications take special care of that aspect. The magazine publishes creative pieces as well as critical and research works.
Special issues of Adabiyaat usually bring under spotlight cultural and literary issues that sometimes overlap political affairs. The latest issue, Jan-Mar 2024, is a special one and brings to the fore the Palestine issue in the wake of current wave of Israeli atrocities against Palestinians. In fact, Palestine issue is basically a human issue.
The 383-page issue is divided into sections and each section’s heading is a poetic line alluding to Palestine and its catastrophic past and present. The first section consists of articles that describe the history and historical events that have been taking place in Palestine for centuries.
Two separate sections present selections from Urdu poetry composed on Palestine, empathising with its oppressed people. Some moving Urdu poems adorn the sections as they include pieces by such well-known poets as Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Ibn-i-Insha, Ahmed Faraz, Habib Jalib, Ada Jaferi, Fehmeeda Riaz, Kishwer Naheed, Jaleel Aali, Naseem-i-Sahr, Ali Muhammad Farshi, Haris Khalique, Saud Usmani, Akhter Usman, Afzal Muraad, Najeeba Arif and many others.
The section on Urdu short stories written against the backdrop of Palestine issue proffers some new short stories by some seniors and some not-so-senior writers. But some select Urdu short stories by some great names are missing from this selection, such as Qurratul Ain Hyder, Intizar Husain, Qudratullah Shahab and some others whose short fiction on the issue is truly remarkable. One hopes they will be included in the second volume as the title and inner title have tagged this issue as ‘Jild-i-Awaal’ (first volume), which means the second volume is on its way. A chapter each from Urdu novels on Palestine, one by Hasan Manzar and the other by Salma Awan, remind one that Urdu novelists too have depicted the issue that has been bleeding for decades. Articles by Fateh Muhammad Malik, Muhammad Iftikhar Shafi, Ashraf Kamal, Aqeel Abbas Jaferi and some others discover the intellectual and historical side of the issue.
In her editorial, Dr Najeeba Arif, PAL’s chairperson, has raised a pertinent question: has human kind been not able to conquer its animal instincts? She then says that we want to unite the voices of those who believe in humanity to prove that when justice and human honour were being slaughtered, our words were on the side of the oppressed. Najeeba Arif and Akhter Raza Saleemi, Adabiyaat’s editor, along with their team members, deserve all the kudos for the issue.
Another literary magazine Makhzan has just appeared. An Urdu half-yearly published by Lahore’s Quaid-i-Azam Library (QAL), Makhzan is a proof of the library’s firm commitment to spread of knowledge and culture. The historic and imposing building at Lahore’s famous Baagh-i-Jinnah that houses the library consists of two halls, constructed in 1863 and 1866. In 1981, it was decided to refurbish and turn the building into a library. Inaugurated in 1984, the QAL is a non-lending library and caters to researchers and students of higher studies as it treasures a large number of books, periodicals, microfilms, newspaper clippings, accessible through computerised catalogues.
Originally launched in January 1901 from Lahore by Sir Abdul Qadir, Makhzan was revived exactly 100 years later, in January 2001, with Waheed Qureshi as its editor. The current issue, Jan-June, 2024, is its 45th and is published under the editorship of Baseera Ambreen. Tehseen Firaqi had been editing the magazine for quite long. As Firaqi Sahib joined Lahore’s Bazm-i-Iqbal as its head and excused himself from editing Makhzan, Dr Baseera Ambreen, professor at Urdu department of Punjab University’s Oriental College, was selected to carry the torch. She has done a wonderful job by bringing out the new issue within a short span of time.
Since Makhzan is devoted to academic works, it prefers to publish research papers, critical articles, analytic studies and book reviews. The current issue has some articles by some well-known scholars, such as, Prof Abdul Haq, Aslam Ansari, Hamza Farooqi, Atiya Syed, Arshad Mahmood Nashad, Najeeb Jamal, Khalid Iqbal Yasir, Rafaqat Ali Shahid, Kashif Manzoor, Abu Junaid Ali, Ali Muhammad Khan and some others. A section on the departed souls pays tributes to two scholars, Dr Rafiuddin Hashmi and Abdul Ghani Farooq, who passed away on Jan 25, 2024, and April 20, 2024, respectively.
Zakia Muraad, the librarian, has presented a list of new publications received at the QAL.
Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2024
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