Ek muddat se meri maa nahin soi Tabish,
Main ne ek baar kaha tha mujhe dar lagta hai
(My mother has not slept in a long time Tabish,
I had told her once that I feel afraid)
These verses were uttered by Abbas Tabish, a reputed poet from Pakistan, who was presiding over the recent Aalmi Mushaira organised by Shaeqee Ne Fun Doha at Al-Banush Club in Mesaieed recently in connection with Pakistan Day (March 23).
This year’s mushaira (poetry session) – held alongside Majlis-e-Frogh-e-Urdu Adab, Doha – witnessed a galaxy of poets from Pakistan, UK, Japan and the region. The event was dedicated to the memory of renowned Urdu poet and scholar, Jamiluddin Aali, who died in Karachi about a year ago.
The annual event also confers the “Malik Museeb ur Rehman International Awards’’ upon poets in three categories for their books: 1) Best poetry book by a senior poet in Pakistan; 2) best poetry book by a poet from the Gulf; 3) best book by an emerging young poet in Pakistan.
The event was held over two days. The first function was held at TNG school in Al Wakrah on Thursday, March 2 and presided over by Raju Jamil Aali, president of Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu, Karachi, Pakistan and son of late Jamiluddin Aali. Mohammad Sarfaraz Khanzada, former ambassador of Pakistan, was the chief guest. Fartash Syed compered.
This function was in two parts. The first part consisted of the citation ceremony of the “Malik Museeb-ur-Rehman International Awards” winners, while the second part consisted of descriptions of Jamiluddin Aali’s personality and literary services.
Fartash Syed, in his speech, said that a jury headed by reputed critic Professor Qazi Abid, with professors from universities in all four provinces as members, has been constituted to decide names of winners of this award every year. Instead of inviting poets, by advertisement, books for all three categories of awards were shortlisted and then the award winners were announced.
Khalid Sajjad Ahmed, who came from Kuwait, received the Gulf award (second category) for his Mujh main darya bahta hai poetry collection.
Abbas Tabish received the award in the first category for his Shajar tasbih karte hain. He said, “Malik Museeb ur Rehman had invited me to participate in Jashn-e-Sipas mushaira held in honour of Salim Jafri in Dubai in 1996. Then, our mutual relations of love and respect developed. It is a great honour for me to receive this award, which is linked to Malik Museeb ur Rehman.”
Zaeem Rasheed won the award in the third category.
In the second part of the function, Fartash Syed and Raju Jamil Aali briefly described Jamiluddin Aali’s personality and literary career and then a documentary on him titled Khawab ka Safar was shown.
Khanzada, the chief guest, congratulated Mohammad Atiq, Fartash Syed, the management committee members, and the award winners.
The next day’s event was held at Al-Banush Club in Mesaieed. This function, which was compered by Furqan Paracha, also consisted of two parts: the presentation of awards and the Aalmi Mushaira.
In his welcome speech, Mohammad Atiq, the chairman, congratulated all Pakistanis present in the hall for the 77th Pakistan Day. He also congratulated the winning poets and all the organisers and supporters.
Hafiz Junaid, in his address, said that it is necessary to hold such functions as they promote Pakistani art, culture and literature and ultimately Pakistan’s official and national language, Urdu. He added that “Aali Ji was a walking Pakistan. His patriotic national songs, generation by generation, are giving patriotic training to all of us.”
Hafiz Junaid Amer Sial, Community Welfare Attaché at the Embassy of Pakistan, and Raju Jamil Aali presented the Malik Museeb-ur-Rehman International Awards to Abbas Tabish and Khalid Sajjad Ahmed. Zaeem Rasheed’s award was received by Amin Motiwala, Shaeqee ne Fun’s joint-president.
The Aalmi Mushaira was attended by about 700 Urdu lovers. It started at 6pm and ended at 10pm. Poets from all Qatar-based literary organisations read their poetry on the occasion, to a very encouraging audience.
The people who recited their poetry at the event were: Abbas Tabish, Khalid Sajjad Ahmed, Fartash Syed, Furqan Paracha, Amer Amir, Amer bin Ali, Farhad Jibrail, Naeem Reza Bhatti, Mohammad Shafiq Akhter, Aziz Nabeel, Baqer Reza Naqvi, Riyaz Shahid, Iftikhar Raghib, Nadim Maher, Asif Shafi, Shirin Paresham, Ahmed Ashfaq, Qaiser Masood, Zawwar Hussain Zair, Roais Mumtaz, Reza Hussain Reza, Farzana Safdar, Wazir Ahmed Wazir, Dr Wasi Bastawi, Sanwal Abbasi, Mushfiq Reza Naqvi and Ali Imran Mehdi.
Abbas Tabish receiving his award.
