Dareechah-e-Nigaarish

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











Majeed Amjad's masterpiece Urdu poem, Mashriq O Maghrib where he delineates the progress of Mankind and the key to continued progress of Man... the pursuit of Knowledge !!

Majeed Amjad's close associates reveal that he was deeply interested in Science and despite his meager resources, purchased books on the Origin of the Universe, Relativity and Evolution of Life on Earth. The Urdu critic Anwar Sadeed has alluded to this for Majeed Amjad's ghazals

پلٹ پڑا ہوُں شعاعوں کے چیتھڑے اوڑھے

as well as for his Poems
بس سٹینڈ پر

In Mashriq o Maghrib, Majeed Amjad refers to the discovery of farming, very early in the history of Mankind:

بس اک پھبکتی گراز مٹی

کی چادر ِ سبز جس کے دامن

میں کل تھے انبان گندم و جو

and then goes on to state how this led to the development of weapons

انبار ِ سیم و آہن

He goes on to describe how a class based society is exploiting Mankind and that this has nothing to do with cultures or being an Eastern country or a Western country.
نہ کوئی مشرق نہ کوئی مغرب
مگر و ُہ اِک زینہِٗ مراتب

جو اَن گنت بےزباں غلاموں

کی ٹوٹتی پسلیوں پہ کل بھی

ہزار کف در دہاں خدائوں

کے بوجھ سے کچکچا رہا تھا

He then talks about the pursuit of Knowledge:

وہ عقل حیراں کی کارگاہیں

discoveries in Atomic Physics and the unleashing of the power of the atom :

یہ ذرے ذرے کے قلب پیچاں

میں کھولتی قوتوں کے طوفاں

زمانہ ہے جن کی رو میں تنکا

and how the pursuit of Knowledge would liberate Mankind.

Bravo, Majeed Amjad !!



In this poem, Majeed Amjad calls out to the Pakistani people, exhorting them to awaken, realize their political challenges and work to build a brighter future for themselves.