Mazhar Mahmood Shirani came from an illustrious family, known for their love of learning and erudition. His father was a poet who died young but his romantic poetry is here to stay in the annals of Urdu literature. His grandfather wrote monumental books on history of Urdu and its evolution and was widely regarded as a scholar extraordinaire. Shirani honed his skills, benefitting from his elders and managed to carve out a place for himself as a research scholar. Instead of emulating his father, Akhtar Shirani, Mazhar Mahmood Shirani followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, Hafiz Mahmood Shirani.

Shirani’s first love was history. When he relaised that it was essential to know the Persian language in order to understand medieval times he learnt Persian as well. Born in the village, Shirani Abad, near Jodhpur, Rajasthan, in 1935, he came to Pakistan with his family after independence and obtained a master’s in history and later one in Persian. He taught Persian at many institutions including Government College, Lahore, and retired in 1995 from Government College, Sheikhupra, the city of his residence. He edited and wrote scores of books in Urdu thus proving his mettle as a true inheritor of the glorious legacy of his family.

In 2006, he wrote sketches of some people he met during his lifetime under the title Benishanon Ka Nishan. It was received with a lot of adulation as he proved himself as one of the finest sketch writers in Urdu. Buoyed up by the success of the book, Mazhar Shirani came out with another title Kahan Se Laoon Unhain, about some of the leading literary people he got a chance to work with. Needless to say, this book was received warmly by all and sundry.

Shirani’s first love was history. When he realized that it was essential to know the Persian language in order to understand medieval times he learnt Persian as well.

Wo Khan Gaye is Mazhar Shirani’s last book of sketches, published just after he passed away a few months ago. It contains sketches of eleven people, not all of them belonging to literature and art. SM Ikram was a bureaucrat turned author who wrote many books on history. He was a friend of the author’s family. There is a sketch of Justice SA Rahman and one of Syed Hassam Ud Din Rashidi. But the most memorable sketch is of late Sardar Abdul Hameed Nakai who was a landlord and a very influential politician. He was a student of the author’s grandfather and valued the relationship till his last breath. From the sketch, Abdul Hameed Nakai comes out to be a very cultured and well-read politician who was elected member of assembly several times. There are other people like Dr Abdul Shakoor Ahsan, Syed Manzoor Barkati, Hakeem Mahmood Barkati, Dr Najmul Islam, Khurshid Ahmad Khan Yusufi etc whom the author tries to bring to life in this book.

Mazhar Mahmood Shirani, a great Persian scholar, authored/edited many books and wrote scores of research articles in many leading journals of Pakistan. With his three extraordinary sketchbooks, he also became one of the top-notch writers of sketches in Urdu literature. Written with lots of pathos, and compassion, Wo Kahan Gaye reaffirms his credentials as a foremost sketch writer of his times.

Wo Kahan Gaye

Author: Mazhar Mahmood

Shirani, arranged by Rashid Ashraf,

Dr Pervaiz Haider

Publisher: Atlantis Publications SITE Karachi

Pages: 198

Price: Rs480

The author is a freelance

journalist based in Islamabad