Shamsur Rahman Farooqi (1935-2020), an Urdu poet, and one of the leading literary critics and theorists, has turned his back on us. He passed away at the ripe age of 85 but being the greatest literary and cultural icon of the current age, his demise has left a big vacuum that might never be filled.

Many admirers regarded him as the TS Eliot of Urdu criticism largely because he formulated fresh models of literary appreciation. But for me, Shamsur Rahman Farooqi is a distinct figure whose influence has been far more profound and pervasive in various realms of Urdu literature than anybody else’s.

In him the East held the West in a tight embrace, belying Rudyard Kipling’s assertion that the East and the West cannot meet. Farooqi absorbed Western principles of literary criticism and subsequently applied them to Urdu literature, but only after adapting them to address literary aesthetics native to Arabic, Persian and Urdu.

His father Maulvi Muhammad Khalil ur Rehman Farooqi (1910-1972) was well-versed in Arabic and Persian as well as in English, Urdu and Hindi. He had a great passion for poetry which he cultivated in his eldest son, Shamsur Rahman, who composed his first verse at the age of seven. His literary instruction and training in the classics of Persian, Arabic and Urdu afforded him a rare insight into viewing the socio-cultural spatiality from multiple angles.

After receiving his master’s degree in English literature from Allahabad University important tools of literary analysis and criticism were added to his repertoire although he had started reading and writing in English from an early age. I have been of the view that intellectually well-rounded people like Shamsur Rahman Farooqi are vitally important for the evolution of Urdu language and literature. Therefore, in all the departments of Urdu literature, it would be advisable to teach Western criticism as well as Persian and Arabic classics.

Farooqi was an officer in the Indian postal service but despite a clear divergence in his profession and love for literature, the number of books he wrote would surprise many. He started his writing career in 1960 and wrote a lot but without compromising on quality. Ka’i Chand Thay Saray Asman (an English translation of the monumental novel came in 2013 with the title, The Mirror of Beauty) and Sher-i-Shor Angez would have been enough to gratify Shamsur Rehman Farooqi because in a single lifetime, these can be considered more than sufficient.

Given the scope and the profundity of these works, they required the skills and finesse of a person of Farooqi’s literary vision and craft. No lesser being could have accomplished writing such classy works of prose. Ka’i Chand Thay Saray Asman chronicled the life of Wazir Khanum, the mother of late-19^th century Urdu poet who once was the tutor of Allama Iqbal, Daagh Dehlvi. That novel, arguably the best exposition of literary Urdu prose since Qurrat ul Ain Haider’s Aag Ka Darya was set in Delhi.

More importantly, the entwining of history with literature to weave such a stylish narrative speaks volumes of Farooqi’s erudition and skill. The novel was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Many were surprised that Ka’i Chand Thay Saay Asman did not get the prize. Similarly, the four-volume analytical work on Mir Taqi Mir is undoubtedly a path-breaking work published in 1996. It won him Saraswati Samman, an Indian literary award. It is the most authoritative work on the art of poetry of the greatest exponent of Urdu ghazal. In a work of classical prosody, Ilm-i-Bayan (the science of poetic discourse), his contribution to modern literary discourse epitomises profundity rarely seen in contemporary Urdu critics. Tafhim-i-Ghalib, a commentary on Mirza Ghalib, is another notable contribution of Farooqi.

Tanqidi Afkaar, a book on literary criticism, brought him another prestigious recognition, the Sahitya Akademi Award. Padma Shri Award was also bestowed upon him. (It is the fourth highest civil award in India.) I wish he could be considered for an even bigger award, at least Padma Vibhushan.

The Sun That Rose from the Earth, published in 2014, makes for a fascinating read. It comprises five short stories. The protagonists of those stories are literary figures trying hard to negotiate with the travails and tumult of the 18^th and the 19^th Centuries. Thus, Farooqi has brought about the convergence of history and literature in quite a dexterous manner. The book deals with the lives of literary greats of 18^th and 19^th Centuries and tells stories about them, unveiling certain aspects of their lives not generally reflected upon.

A young Rajput orphaned by the revolt of 1857, Beni Madho Ruswa travels many years later from Cawnpore to Delhi to get the divan of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib autographed by the great poet himself. Young Mir Taqi Mir, a rising star in the world of poetry, meets the first great love of his life, Nurus Saadat, an exquisite beauty from Isfahan. A tumultuous love affair follows, accompanied by ravishing verse. Aspiring poet and wealthy businessman, Darbari Mal Vafa, pays a visit to Lucknow and learns of the life and work of the poet Shaikh Mushafi through the stories told by his widow.

Poets — historical figures ranging from Ghalib, Mirza Jane Janan, Budh Singh Qalandar, Amir Khan Anjim, Mir Taqi Mir, Kishan Chand Ikhlas, Haidar Ali Atish and Mushafi — and poetry occupy centre stage in the fabulous stories of The Sun that Rose from the Earth, set in the great cities of north India and spanning the glittering age of the Mughals.

Another noteworthy contribution of Shamsur Rahman Farooqi was the revival of the tradition of dastangoi. The 16^th Century oral storytelling art form reached its climactic heights in the subcontinent in the 19^th Century. That genre was virtually abandoned with the death of Mir Baqar Ali in 1928, the man who won popularity as a dastango and was welcomed in the courts of nawabs and rajas, was the guest of honour in the diwan khanas of the elites of Delhi. That art form breathed again when Mahmood Farooqui revived it.

All in all, Shamsur Rahman Farooqi was a rare breed among Urdu literary critics. He leaves behind a legacy that will be impossible to emulate.

The writer is a Professor in the faculty of Liberal Arts at the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore