Firaq Gorakhpuri فراق گورکھپوری | |
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| Born | Raghupati Sahay[1] (1896-08-28)28 August 1896 |
| Died | 3 March 1982(1982-03-03) (aged 85)[1] |
| Pen name | Firaq Gorakhpuri فراق گورکھپوری |
| Occupation | Poet,writer,critic,scholar,lecturer,orator[1] |
| Language | Urdu,English,Hindi |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | M.A. inEnglish literature[1] |
| Alma mater | Lucknow University,Allahabad University |
| Genre | Poetry,Literary criticism |
| Notable works | Gul-e-Naghma |
| Notable awards | Padma Bhushan (1968) Jnanpith Award (1969) Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (1970) |
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 Literature portal | |
Raghupati Sahay (28 August 1896 – 3 March 1982), also known by his pen nameFiraq Gorakhpuri, was an Indianwriter,critic, and, according to one commentator, one of the most noted contemporaryUrdupoets from India.[1] He established himself among peers includingMuhammad Iqbal,Yagana Changezi,Jigar Moradabadi andJosh Malihabadi.[2][3]
Raghupati Sahay was born in Banwarpar village ofGorakhpur district on 28 August 1896 in a well-to-do and educatedHindu Kayastha family. He finished his basic education at theLucknow Christian College and went on to earn himself a master’s degree inUrdu,Persian andEnglish literature.[1]
Firaq had shown early signs of excellence inUrdu poetry and had always shown attraction towards literature. His contemporaries included famous Urdu poets likeAllama Iqbal,Faiz Ahmed Faiz,Kaifi Azmi andSahir Ludhianvi. Yet he was able to make his mark in Urdu poetry at an early age.[1]
He was selected for theProvincial Civil Service (P.C.S.) and theIndian Civil Service (British India) (I.C.S.), but he resigned to followMahatma Gandhi'snon-cooperation movement and for which he was jailed for 18 months. Later, he joinedAllahabad University as a lecturer inEnglish literature. It was there that he wrote most of his Urdu poetry, including hismagnum opusGul-e-Naghma which earned him the highest literary award of India, theJnanpith Award, and also the 1960Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu. During his life, he was given the positions of research professor at theUniversity Grants Commission and Producer Emeritus byAll India Radio. After a long illness, he died on 3 March 1982, inNew Delhi.[1]
Gorakhpuri was well-versed in all traditional metrical forms such asghazal,nazm,rubaai andqat'aa. He wrote more than a dozen volumes ofUrdu poetry, a half dozen ofUrdu prose, several volumes on literary themes inHindi, as well as four volumes ofEnglish prose on literary and cultural subjects.[citation needed]
His biography,Firaq Gorakhpuri: The Poet of Pain & Ecstasy, written by his nephew Ajai Mansingh was published byRoli Books in 2015.[4] The book includedanecdotes from his life and translations of some of his work.[5]
Firaq Gorakhpuri died on 3 March 1982 at age 85.[1] Firaq fought forsecularism all his life and played a key role against the then government's effort to label Urdu as a language of the Muslims.[1] Firaq espoused a deep affection for Urdu and emphasised the importance of keeping Urdu in the collective linguistic awareness of India and the subcontinent. "Zubaan kisi qaum ki milkiyat nahin/ Jisne seekhi, usne kahi" (Language is not the prerogative of any particular society; the person who has learnt it, speaks it) was his statement.[8]
