Jain Elia is a Pakistani Urdu poet, philosopher, biographer and scholar. He is one of the famous modern Urdu poets of Pakistan. He is also one of the most Googled Pakistani poets.
Wiki/Biography
Jaun Elia was born on Monday, December 14, 1931 as Syed Sibt-e-Asghar Naqvi (died at the age of 70) in Amroha, British India (now in Uttar Pradesh, India). His star sign was Sagittarius. He studied Persian and Arabic at Darul Uloom Syed Ul Madaris in Amroha, a religious school affiliated to Darul Uloom Deoband Islamia University in Uttar Pradesh.
Jaun Elia and his mentor and close friend
Although he was reluctant to leave, he had to move to Pakistan in 1957 and settled in Karachi.
appearance
Eye color: Black
Hair color: Black
Family and caste
He belongs to the Shia Muslim community but does not adhere to any sect or religion and calls himself an agnostic.
Parents and siblings
His father, Allama Shafique Hassan Elia, was a scholar of literature and astronomy, fluent in Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit. He is the youngest of his siblings; his brothers Rais Amrohvi and Syed Muhammad Taqi are journalists and psychoanalysts. He also has a brother named Mohammad Abbas and a sister named Sayyada Shahezanan Najafi Naqvi.
Jaun Elia with his parents and sister
Jaun Elia’s brother Rais and his sister
Wife and children
In 1970, he married Zahida Hina, a famous story writer and columnist, but they divorced in 1992.
Jaun Elia with his wife and children
He has three children, Zeryoun Elia, Fainaana Farnaam and Sohaina Elia.
Jaun Elia’s daughter Sohaina Elia
Profession
He began writing poetry at the age of eight. In 1958, he wrote poetry for Insha, a magazine edited by his brother Rais; he also wrote editorials for the magazine. Later, he worked for the Suspense digest. His first collection of poetry, Shayad, was published in 1991, when he was 60 years old.
Shayad (1991)
His second collection of poetry, Ya’ani, was published posthumously in 2003. Later, his companion Khalid Ansari published his collections of poetry, Guman in 2004, Lekin in 2006, and Goya in 2008. His popular works include:
- Tam Halle and Meir Damian
- Jaun Elia Ki Tamam Ghazlain (Part I to Part III)
- Farnood (Essay and Editorial by Jaun Elia)
He also worked as an editor for the Ismaili and Religious Education Board in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. He translated several Mautazali treatises, a book on the 12th century Fatimid revolutionary Hasan bin Sabbah, and various texts of Ismaili Islam in Urdu and literature. He not only translated books but also introduced new words in Urdu. His translations and essays can be found in the Ismaili Board Library in Karachi. Some of his translation works are-
sign
Jaun Elia Signature
die
He died of tuberculosis in Karachi on Friday, 8 November 2002 at the age of 70. His remains lie in the Sakhi Hasan cemetery. His Namaz-i-Janaza was performed at Masjid Khairul Amal in Ancholi after the Zuhr prayer. His epitaph reads:
Main bhi bahut ajeeb hun, itna ajeeb hun ki bas
Khud ko tabah kar liya aur malaal bhi nahin”
[Translation: I’m very strange, so strange that
I ravaged myself and have no regrets]
Tomb of Jaan Elia
Favorite things
- Food: Hari Mirch Keema, Samosas
Facts/Trivia
- His father maintained correspondence with scholars and scientists such as Bertrand Russell of the Royal Observatory Greenwich in the United Kingdom.
- His cousin Kamal Amrohi (born Syed Aamir Haider) is a veteran Indian film producer. His films include Mahal (1949), Baqiza (1972) and Razia Sultan (1983).
- During his life, he acquired knowledge of philosophy, logic, Islamic history, Muslim Sufi tradition, Muslim religious science, Western literature, and Kabbalah. Jaun was fluent in English, Persian, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Arabic, and Urdu.
- His views on religion can be explained through his conversations with the poet and close friend Mirzafar Hasan,
My dear Mir Zafar Hasan, you are a lucky man. You are a very good poet and you are also very lucky. You are Mir, but you can be Zafar and you can be Hasan when you want. You can be Sunni and you can become Shia if you want. But I, Jaan Elia, though an agnostic, will always be Sayyid. Isn’t that sad?”
- He was friends with modern Pakistani poets like Mir Zafar Hasan and Obaidullah Alim.
Jaun Elia and Obaidullah Aleem
- When it comes to his political views, he calls himself a Marxist, a nihilist, and anarchist.
- For his literary work, he received the Presidential Pride of Performance Award.
- His poems often express pain, sorrow, and love from different perspectives. He is known as the poet of pain and sorrow. People believe that his sorrow came from his separation from the Amroha girl “Fariya Nigarina” whom he fell in love with. He also wrote a poem for this girl. However, many believe that the word “Fariya” in the poem means “happiness”. Some believe that his endless pain came from the separation from his village “Amroha” and separation from his wife.
- He also drank and smoked.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education