A man is known by the company he keeps. A man is also know by the letters he writes to all those who are near to his heart. In the case of a literary man, the letters written by him acquire a special significance. Ghalib gained unprecedented glory for his letters.
Apart from his poetry, he showed his finesse as a finest prose writer too. Quite recently it was Mushfiq Khwaja who became quite famous for writing letters to all and sundry. He might have written hundreds of letters to his well wishers that were spread through the length and breadth of the country. Now his friends are publishing collections of his letters for the benefit of the students of the Urdu literature. Researchers would love to delve into these letters for the better assessment of the works of Mushfiq Khwaja.
The book under review 'Makateeb-e-Dr Syed Moeen-ur- Rehman' is a tribute to Dr Moeen-ur-Rehman from his dedicated pupil Muhammad Saeed. Muhammad Saeed teaches Urdu at the famous Govt College University Lahore. During his stint as a student he came into contact with Dr Moeenur Rehman who made lasting impression on him. He got a chance to chisel his qualities under the guidance of Dr Moeen who headed the Urdu department for quite a while. He earned quite fame owing to his undying passion for Ghalib.
He is regarded as an expert on Ghalibiat. Muhammad Saeed started collecting the letters of his teacher with a view to get them published. It all started in the year 2000. At first Dr Moeen was reluctant as regards this project. However later he gave in. the present volume consists of more than two hundred letters written by Dr Moeen to a host of literary persons. Muhammad Saeed decided to publish these letters in their original form.
His dedication made the 'Aksi Isha,at' of the letters possible. These letters have been written to various luminaries of literature. Dr Moeen had a long list of friends with whom he loved to correspond.
But not only the bigwigs of the literature, he wrote letters to other lesser know personalities too. Some letters are addressed to his pupils too.
From these letters, Dr Moeen emerges as a caring and thorough gentleman. He was a man who had all the traits that the men of classical age were endowed with. He discusses personal as well as literary points in these letters. After reading a coulumn of noted columnist Ashfaque Naqvi in a English daily, he wrote a letter to him and disagreed with him on certain point. His tone was not derogatory.
There is no hint of prejudice in any of these letters. Some of the top guns of literature, whom he written letters are: Dr Aslam Farrukhi, Ijaz Batalvi, Farman Fatehpuri, Ataul Haq Qasmi, Dr Moeenuddin Aqeel, Mushfiq Khwaja, Khwaja Manzoor and Mansha Yad. The oldest letter had been written to Khwaja Manzoor Husain dated October 2 1977. While that letter that he wrote to Mian Saeedur Rehman just twelve days before his death is his last letter.
Muhammad Saeed has also to his credit a book 'Nazr-e-Moeen' that consists of the essays of various people in memory of Dr Moeen. It was published after his demise. Now he has presented another tribute to his teacher as well as mentor by compiling this book. He is a restless soul who loves to undertake many such literary pursuits. He also edited the Makateeb Number of the magazine 'Tahqeeq Nama' of the Govt College University Lahore. Manto is another favourite topic of him. After taking great pain, he collected many short stories and other miscellaneous articles of Manto that were scattered in various magazines. Now the book of Manto is already in the press. This is a landmark publication by any standard.
He is also writing a slim book on the life of Dr Moeenur Rehman for the Pakistan Academy of Letters. Muhammad Saeed deserves a pat on the back for his effort.
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Book : Naqeeb-e-Inqalab, Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali
Compiled by : Shafqat Rizvi
Publisher : Pakistan Study Center, Karachi University
Pages : 275
Price : Rs 250/-
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