Daily Times

Renowned Urdu language poet Meeraji was remembered on the occasion of his birth anniversary on Saturday. Born on May 25, 1912 in a Kashmiri family of Gujranwala his real name was Mohammed Sanaullah Dar. He passed his childhood days in Lahore and he began composing poetry when he was at school. Later, he adopted his pen name Meeraji.Though brought up in affluent surroundings, Meeraji left his home and family and chose to lead the life of a homeless wanderer, mostly staying with his friends and making a living by selling his songs. Meeraji is considered to be one of the pioneers of symbolism in Urdu poetry, and especially introducing free verse. Along with Noon Meem Rashid, he was a leading poet of the Halqa-e Arbab-e Zauq, which broke away from the classic convention of Radeef and Qafia and explored the rich resources of blank verse and free verse. Meeraji’s literary output was immense but he is said to have published very little of his poetry during his lifetime.