Daily Times

After the demise of the great literary figure Dr Anwar Sadeed on March 20, many literature lovers vowed to write books and/or dedicate their journals to the services of this figure in the field of literature. This reviewer received a copy of the monthly Takhleeq – June 2016 issue reserved for Dr Anwar Sadeed and is aware that Shahid Shaidai is presently preparing a separate issue of a literary magazine Kaghazi Paerehen on the works of the same. The problem with Anwar Sadeed was that he remained under the shadow of a cold war between the groups favouring Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi and Dr Wazir Agha respectively and his own literary achievements went unnoticed. His demise made literature lovers realise that his work was insurmountable. Dr Haroonur Rasheed Tabbasum was one of them.

Tabbasum gave a deadline of April 20 for them to send their views but the response was anything but satisfactory. He did not give up and with the help of Maqbool Academy has come out with the book under review. Despite that the book is voluminous, it is light in weight.

Oblivious of any worldly gains, Dr Sadeed kept on working hard until his last breath. The first portion of the book comprises Dr Tabbasum’s review of Dr Sadeed’s books titled Parinda Safar May and others. About his book Ghazal Ke Rang, this reviewer has stated in his book Rainbow of Reflections, “This book is a collection of articles written by the author at different times on the ghazal of some of the representative ghazal sayers. The author however gives a very simplistic view on some of the asatazaas (great seniors) in the beginning of the book. He says that ghazal is a format of poetry that is softer and lighter as compared to the other domains of poetry. Its temperament cannot sustain difficult lexis. It has a special soul for which simply selecting a theme to write on is not enough. It needs sweetness of language and expression as well.” This section of the book is spread on 184 pages.

Hailing from Sargodha, Dr Sadeed pays tribute to the literary environment prevalent in Sargodha in an article ‘Iqbal Aur Dabistan Sargodha’. For 13 years, from 1954 to 1967, research on Iqbal’s works continued in Sargodha. Some memorable evenings on Iqbal were held by Akbar Sarhadi. A large section covers Anwar Sadeed’s work in the domain of criticism. In an article ‘Urdu Tanqeed Ka Mard-e-Aahan’ (The Iron Man of Urdu Criticism) Dr Wazir Agha observes that Sadeed augmented the tradition of saying truth in a writer. He has emphasised that a writer’s personality cannot be different to what views he/she expresses in his/her works. Many other writers have expressed their views on the life and works of Dr Sadeed. One essay titled ‘Dr Sadeed Ki Ilmi Aur Adabi Khidmaat’ (services in education and literature) by Dr Salim Agha Qizilbash caught this reviewer’s attention. He stated that because of his nature that Dr Anwar Sadeed was an honest and frank person, this quality reflected in his writings. He had written books Urdu Adab Ki Tehreekain (Movements) and Urdu Adab May Safarnama (Travelogues) with a lot of dedication after carrying out detailed research.

In a similar fashion, Dr Amjad Tufail threw light on Dr Sadeed in his essay titled ‘Aik Hama Jehet Shakhsiat’ (a multi-dimensional personality). He observed that it was the inborn quality in Dr Sadeed of stability and determination that tilted his interest more towards criticism. Dr Nasir Abbas Nayyar laments the demise of Dr Anwar Sadeed as a sequel to those of Jameeluddin Aali, Intizar Hussain, Fatima Suraiya Bajia and Zubair Rizvi. Shanawer Ishaq says, “Ab tou wo nasl bhi ma’adoom hui jaati hai, jo batati thi fasadaat se pehle kya tha” (Now that generation is also diminishing that used to give the stories of what went on before the riots). Anwaaruddin, born in a small town Miani, Sargodha came to be known as Dr Anwar Sadeed, a literary personality to reckon with due to his hard work, practice and passion. Munnawar Usmani declares Dr Sadeed as “Saeed Suraton Ka Musanif” (a writer of beautiful faces), all because of the detailed analyses of the works of literary people he came across in his lifetime. A total of 57 articles exploring many facets of Dr Sadeed’s personality and works have been included in the book under review by Dr Tabbasum. The latter hails from Sargodha and was former Head of Urdu department, Government Ambala College, Sargodha until 2015 with Masters in four subjects, M Phil in Iqbaliat and a Doctorate in Urdu.