Jon Elia
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Allama Jon (also rendered into English as Jaun and Joan) Elia (Urdu: جون ایلیا) (December 14, 1931 - November 8, 2002) was a notable Pakistani Urdu poet, philosopher, biographer and scholar of Indian subcontinent. He is widely praised for his unique style of writing. He is the brother of renowned journalist and psychoanalyst Rais Amrohvi and poet Syed Muahmmad Taqi, and husband of famous columinst Zahida Hina. He was a man of letters, well versed in Arabic, English, Persian, Sanskrit and Hebrew.
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[edit] Life
Jon Elia was born in December 14, 1931 in an illustrious family of Amroha, Uttar Pradesh. He was the youngest of his siblings. His father, Allama Shafiq Hasan Elia, was deeply involved in art and literature and also an astrologer and a poet. This literary environment modeled him along the same lines, and he wrote his first Urdu couplet when he was just 8.
Jon was very sensitive in his early teen age. His preocucpation in those days were his imaginary beloved character, Sophia, and his anger was directed at the English occupiers of the united India. He used to do dramatic presentations of the early Muslim period, and hence his knowledge of Muslim history was recognised by many. According to him, his early poetry reflected the dialogue nature of stage drama.
A close relation of Elia's, Syed Mumtaz Saeed, recalled that Elia also went to Syed-ul-Madaris in Amroha, a Madressah (Koranic school) affiliated with Darul Uloom, Deoband. "Jon had a way with languages. He could learn them effortlessly. Apart from Arabic and Persian that he had learnt at the Madressah, he acquired great proficiency in English and a smattering of Hebrew."
During his youth, the united India was involved in a Muslim-Hindu feud, which led to the partition of the country on religious lines once British rule ended. Being a Communist, Elia was averse to the idea, but finally accepted it as a compromise. Elia migrated to Pakistan in 1957, and made Karachi his home. Before long, he became popular in the literary circles of the city. His poetry, which bears ample testimony to his wide-ranging reading habits, won him acclaim and approbation. Poet Pirzada Qasim said: "Jon was very particular about language. While his diction is rooted in the classical tradition, he touches on new subjects. He remained in quest of an ideal all his life. Unable to find the ideal eventually, he became angry and frustrated. He felt, perhaps with reason, that he had squandered his talent."
He was a prolific writer, but could not be convinced to publish his work. His first poetry collection Shayad (an Urdu word which means "Maybe") was published when he was 60. The poetry presented in this collection added Jon Elia's name in the Urdu literary canon forever. Jon Elia's preface in this collection provided deep insights into his works and the culture within which he was expressing his ideas. The preface can also be considered as one of the finest examples of modern Urdu prose. It covered his intellectual evolution in different periods of time, and his philosophy of poetry, science, religion, etc. The second collection of his poetry Ya'ani was published posthumously in 2003 and the third titled Gumaan (an Urdu word which means "Illusion") in 2004.
Jon Elia was an unabashed open anarchist and nihilist in generally a conservative and religious society. His elder brother, Raees Amrohavi, himself a poet and influential intellectual, was brutally murdered by a religious zealot, and ever since his death, Jon was conscious about what he would say in public.
Jon was also involved in translation, editing and other activities. His translation of various Mautazalite treatises, Hasan Bin Sabah, and various texts about the Ismaili sect in Islam are a major contribution to the Urdu language. His prose and translations are not easily available. Some of these can be found at Ismaili centers and libraries.
He acquired encyclopedic knowledge of philosophy, logic, Islamic history, the Muslim Sufi tradition, Muslim religious sciences, Western literature, and Kabbala. He also synthesized this knowledge into his poetry that also differentiates him from his modern contemporaries.
He also edited Urdu literatrary magazine "Insha", where he came to know of another prolific Urdu writer Zahida Hina, and finally married her. Zahida Hina, a progressive intellectual in her own right, still writes for dailies, Jang and Express, on current political and social issues. He had 2 daughters and a son with her. Jon and Zahida were divorced in mid 1980s. This left Jon devastated and alone. He became alcoholic and depressed.
He died after a protracted illness on November 8, 2002 in Karachi.
[edit] Works
[edit] Poetry collections
[edit] External links
- Dawn Feature: Jon Elia — the intimate stranger
- Anwar Ansari's Jaun Elia page
- Recordings of Jaun Elia reciting poetry, archived at mushaira.org
- BBC Urdu's collection of writings on Jaun Elia. In Urdu
- Aligarian.com's compilation of audio recordings and verses of Jaun Elia in Roman transliteration
- Video of Jaun Elia reading on youtube
- Video of Jaun Elia by Amjad Sheikh
