Khawaja Reazuddin Atash

Khawaja Reazuddin Atash [ خواجہ ریاض الدین عطش ] was a noted Urdu poet and writer from Pakistan. He wrote ghazals, nazms and hamd-o-naat and authored books on the Urdu language and biography of Dr. Mubarak Azeemabadi. He published his poems in three volumes: Saughat-e-Junoon, a collection of ghazals; Jashn-e-Junoon, a collection of nazms; and Vird-e-Nafas, a collection of Hamd-o-Naat. He also published Daagh ka Akhri Charagh, a biography of the famous Urdu poet Dr. Mubarak Azeemabadi, Urdu ka Shajra-e-Nasab, a linguistic research and reference work on the Urdu language, and Urdu Dushman Tehreek ke Sao Saal, a collection of investigative articles about anti-Urdu movements.

Biography

Atash was born on 4 March 1925, (8th Sha'ban, 1342 H) in the historic city of Azeemabad (Patna) Bihar, India. He spent his early life in pre-partitioned India and migrated to Dhaka, East Pakistan (Bangladesh) in 1947, where he lived until 1971. Following civil unrest leading to the creation of Bangladesh, Atash migrated to Karachi, West Pakistan. Atash belonged to a literary family. He started writing poetry from an early age. He founded Bazm-e-Sukhan in Dhaka, Karachi and Chicago.

His grandfather, Syed Khawaja Fakhruddin Sukhan Dehlavi was a renowned poet and writer of the late 19th century. Sukhan, a disciple of Mirza Ghalib, published many books including Divan-e-Sukhan, a collection of poems, and Sarosh e Sukhan, a fiction novel (داستان), which are considered early Urdu classics.

Atash spent the last ten years of his life in Chicagoland, Illinois, USA, where he became a popular literary personality. He actively participated in literary symposiums and mushairas and regularly wrote for Urdu newspapers and periodicals. He was accorded several literary awards, including the famous "Ghalib Award" for his literary services.

Atash died in January 2001. He is buried at Chicago's Rosehill Cemetery.

See also

• Urdu poetry