Mirza Adeeb

Mirza Adeeb مرزا ادیب (Urdu)
A portrait of Mirza Adeeb
Born	Syed Dilawer Hussain Ali (1914-04-04)4 April 1914 Lahore, Punjab, British India (now Pakistan)
Died	31 July 1999(1999-07-31) (aged 85) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Pen name	Meerza Adeeb
Occupation	Dramatist, short-story writer
Language	Punjabi, Urdu
Nationality	British Indian (1914–1947) Pakistani (1947–1999)
Ethnicity	Punjabi
Citizenship	Pakistani
Education	B.A. (Hon.)
Alma mater	Islamia College, Railway Road, Lahore[1] Government Islamia High School, Bhati Gate, Lahore[2]
Period	Modern Era (Post-World War II)
Genres	Drama, short story
Subjects	Verisimilitude, Realism and Romanticism
Literary movement	Progressive Movement Romanticist Movement
Notable work(s)	‘Pas-i Pardah’ (1967) ‘Caccā Coṉc’
Notable award(s)	Pride of Performance 14 August 1981[1] Adamjee Literary Award – Pakistan Writers’ Guild[1] 31 January 1968 Pas-i Pardah – Drama United Book Prize – Pakistan Writers’ Guild[1] 2 November 1976 Caccā Coṉc – Short story
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Mirza Adeeb, PP, BA (Hon), (Urdu: مرزا ادیب‎—Mirzā Adīb; 4 April 1914 — 31 July 1999^[1][3][4]), also known as Meerza Adeeb, (میرزا ادیب—Mīrzā Adīb),^[4] was a Pakistani Urdu writer of drama and short story.^[5] His plays and short stories won him six prizes and awards from the Pakistan Writers’ Guild.^[1]

Name

Mirza Adeeb’s birth name was Syed Dilawer Hussain Ali, (سیّد دلاور حسین علی—Sayyid Dilāwar Ḥusain ʿAlī),^[6][7] but he came to be known in the literary world as Mirza Adeeb. (‘Mirza’ denotes the rank of a high nobleman or Prince,^{[Note 1]} and ‘Adeeb’ means ‘Litterateur’.)

Early life

He was born in 1914, in Lahore, British India to Mirza Basheer Ali.^[1] He attended Government Islamia High School, Bhati Gate, Lahore.^[2] He got his Bachelor of Arts degree from Islamia College, Lahore. In the beginning, he made poetry his device,^[1] but later pursued his interest in playwriting as his métier.^[6]

Career

Plays

At first, being influenced from the Rūmānwī Tẹḥrīk, (رومانوی تحریک—Urdu for: The Romanticist Movement), he wrote romantic prose.^[8]

Later, he switched to writing plays about everyday events and incidents taking place in the society; focusing more on social problems and quotidian issues. His later works were pragmatist and verisimilitudinous.^[7] He used simple and everyday language in his plays, which enabled them to get a greater audience. Moreover, he had begun writing one-act dramas, which made them easier to broadcast over radio and television.^[9] When he affiliated himself with Radio Pakistan, many of his plays were broadcast and they gained popularity in the masses.^[10] He is listed as a prominent Urdu playwright of the Modern Era.^[9]

Other works

His main works, other than dramas, include stories and biographies.^[9] He also wrote critical essays and commentaries on books, besides writing columns in newspapers. He was also influenced by the Taraqqī-Pasasnd Tẹḥrīk (ترقّی-پسند تحریک—Urdu for: Progressive Movement).^[9] Besides, he also discharged his duties as the editor of many magazines, of which the most notable is ‘Adab-e Laṭīf’, (ادبِ لطیف—Urdu for: ‘Humorous Literature’). He also translated some American stories to Urdu.^[9] Furthermore, he wrote numerous stories for children.

Style

Following are the main features of Mirza Adeeb's style of writing:^[9]

• Objectivity: His plays had a strong sense of objectivity in them.
• Riveting dialogues: The dialogues he chose were simple, yet interesting. Each character spoke according to his/her social status and his dramas did not contain artificial, literary dialogues. His dialogues also contained witty repartees and striking replies.
• Versatility: His story lines include a variety of topics, taken from the prosaic lives on common people.
• Pragmatism: Rather than focusing on characterisation, as did many of his contemporaries, he focused more on events.
• Humanitarianism: His plays and stories have a humanitarian and philanthropic outlook.
• Unnaturalness: At few places, the plot does not seem to be moving on smoothly by itself.
• Dullness: His dramas did not have the liveliness and vitality found in plays. One of his plays was televised, but it could not gain popularity. For the same reason, on-stage presentation of his plays was unpopular.

Works

• His selective drama-collections are:

1. ‘Āⁿsū aur Sitārē’ (آنسو اور ستارے, Urdu for: ‘Tears and the Stars’),^[6]
2. ‘Lahū aur Qālīn’ (لہو اور قالین, Urdu for: ‘the Blood and the Carpet’),^[6]
3. ‘Šīšē kī Dīwār’ (شیشے کی دیوار, Urdu for: ‘the Wall of Glass’),^[6][11]
4. ‘Sutūn’ (ستون, Urdu for: ‘the Pillar’),^[6][12]
5. ‘Faṣīl-e Šab’ (فصیلِ شب, Urdu for: ‘Part of the Night’),^[1]
6. ‘Pas-e Pardah’ (پسِ پرده, Urdu for: ‘Beneath the Veil’, 1967),^[1][7]
7. ‘Xāk Našīn’ (خاک نشین, Urdu for: ‘the Earth Dwellers’)^[8] and
8. ‘Šīšah Mērē Saŋg’ (شیشہ میرے سنگ, Urdu for: ‘the Glass With Me’).^[6]

• His selective short-story collections are:^[9]

1. ‘Jaŋgal’ (جنگل, Urdu for: ‘the Jungle’),
2. ‘Dīwārēⁿ’ (دیواریں, Urdu for: ‘the Walls’),
3. ‘Kambal’ (کمبل, Urdu for: ‘the Blanket’).

• His collection of personal biographies is ‘Nāxun kā Qarź (ناخن کا قرض, Urdu for: ‘the Debt of the Fingernail’).^[1]
• ‘Miṫṫī kā Diyā’ (مٹّی کا دیا, Urdu for: ‘the Earthen Lamp’) is his autobiography.^{[1][7][13][14]}

Awards

• Presidential Award for playwriting, 1969^[10]
• Pride of Performance Award for literature in 1981^[1]
• His famous play, Pas-e Pardah (1967), won him the Ādamjī Adabī Ēwārḋ (آدم جی ادبی ایوارڈ—Urdu for: Adamjee Literary Award)^[9] in 1968^[1]

See also

Notes

References