How to Navigate for My Poetry
The Urdu poetry uploaded here is all in PDF format. Each poem is preceded by a related introductory paragraph in English. Below each paragraph is the title of the poem. Click it to reach the PDF of the poem. Some poems are 2 or more pages long. Scroll down as you read each page.
My poetry reflects my concerns about the burning issues of our times, including the challenges posed by threats to the environment, and religious fundamentalism. It also poses questions for us about the unbridled growth of human populations and the repercussions caused to the planet.
This poem of mine invites women to give up wearing the hijab and to join the mainstream of life with the rest of humanity. But it is not really the piece of scarf itself over their heads which is the problem; it is when the scarf is worn to conform to religious convictions that it becomes an impediment to the full potential and realization of their lives. Hijab puts… read more →
Encyclopedia Britannica
Nearly all religions, but particularly Islam lays claim to be the source of all human knowledge embedded in the holy book of the Quran, and its orthodox clergy, namely the mullahs and Imams, claim great epithets for themselves, such as Light of … read more →
Aejaaz
This is one of my more recent poems on the uniqueness of this only planet in the known universe which hosts life and its many wondrous living forms. I was out on a walk by Anderson Lake in Morgan Hill … read more →
Akbar Ali Khan
Ustad Akbar Ali Khan Sahib (not to be confused with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan the Sarodist) was descended from a distinguished house of music going back to Tan Sen and even further back to Amir Khusro. Like his predecessors Ustad … read more →
All Saints
All Saints is a poem about the school I attended back in the late 40s in Hyderabad. It was a Catholic Mission school with a great tradition of learning and sports. I had first joined the adjoining Rosary Convent as … read more →
Einstein
My poem is a eulogy to this great man who was a visionary and a genius. His prophetic vision of the multi-dimensional and relative universe in which we find ourselves, lighted a great candle of understanding for all of us. Our … read more →
Moizuddin Khan
This is a poem about Moizuddin Khan (also known as Majuddin Khan) who was one of the greatest vocalists of the late 19th and early 20th Century. He mainly sang thumris, but his tankari and compositions were the envy of … read more →
Raees Khan
Ustad Raees Khan is one of the foremost Sitar players from the Sub-continent and made a name for himself alongside people like Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shanker and Ustad Vilayat Khan Sahib, who was his maternal uncle. Ustad Raees … read more →
Shahid Parvez
Ustad Shahid Parvez is a descendent of the great Imdad Khani gharana of Sitar players. He is the grandson of Ustad Waheed Khan Sahib, who was the paternal uncle of Ustad Vilayat Khan Sahib. Shahid Parvez has not merely emulated … read more →
Sitar
This is a poem about Sitar, an instrument I love to play. The Sitar has evolved as an instrument in the last 800 years on the sub-continent. It was first put in its proto-form by Amir Khusro who used the …read more →
Aabadi
This is a poem about over-population. When I was a child, the total population of the sub-continent was around 400 million. A few years ago India’s population alone had reached the 1000 million mark, and this was excluding the populations … read more →
Vilayat Khan
Ustad Vilayat Khan (1928 – 2004) is one of the greatest Sitarists who ever lived. He blazed a new trail in the field of gayaki baaj which is now being emulated by one and all. He belongs to the Imdad … read more →
Amir Khusro
This poem is in praise of Amir Khusro (1253-1325 A.D.) who is one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived. He wrote poetry in Farsi as well as in many different languages of North India, including Brij Bhasha, Hindi, Proto-Urdu, … read more →
Tufaan
This poem is a lament on the effects of exploding human populations across the globe and the resultant degradation of natural environments everywhere. But the Islamic faith regards this planet as only a temporary railway platform whose adherents will eventually leave to … read more →
Boko Haram
The scourge of fundamentalist religion finds expression through the militant organization of Boko Haram, who have used it to commit crimes of murder, kidnap and rape against innocent school girls in North-eastern Nigeria. As per Wikipedia, members of this organization have … read more →
Burqa
This poem is a scathing criticism of the practice of hiding women’s faces and bodies in a head-to-foot burqa which disables them physically, and socially. The culture which promotes this garb reflects the inability of its practitioners to join the … read more →
Ikhtetaam
A lamentation about the deterioration of the earth’s natural environment. Once upon a time this green planet was a paradise for all life, which our thoughtless and unbridled exploitation is turning into a nightmare.
Hafez
My poem is a tribute to Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī 1325/26–1389/90) , one of the greatest ghazalgo poets of the Persian language, who profoundly influenced Urdu ghazal through the centuries.
Darwin
Darwin’s great gift to mankind was the understanding that came to us from his seminal work in which he expounded the theory of evolution. His monumental research and observation spread over several decades on the processes which governed all life on earth, … read more →
Surya
This is a brief poem in lament of the crisis that has gripped this part of the world, with the hope that one day its dislocated people will be able to return to their homes in peace.
UrduPlatform.com 