Pakistan’s Influential Poets

Muhammad Iqbal

Sir Muhammad Iqbal is commonly known as Allama Iqbal. He was born on the 9th of November 1877, and passed away on 21st April 1938. He was a poet, a philosopher and a politician who influenced the Pakistan Movement. King George V knighted him, giving him the title of ‘Sir’. His famous works are Asrar-e-Khudi, Rumuz-e-Bekhudi, Payam-e-Mashriq, Zabur-e-Ajam, and Javed Nama.

Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Faiz Ahmad Faiz was born on the 13th of February 1911 and passed away on the 20th of November 1984.He was an influential and revolutionary poet, who was nominated four times for the Nobel Prize for literature. He was a notable member of the Progressive Writers’ Movement (PWM), and was awarded with MBE in 1946, the Nigar Awards in 1953, the Lenin Peace Prize in 1963, Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 1990 and the Avicenna Prize in 2006. His famous works are Naqsh-e-Faryadi, Dast-e-Sabah and Zindan-nama.

Parveen Shakir

Parveen Shahkir was born on the 24th of November 1952 and passed away on the 26th of December 1994. She was a poet and a teacher, who published her first volume of poetry, Khushbu (Fragrance) in 1976. She continued to write poetry, and the following volumes have been compiled to form Mah-e-Tamam [Full Moon] with the exception of Kaf-e-Aina. Parveen Shahkir was awarded with the Pride of Performance, for her contributions to Pakistani literature.

Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jullundhuri

Abu Al-Asar was born on the 14th of January 1900 and passed away on the 21st of December 1982. He was an Urdu poet who wrote the lyrics for the National Anthem of Pakistan. His other famous works are Shahnama-e-Islam and the Hymn of Kashmir. He received the Pride of Performance Award and Hilal-e-Imtiaz.

Zehra Nigah

Zehra Nigah is an Urdu poet and scriptwriter from Pakistan who was born on the 14th of May 1937. She has written several television serials, including Pinjar. Zehra has published only two volumes of poetry, Shaam ka Pehla Taara (The First Star of the Evening) and Waraq (Page). She was also honored with the Pride of Performance award.