Syed Sibt-e-Asghar Naqvi, commonly known as Jaun Elia, was a Pakistani Urdu poet, philosopher, biographer, and scholar. He was the brother of Rais Amrohvi and Syed Muhammad Taqi, who were journalists and psychoanalysts. He was fluent in Urdu, Arabic, English, Persian, Sanskrit and Hebrew. One of the most prominent modern Pakistani poets, popular for his unconventional ways, he "acquired knowledge of philosophy, logic, Islamic history, the Muslim Sufi tradition, Muslim religious sciences, Western literature, and Kabbala."
Early life
Jaun Elia was born as Syed Sibt-e-Ashgar Naqvi on 14 December 1931 in Amroha, British India. His father, Shafiq Elia, was a scholar of literature and astronomy well-versed in the Arabic, English, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit languages, and who corresponded with leading intellectuals like Bertrand Russell. He was the youngest of his siblings. Rais Amrohvi was his elder brother. Indian film director Kamal Amrohi was his first cousin. Described as a child prodigy, he was initially educated at the Syed-ul-Madaris in Amroha, a madrassah associated with the Darul Uloom Deoband, despite his family being Shia. During his youth, Pakistan became an independentMuslim state. Being a communist, Elia was averse to the idea, but finally accepted it as a compromise. He migrated to Pakistan in 1957, and decided to live in Karachi. Poet Pirzada Qasim said: He began writing poetry at the age of 8 but published his first collection, Shayad, when he was 60. He married writer Zahida Hina in 1970 and they separated in 1992.
Above are some of his translations from Arabic and Persian. Not only did he translate these books but also introduced several new words in Urdu language.
Theme
His poetry is known for its unending pain. He expressed the pain and sorrow in distinct way that anyone could get influenced by his poetry. We get the flow of pain that his counterparts are lacking. Jaun Elia was nihilist and anarchist as well he had a distinguished philosophy of love in his poetry. According to him, the highest level of love is in actual the Beginning of separation from lover. As he says : بہت نزدیک آتی جا رہی ہو ۔۔بچھڑنے کا ارادہ کرلیا کیا؟ And also : He also wrote poetry about love, philosophy of love life, but he is well-known as a poet of pain.
