Qurratulain Haider - Life and Works

Qurratulain Hyder has been my favourite writer since my student days. My PhD thesis “A Critical Study of Qurratulain Hyder’s Fiction” studied her art of fiction writing. I have carried out research on her at various stages through these intervening years. However, Qurratulain Hyder is not merely a fiction writer – she is an exceptional literary figure. In fact, there are so many facets to her multi-faceted literary persona that it is not possible to compartmentalize her into any single definition. She is, at one and the same time, a fiction writer, an essayist, columnist, biographer, travel-writer, critic, translator painter and also a documentary film-maker. She has been the leading voice of Urdu fiction in India and Pakistan. Her magnum opus Aag ka Darya remains unparalleled in the canon of Urdu fiction. Though she had been writing and publishing since her childhood, as a young woman, she commenced her literary career with a collection of stories that ran contrary to the prevailing trends, and thus, made her presence felt in no meager manner. She introduced a new-fangled experimental narrative style and technique; multiple points of view; swung the milieu and setting of her stories; and foregrounded confident, young women who were independent in thought and action. Thereafter she continued this trend through her literary career. In her writings one can find a harmonious blend of Eastern and Western philosophical and cultural systems through past and present civilizational periods which confirm the essential oneness of mankind in a world where disparities and dichotomies over-rule and this becomes a major reason why she stands out as a singular voice in subcontinental Urdu literature. My first volume on Qurratulain Hyder Nawa-e Sarosh (2001; International Urdu Foundation) is a compilation of interviews; my second is a monograph on Hyder published by Sahitya Akademi in 2017; Andaz-e Bayan Aur is a collection of conversations with her translated as A Singular Voice into English. Both volumes have been published by Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan. Qurraulain Hyder: Shakhsiyat aur Fan was also published by OUP in 2019. NCPUL, New Delhi, published my compilation of the complete works of Qurratulain Hyder in the 11-volume Aaina-e Jahan (2006-2016) and Zindagi Nama (2015), a detailed chronology of her life and works. Last year, Matterlink published my volume Qurratulain Hyder: Tafheem ke Matanawwe Zavye. I have also conceived a10-volume encyclopaedia of Qurratulain Hyder – three volumes have been published. Since I have been studying her from various standpoints over the years, time and again novel perspectives propel me to study more, or newer, aspects of her art. I have been fortunate to benefit a great deal intellectually through my interactions with her, over the years. I don’t think anybody worked as closely with her as I did, and I believe I am the richer through my interactions with her. For many years, I interacted very closely with her consulting her, studying her works, compiling her writings or interviewing her – and I am certain no one else was privileged enough to interact as closely with her as I. My engagement with her lasted for many, many days, till about only three months before has passing on. She was very prompt, always punctual, her conversations were supremely eclectic, she was extremely hospitable, a great humanist who accorded equal respect to everyone – young or old. Despite several disagreements on intellectual matters, my seven-year-long relationship with her was never spoilt at the personal level. The essays included in this volume covering her multi-faced personality, her philosophy and her art have been collected over an extended period. Some of them date back to about sixty years. Most of the writers, particularly Safder Meer, Jilani Kamran, Ibne Saeed, M Salimur Rahman were well-known critics from Pakistan, many of who have passed on, and most of these essays were published in well-known newspapers. These essays were entrusted to me during my 1992 visit to Pakistan, by these writers. Several Indian writers including M Asaduddin Nikhat Kazmi, Shamim Hanafi, Zafar Ahmad Naqvi and Navjot have been included here. I am very grateful to Professor M Asaduddin for permitting me to republish his essay. Most of these essays cover Qurratulain Hyder’s fictional writing and enable better understanding of her works. Hence, I decided to publish them in book-form and this gives me a huge sense of satisfaction. I am very happy to add that Fatima Rizvi and Sufia Kidwai readily contributed their translated essays at my request. These have added both variety and novelty to this volume of critical essays. I hope this volume will be a very valuable text for Hyder scholars. Jameel Akhtar Aligarh January, 2025 (Translated from ‘Harf-e Chand’ by Fatima Rizvi)