Akhlaq Mohammed Khan

Akhlaq Mohammad Khan (16 June 1936 – 13 February 2012), better known by his takhallus Shahryar, was an Indian academician, and a doyen of Urdu poetry in India.

He then studied at Aligarh Muslim University and passed his BA in psychology in 1958.

He joined MA in psychology but quit it after a year and got admission to the Urdu department of AMU.

In 1961 he passed his MA in Urdu.

He also completed his Ph.D. in Aligarh.

Shahryar started his career as a writer at Hamari Zubaan, the weekly magazine of the Anjuman Tarraqqi-e-Urdu in 1961 and worked there until 1966.

His first poetry collection Ism-e-azam was published in 1965, the second collection, Satvan dar (Satva yet in English), appeared in 1969, and the third collection titled Hijr Ke Mausam was released in 1978.

After that in 1966 he joined Aligarh Muslim University as a lecturer in Urdu.

Shahryar married Najma Mahmood, a teacher in the English department in the Women’s College at Aligarh in 1968.

They had three children, Humayun Shahryar, Saima Shahryar, and Faridoon Shahryar who is an entertainment journalist.

As a Hindi film lyricist, he is best known for his lyrics in Gaman (1978) and Umrao Jaan (1981) directed by Muzaffar Ali.

He retired as the head of the Urdu Department at the Aligarh Muslim University, and thereafter he remained sought after name in mushairas or poetic gatherings, and also co-edited the literary magazine Sher-o-Hikmat.

Later when Ali made his directorial debut with Gaman in 1978, he used two of his ghazals Seene Mein Jalan Ankhon Mein Toofan Sa Kyun Hai and Ajeeb Saneha Mujhpar Guzar Gaya Yaaron in the film, and they are still considered classic.

All his ghazals from Umrao Jaan, 'Dil Cheez Kya Hai Aap Meri Jaan Lijiye', 'Ye Ka Jagah Hai Doston', 'In Aankhon Ki Masti Ke' etc. are among the finest lyrical works in Bollywood.

He also wrote for Yash Chopra's Faasle (1985), thereafter Chopra offered him three more films to write for, but he refused as he didn't want to become a "song shop".

He was appointed professor in 1986 and in 1996, he retired as chairman of the Urdu Department.

He co-edited the literary magazine Sher-o-Hikmat (Poetry and Philosophy).

Though he wrote for Muzaffar Ali's Anjuman (1986).

He also left behind unfinished contributions to Ali's Zooni and Daaman.

He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai (1987), and in 2008 he won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award and only the fourth Urdu poet to win the award.

He has been widely acknowledged as the finest exponent of modern Urdu poetry.

Shahryar was born at Aonla, Bareilly to a Muslim Rajput family.

His father Abu Mohammad Khan was posted as a Police Officer, though the family hailed from village Chaundhera in Bulandshahr District, Uttar Pradesh.

He received his early education at Bulandshahr.

In his childhood days, Shahryar wanted to be an athlete but his father wanted him to join the police force.

It is then that he ran away from home and was guided by Khaleel-Ur-Rehman Azmi, the eminent Urdu critic and poet.

His most celebrated work, Khwab Ke dar band hain, arrived in 1987, which also won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for that year.

In addition, he published five collections of his poetry in Urdu script.

Urdu language and literature: Critical Perspectives, New Delhi, 1991.

In 2008, he became the fourth Urdu writer to win the Jnanpith Award, after Firaq, Ali Sardar Jafri, and Qurratulain Hyder.

Shahryar wrote lyrics for select films, from Aligarh where he was approached by filmmakers.

Muzaffar Ali and Shahryar were friends from their student days, and Shahryar had shared some of the ghazals with him.

He died on 13 February 2012 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, after a prolonged illness due to lung cancer.

Four theses have been written on Shahryar's works.