Obituary: Shamsur Rahman Faruqi

(30 September 1935 – 25 December 2020)

Shamsur Rahman Faruqi was born in present day Azamgarh in the year 1935. He grew up raised in Gorakhpur, pursuing his schooling there.

He completed his Bachelors and Masters (1955) degree in English Literature, going on to pursue a doctorate in English symbolism and French literature with noted poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan as his supervisor. However, he never completed his doctorate. He left it mid-way due to a disagreement with his supervisor, Mr. Bachchan.

Faruqi began his writing career in 1960. In 1966, he started an Urdu magazine Shabkhoon (transl. Blood of the Night) in 1966 and continued to be its editor and publisher for more than four decades. He contributed to modern literary discourse a lot. He was considered an expert in classical prosody and ‘ilm-e bayan (the science of poetic discourse).