Firaq Gorakhpuri

• Name — Firaq Gorakhpuri • Birth Name — Raghupati Sahay • Pen Name — Firaq Gorakhpuri رگھوپتی سہائے • Born — 28 August 1896 • Birthplace — Gorakhpur, North-Western Provinces, British India • Died — 3 March 1982 • Place of death — New Delhi, India • Occupation — Poet, writer, critic, scholar, lecturer, orator • Language — Urdu, English, Hindi • Education — M.A. in English literature • Genre — Poetry, Literary criticism • Notable Works — Gul-e-Naghma • Alma Mater — Lucknow University, Allahabad University • Awards — Padma Bhushan (1968) Jnanpith Award (1969) Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (1970)

Raghupati Sahay was born in Banwarpar village of Gorakhpur district on 28 August 1896 in a well-to-do and educated Hindu Kayastha family. He finished his basic education at the Lucknow Christian College and went on to earn himself a master’s degree in Urdu, Persian and English literature. Firaq had shown early signs of excellence in Urdu poetry and had always shown attraction towards literature. His contemporaries included famous Urdu poets like Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Kaifi Azmi and Sahir Ludhianvi. Yet he was able to make his mark in Urdu poetry at an early age. He was selected for the Provincial Civil Service (P.C.S.) and the Indian Civil Service (British India) (I.C.S.), but he resigned to follow Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement and for which he was jailed for 18 months. Later, he joined Allahabad University as a lecturer in English literature. It was there that he wrote most of his Urdu poetry, including his magnum opus Gul-e-Naghma which earned him the highest literary award of India, the Jnanpith Award, and also the 1960 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu. During his life, he was given the positions of research professor at the University Grants Commission and Producer Emeritus by All India Radio. After a long illness, he died on 3 March 1982, in New Delhi. Gorakhpuri was well-versed in all traditional metrical forms such as ghazal, nazm, rubaai and qat'aa. He wrote more than a dozen volumes of Urdu poetry, a half dozen of Urdu prose, several volumes on literary themes in Hindi, as well as four volumes of English prose on literary and cultural subjects. His biography, Firaq Gorakhpuri: The Poet of Pain & Ecstasy, written by his nephew Ajai Mansingh was published by Roli Books in 2015.[3] The book included anecdotes from his life and translations of some of his work.[4]

• Gul-e-Naghma گلِ نغمہ • Gul-e-Ra'naa گلِ رعنا • Mash'aal مشعال • Rooh-e-Kaayenaat روحِ کائنات • Roop رُوپ (Rubaayi رُباعی) • Shabnamistaan شبنمِستان • Sargam سرگم • Bazm-e-Zindagi Rang-e-Shayri بزمِ زندگی رنگِ شاعری

Firaq Gorakhpuri is recorded as having received Jnanpith Award, Padma Bhushan and Sahitya Akademi Award. Identity and origins. He also worked under the name Firaq Gorakhpuri. The authorities additionally record the heading Raghupati Sahay. His recorded language was Urdu. His recorded confession was Hinduism.