Renowned Urdu poet Kaleem Aajiz passes away

Well-known Urdu poet and writer Kaleem Aajiz, who earned many laurels and won some of the most prestigious awards, including one of India’s highest civilian awards, the Padmashri, died in the Indian city of Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, on Sunday. He was 95.
He will be buried on Monday, according to his Jeddah-based relative Fezaur Rahman.
Aajiz taught Urdu at Patna University for a long time.
Born in Telhada village near Patna in 1920, he was a gold medalist in B.A. from Patna College. He did his M.A. in Urdu literature from Patna University, Bihar. His doctoral thesis, “Evolution of Urdu Literature in Bihar,” is now available in the form of a book.
His first book of poetry was released in 1976 by the president of India. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was the only Urdu poet who represented Bihar at the annual Red Fort mushaira.
The greatest Urdu poet of all time, Rahgupati Sahay Firaq Gorakhpuri, was a great admirer of Kaleem Aajiz, according to journalist Anwarul Hoda.
“Firaq would say he felt jealous of Kaleem Aajiz because of the ease with which he could express his thoughts through his poetry,” said Hoda.
Kaleem Aajiz had a difficult life. He described the most painful episodes of his life in his book, “Wo Jo Shaayeri Ka Sabab Huwa.” Much of that pain was reflected in his umpteen poems. He was known too well for his religiosity and piety.
Kaleem Aajiz became a legend with one particular couplet: “Daaman pe koyee chheent na khanjar pe koyee daagh/Tum qatl karo ho ke karamat karo ho.” This couplet is on the lips of every Urdu lover, and is often quoted on Urdu television channels and newspapers.
Jubail-based Indian expat Wajahat Farooqui, who frequently hosted him in Saudi Arabia, said Urdu world has been deprived of an unparalleled icon. “Kaleem Aajiz was beyond compare. His poetry reflected the pathos of the Muslim community in the Indian Subcontinent,” he told Arab News on Sunday.
According to him, Aajiz saw his close relatives being murdered in the run-up to Partition in 1947. “We felt that angst in his poetry,” said Farooqui as he recalled another famous couplet of his about the horror of those darks days in the late 1940s: “Ye pukar saare chaman mein thi, wo sehar hui wo sehar hui/Mere aashiyaan se dhuwan utha, to mujhe bhi iski khabar hui.”
Aajiz will be immensely missed, added Farooqui.