Munir Niazi

MUNIR NIAZI 

Munir Ahmad, better known as Munir Niazi, was an Urdu poet from Pakistan who also produced poetry in the Panjabi language.

Niazi was born in Khanpur on 19 April 1928, a village near Hoshiarpur, India. He was from the Niazi tribe. He was initially educated at Khanpur and after the partition of India he migrated to newly independent Pakistan and settled in Sahiwal, where he passed his matriculation. He earned an intermediate degree from S.E. College, Bahawalpur and a B.A. from Diyal Singh College in Lahore, Pakistan

Munir Niazi launched a weekly, seven coulors, from Sahiwal in 1949. He wrote numerous songs for films and made his name as the foremost movie song writer of Pakistan. He also wrote for newspapers, magazines and radio. In 1960 he established a publication institute, Al-Misal. He was later associated with Lahore Television and lived in Lahore till his death.

Taiz Hawa Aur Tanha Phool, Jungle mein Dhanak, Dushmanoon Kai Darmiyan Sham and Mah-e-Munir are some of his Urdu publications. In Punjabi he has published Safar di Raat, Char Chup Cheezan and Rasta Dasan Walay Tarey.

His effective imagery conveys pictures in few words. He has experimented with poetic forms and has tried to create a new style, rhythm and diction in Urdu poetry. Innocence, mythology, nostalgia, dreams, eroticism, and romance are some of his most common themes.

Selected English translations of Munir Niazi's poetical works were edited by Suhail Safdar and published in 1996.

Munir Niazi died of respiratory illness on 26 December 2006 in Lahore.