Forum Pakistan

Arif, Iftikhar (1943-)
Poet. An *Urdu language poet, who graduated from Lucknow University with a degree in sociology, before moving to Pakistan in 1965. From 1983 to 1990, Arif lived in London. He is the Honorary Secretary of the Urdu Centre (Urdu Markaz). His first collection of poetry was called Mehr-i-Do Nim (The Split Sun). He is a great admirer of Faiz Ahmad *Faiz.
The main poetic forms in which Arif writes, are *ghazals and *nazm. He was awarded the Pakistan Writers' Guild Prize (1984), the Faiz Ahmad Faiz International Prize (1989) and the Pakistan State Prize (1990). In 1991, he returned to Pakistan. Currently, he is Chairman of the *Pakistan Academy of Letter in Islamabad.

WORKS: 'Mehr-i-Do Nim', London, 1983; 'The Twelfth Player,' Landon, 1989; 'Harf-i-Baryab', New Delhi, 1996.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Suvorova, Iftikhar Arif, 'Inostrannaya Literature', No.5. 1991; G. Narang, 'Saniha-i-Kerbela Batour Sheri-Istiara', Delhi, 1986; A. Schimmel, 'Preface to The Twelfth Player', London; 1989. 'Jawaz-i-Iftikhar' (ed.) Shima Masjid, Lahore, 2000.