Forum Pakistan

Bukhari, Farigh (1918-97)
Poet. Real name Sayid Mir Akbar Shah Bukhari was a Pakistani poet writing in Urdu, Pashto and Hindko. He was trained in medicine in Peshawar but also studied *English literature and Pashtu folklore. He wrote poetry from the 1940s, deriving inspiration from the philosophical poetry of *Iqbal, the poems of Josh *Malihabadi and the lyrical verse of Akhtar Shirani. Bukhari edited a number of left-wing newspapers and literary journals in Lahore and Peshawar. His journal Sang-i-Mil ('Landmark') was banned for violating censorship rules. In 1970 he was convicted and sentenced to one year's imprisonment in Peshawar.

Farigh Bukhari is particularly noted for his *ghazals.
His work incorporates the chanting folk intonations and folklore rhythms of northern Pakistan. In the 1980 he published the following collections: Piyase Hath ('Thirsting Hands'), ghazals and long poems reflecting his travel impressions of England, France, Germany, Switzerland, the United States and Mexico (Lahore, 1982); Songs of Love and Struggle, - English translations of his poetry (Lahore, 1982); and Aine Sadaon ke ('The Echo of Voices'), published in Stockholm in 1985. Farigh also wrote political pamphlets and essays, including Khunchakan ('The Bleeding One'); studies of folklore in literature, Adabiyat-i-Sarhad ('Literature of the *North West Frontier Province'), Pashtu Lok Git ('Pashtun Folk Songs'), Pashtun Shairi (,Pashtun Poetry') and Hindko Adab ki Tarikh ('History of Hindko Literature'), to name a few.

WORKS: 'Shishe ke Pairahan' (Crystal Clothes), Lahore, 1971; 'Aine Sadaon ke' (The Mirror of Voices), Stockholm, 1985.