About Us

Jaun Elia: ( جون ایلیاء‎, 14 December 1931 – 8 November 2002) was a Pakistani Urdu poet, philosopher, biographer, and scholar. He was the brother of Rais Amrohvi and Syed Muhammad Taqi, who were journalists and psychoanalysts. He was fluent in Urdu, Arabic, English, Persian, Sanskrit and Hebrew.

Early life:

Jaun Elia was born on 14 December 1931 in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh.[citation needed] He was the youngest in his siblings. His father, Shafiq Hasan Elia, worked in art and literature. Shafiq was also an astrologer and a poet.

During his young age, Pakistan became an independence Muslim state. Being a Communist, Elia was averse to the idea, but finally accepted it as a compromise.He migrated to Pakistan in 1957, and decided to live in Karachi. Poet Pirzada Qasim said: "Jaun was very particular about language. While his diction is rooted in the classical tradition, he touches on new subjects. He remained in quest of an ideal all his life. Unable to find the ideal eventually, he became angry and frustrated. He felt, perhaps with reason, that he had squandered his talent.

Personal life:

He was married to columnist Zahida Hina, but separated from her later on.

World view:

Jaun Elia says he was born on 13th of Rajab, the birthdat of Imam Ali. He also claimed to be from a Syed family (descendants of Prophet Mohammad PBUH). He had also studied at Deoband school of Islamic Jurisprudence.

But despite that he did not identify himself with sect or religion. He terms himself as an agnostic.His political views allied closely with Communism. He believed himself to be a migrant and an anarchist.

Works:

Poetry collections

    Shayad, 1990.
    Ya'ani, 2003.
    Gumaan, 2004.
    Lekin, 2006.
    Goyaa, 2008.

Inshaye aur Mazaameen

    Farnood, 2012

Translations

It is not known to many that Jon Elia was not just a poet but was also an editor and a translator.

    Masih-i-Baghdad Hallaj,
    Jometria,
    Tawasin,
    Isaghoji,
    Rahaish-o-Kushaish,
    Farnod, Tajrid,
    Masail-i-Tajrid,
    Rasail Akhwan-us-Safa

Above are some of his translations from Arabic and Persian. Not only did he translate these books but also introduced several new words in Urdu language, perhaps more than any other bastion of the language.