Renowned poet Rehan Azmi passes away

KARACHI Well-known Urdu orator, ‘Zakir’ and prolific poet, Rehan Azmi passed away after a long illness. His funeral prayers will be offered today (Wednesday) after Maghrib prayers in a mosque adjacent to Central Imambargah Jafar Tayyar. He left behind two sons, friends of literature and lovers of the Urdu language.

Dr. Rehan Azmi was born in 1956 in Liaquatabad, Karachi, and started his literary journey in 1974. Azmi was one of the leading poets of Pakistan who received hundreds of awards and certificates. He authored over 25 books, wrote more than 4,000 songs but at the height of his fame bid farewell to romantic poetry and dedicated his pen to the grief of the Ahl al-Bayt.

He introduced new styles of lamentation and set new angles of thought. His elegies, Manqabat and poetry earned him international recognition. In 1997, his name was included in the Guinness Book of World Records as one of the most prolific poets.

Many of his books have been translated into Hindi, Gujarati, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu languages. In addition to his literary and journalistic services, Dr. Sahib served as the head of the Urdu Department at the Group of Ali Ali Schools. The death of his eldest son Salman Azmi in 2018 bore heavily on him.

Central Secretary of the Majlis-e-Wahdat Muslimeen Pakistan, General Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafari and Provincial Secretary General Allama Baqir Abbas Zaidi expressing sorrow over his demise termed it an irreparable loss for the world of knowledge and literature.