Akhtar Sheerani

He was born on 4 May 1905 as Muhammad Dawood Khan, into a family belonging to the Pashtun Shirani tribe, which migrated to India with Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. The tribe later settled in Tonk, Rajasthan. He was the son of Hafiz Mahmood Shirani, a scholar and teacher who taught at Islamia College, Lahore in 1921, before moving to Oriental College, Lahore in 1928. Dawood moved to Lahore at a young age and spent most of his life there. He completed his Munshi Fazil (منشی فاضل) (Masters degree) in 1921 and Adeeb Fazil (ادیب فاضل) (Postgraduate degree) in 1922, earning degrees in Arabic and Persian also from Oriental College. He decided to pursue poetry full time after graduating. His ustad (mentor) was Maulana Tajwar Najibabadi, who had been published in literary magazines. Since his birth name was relatively common, he adopted 'Akhtar' Shirani as his pen name. == Personal life ==

Shirani's son, Javed Mahmood, died at an unknown age. He had another son, Dr. Mazhar Mahmood Shirani, a professor at Government College University, who died in 2020. ==Career==

Akhtar wrote columns for the daily newspapers Hamdard and Zamindar, published by Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, respectively. He also published his magazine Romaan, which introduced many emerging writers, including Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi and Qudratullah Shahab. He became known as شاعرِ رومان (The Poet of Romance) because of his philosophical and inspiring poems. His best-known poetry collections include Akhtaristan, Nigarshaat-e-Akhtar, Lala-e-Toor, Tayyur-e-Aawara, Naghma-e-Haram, Subh-e-Bahaar, and Shahnaz. From 1923 to 1939, he served as the editor of several literary magazines, including Intikhab, Bahaaristan, Khyaalistan, and Romaan. ==Style and influence on Urdu poetry==

Much of Akhtar's poetry was in the romantic tradition, similar to the Romanticism movement of European literature. His work focuses on landscape and women. He wrote romantic poetry that described both the physical beauty of women and the role of women in history and wider human existence. He also wrote both poetry and prose for children. He wrote in the nazm, radif and qafiya rhyming style, rather than blank verse. • "Kuchch to tanhaai ki raaton ka sahara hota" • "Barsaat" • "Tumhein sitaaron ne be-ikhtiar dekha hai" • "Woh kehte hain ranjish ki baatain bhula dein", a ghazal sung by Malika Pukhraj • "Woh kabhi mil jayen toh kya kijiye", a ghazal sung by Ghulam Ali ==Death and legacy==

On his death, Agha Shorish Kashmiri, a literary, political, and social figure in Lahore at the time, commented that seeing Shirani's physical and mental state would leave one deeply saddened. He was admitted to Mayo Hospital, Lahore, on 3 September 1948, and died in Lahore on 9 September 1948, ==See also==