Zubair Ibn Saifi

Zubair Ibn Saifi, one of the participants of Annual Mushaira 2014 Jeddah, was impressed with the Jeddah audience, and the organizational skills of the Consulate General of India Jeddah for holding the Annual Mushaira.

He was all praise for Indian Consul General BS Mubarak and Consul Press Information and Culture Dr. Irshad Ahmad’s love for Urdu language and poetry.

Also known as Muhammad Zubair, poetry lovers recognizes the poet with his pseudonym Zubair Ibn Saifi.

Saifi hails Amroha, a town that has produced many literary personalities.

In an interview to Saudi Gazette, Saifi shed light on his literary background and the progress of Urdu language and poetry.

“My grandfather Rauf Amrohvi, father Saifi Amrohvi, uncles Hamid Amrohvi and Sajid Amrohvi are not only poets but they also have their poetry collections. Since 1923 our family organizes Naatiah Mushairah at our home every Friday. I composed my first verse in 1968,” said Saifi, who completed his education from Amroha and has a degree of Vaid Visharad from Allahabad.

Usually the poets and critics think that our neighbor Pakistan is ahead in the field of Ghazal but Saifi denies it. “Indian poets are composing beautiful Ghazals. They excel in this field. If one sees the population and area, India is a vast country and a big nation. There are many great Ghazal poets in the far flung areas of this vast country. They need exposure. Our government should promote Urdu and should help Urdu poets and writers in this regard,” he said.

He added: “Mushairas are not waste of time or money. Through them Urdu has regained its popularity. No other language has such profound Mushaira tradition like Urdu. Arabic, Persian and Hindi have poetic literary traditions but the cultural fair like Mushairas are not seen in the tradition of these languages.”

Saifi is inspired and impressed by Shamim Jaipuri, Khumar Barabankawi, Fana Nizami and my father Saifi Amrohvi. “Their presence make Mushairas popular and effective. I get inspiration from them,” he said.

Below is a sample from Saifi’s poetry collection:

Kaisa karam Sarkar kiya
Zehnon ko hamwar kiya

Tum per marne walon ne
Achchha karobar kiya

 
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