Education
- M.S., American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Biography
Afzal Ahmed Syed has been Associate Professor at Habib University since July 25, 2016, having first taught there as Visiting Associate Professor (January–May 2016). A leading contemporary Urdu poet and translator, he is known for his mastery of both classical and modern Urdu poetic expression and his experimental style, having published three collections of prose poems and one of ghazals, collected as Mitti Ki Kan. Wesleyan University Press (USA) and Yoda Press (New Delhi, 2015) have each published English-language selections of his work — both titled Rococo and Other Worlds, translated by Musharraf Ali Farooqi — and his poetry has been translated into Sindhi, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, and German.
He frequently translates from Persian and English; his translations of the Sabk-e-Hindi poets have appeared in Dunyazad, Karachi, and his complete Urdu translation of Mir Taqi Mir’s Persian works was published by Oxford University Press as Divan-e-Mir Farsi Maa Urdu Tarjuma. His research interests include the influence of Bedil and other Sabk-e-Hindi poets on Urdu poetry, the development of prose poetry in Urdu, and early Urdu travelogues.
In recognition of his contributions to Urdu literature, Syed received Pakistan’s Pride of Performance award from the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 2024, and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Literature from the Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association at the Karachi International Book Fair in 2023.
Selected Recent Publications
- مٹی کی کان: نظميں (The Clay Mine), Collected Work, 2nd Edition, Aaj Ki Kitabain, Karachi, 2023.
- Akhterut Shair (Arabic translation of selected poems), Ministry of Culture, Egypt, Cairo, 2024.
- Rang-e-Asrar-e-Digar (The Colours of Other Secrets) — Urdu translation of selected Persian verses of Abdul Qadir Bedil, Aaj ki Kitabain, Karachi, 2026.
- Badaeh-e-Doshineh (The Wine of the Last Evening) — Urdu translation of Persian Ghazals of nine Sabk-e-Hindi poets, with a researched preface, Aks Publications, Lahore, 2020.
- امروزِ نارسیدہ (The Unarrived Today), Collage, Lahore, 2020.
- Featured essay: “Afzal Ahmed Syed, Beyond New Poetics,” in Hazar Rang Shairi: The Wonderful World of the Urdu Nazm, HarperCollins India, 2023.
Honors & Awards
- Pride of Performance, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 2024
- Lifetime Achievement Award in Literature, Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association, 2023
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