Ibn-e-Safi

Ibn-e-Safi (26 July 1928 – 26 July 1980) (also spelled as Ibne Safi) (Urdu: ابنِ صفی‎) was the pen name of Asrar Ahmad (Urdu: اسرار احمد‎), a best-selling and prolific fiction writer, novelist and poet of Urdu from Pakistan. The word Ibn-e-Safi is an Arabic expression which literally means Son of Safi, where the word Safi means chaste or righteous. He first wrote from the British India of the 1940s, and later Pakistan after the independence of British India in 1947.[1][2]

Ibn-e-Safi
ابنِ صفی
BornAsrar Ahmad
26 July 1928
Nara, district of Allahabad, U.P. (now Uttar Pradesh), British India
Died26 July 1980 (aged 52)
Karachi, Pakistan
OccupationNovelist
Period1940 to 1980
GenreMystery, Crime, Spy, Adventure
Notable worksJasoosi Dunya and Imran Series
Notable awardsSitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan in 2020
Website
ibnesafi.info

His main works were the 125-book series Jasoosi Dunya (The Spy World) and the 120-book Imran Series, with a small canon of satirical works and poetry. His novels were characterised by a blend of mystery, adventure, suspense, violence, romance and comedy, achieving massive popularity across a broad readership in South Asia.[3][4]

Both above-mentioned series of novels won praise from the well-known fiction writer Agatha Christie herself.[2]

Biography

Asrar Ahmad was born on 26 July 1928 in the town 'Nara' of district Allahabad, India. His father's name was Safiullah and mother's name was Naziran Bibi.[2][4][1]

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Agra University.[4] In 1948, he started his first job at 'Nikhat Publications' as an editor in the poetry department. His initial works date back to the early 1940s, when he wrote from British India. He also studied at Allahabad University where he was class fellow of Professor Mohammad Uzair and one year senior to Mustafa Zaidi . After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, he began writing novels in the early 1950s while working as a secondary school teacher and continuing part-time studies. After completing the latter, having attracted official attention as being subversive in the independence and post-independence period, he migrated to Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan in August 1952. He started his own company by the name 'Asrar Publications'.[5][3]

He got married to Umme Salma Khatoon in 1953.[4] In the period from 1960 to 1963, he suffered an episode of severe depression, but recovered, and returned with a best-selling Imran Series novel, Dairrh Matwaalay (One and a half amused). In fact, he wrote 36 novels of 'Jasoosi Duniya' and 79 novels of 'Imran Series' after his recovery from depression. In the 1970s, he informally advised the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan on methods of detection.[4]

Works

.Ibne Safi's prose work can be classified into two categories:

  • Mystery novels
  • Short stories and articles of humour and mockery

Ibn-e-Safi started writing poetry in his childhood and soon earned critical acclaim in whole South-Asian community. After completing his Bachelor of Arts, he started writing short stories, humour and satire under various names such as "Siniki (Cynic) Soldier" and "Tughral Farghan." In the Nakhat magazines, he published several satirical articles which commented on various topics ranging from politics to literature to journalism. His early works in the 1940s included short stories, humour and satire.[4]

According to one of his autobiographical essays, someone in a literary meeting claimed that Urdu literature had little scope for anything but sexual themes. To challenge this notion, Ibn-e-Safi began writing detective stories in January 1952 in the monthly Nikhat, naming the series Jasoosi Dunya. In 1953, Ibn-e-Safi, along with his mother and sister, moved to Karachi, Pakistan to join his father who had migrated there earlier in 1947.[2][4]

In 1955, Ibn-e-Safi started the Imran Series, which gained as much fame and success as Jasoosi Dunya. Ibne Safi's novels – characterized by a blend of adventure, suspense, violence, romance, and comedy – achieved massive popularity by a broad readership.[3][2]


Many a time, Ibne Safi created fictitious settings for his stories. The magical web of his writing is so captivating that these fantasy lands have become real in the minds of readers. Avid fans of the author are experts on the people and cultures of Shakraal, Karaghaal, Maqlaaq, Zeroland, and many other imaginary domains. In cities around India and Pakistan, one can find discothèques, bars, nightclubs, and hotels named after venues found in Ibne Safi's novels. Some places worth mentioning are Dilkusha, Figaro, Niagara, Tip Top, High Circle.[2]

Besides humor and satire, he also wrote some short adventures, namely Baldraan Ki Malika (The Queen of Baldraan), Ab Tak Thee Kahaan? (Where had you been?), Shumal Ka Fitna (The Trouble from North), Gultarang, and Moaziz Khopri. In these adventures, Ibne Safi takes the reader to various fictitious, exotic lands of his own imagination.

Ibne Safi wrote the story and screenplay for a film 'Dhamaka' based on his novel 'Bebakon ki talash'. The film did not get the publicity and fame which it deserved and remains mostly forgotten.

In 1959, Ibne Safi started writing Aadmi Ki Jarain, a book based on human psychology. However, it remained incomplete due to his illness.

In translation

The first English translations of Ibne Safi's mystery novels began appearing in 2010, with The House of Fear from the Imraan Series, translated by Bilal Tanweer and published by Random House India.[6] In 2011, Blaft Publications in association with Tranquebar released four more novels, this time from the Jasoosi Duniya series, translated by the highly acclaimed Urdu critic Shamsur Rahman Faruqi.[3][1][7]

Bibliography

List of his non-series work

  • Aadmi ki Jarain (Urdu for The Roots of The Man) – Incomplete
  • baldaraan ki malikaa (Urdu for The Queen of Baldaraan)
  • Ab tak thee kahaan (Urdu for Where Had You Been?)
  • Diplomat murgh (Urdu for The Diplomat Rooster)
  • saarhe paanch baje (Urdu for Half Past Five)
  • tuzke do-piazi (Urdu for The autobiography of Do-Piaza) – Incomplete
  • shumaal ka fitna (Urdu for The Trouble From North)
  • mata-e Qalb-O-Nazar – Collection of Poetry (to be published)

Novels

  • Allama Dahshatnak (Doctor Dread)[3][7]
  • Alfansey
  • Khatarnak Lashein (The Laughing Corpse)[3]
  • Saanpon Ke Shikari
  • Khaufnak Imarat (The House Of Fear) (1955)[2][5][8]
  • Purasrar Cheekhein (1955)[8]
  • Larkiyon Ka Jazirah
  • Neelay Parindey
  • Batil Qiyamat
  • Jaron Ki Talash
  • Chatanon Mein Fire (Shootout At The Rocks) (1955)[8]

Quotes from Ibn-e-Safi's books

In Urdu script: آدمی سنجیدہ ہو کر کیا کرے جب کہ وہ جانتا ہے کہ ایک دن اسے اپنی سنجیدگی سمیت دفن ہوجانا پڑے گا۔
Translation: Why should a man ever become serious when he knows full well that one day he will be buried along with his seriousness? (Black Picture)

In Urdu script: صرف عمل اور ردعمل کا نام زندگی ہے. منطقی جواز تو بعد میں تلاش کیا جاتا ہے۔
Translation: Life is only action and reaction. The rationalizations are added later. (AdLava)

In Urdu script: حماقت پر افسوس کرنا سب سے بڑی حماقت ہے۔
Translation: Regretting stupidity is the biggest stupidity of them all.

In English (translated from Urdu By Dr. Ahmad Safi, son of Ibne safi): Why is it that an ordinary clerk has to pass the examination for clerkship, a police constable has to go through training as a recruit before he could be commissioned and on the other hand vegetable-selling middlemen, good-for-nothing feudal lords and imbecile merchants go sit in the Assemblies directly and start legislating and some even become members of the cabinet (Jungle Ki Sheriyat. In Urdu script: جنگل کی شھریت -Imran Series:102)

In English (translated from Urdu By Dr. Ahmad Safi, son of Ibne safi): I know that crimes committed by governments are not called crimes but diplomacy. A crime is only that which is committed in an individual capacity. (Jonk Ki Wapsi. In Urdu script:چونک کی ؤاپسی Imran Series)

In English (translated from Urdu By Dr. Ahmad Safi, son of Ibne safi): Nuclear and Hydrogen Bomb experiments were beyond their comprehension. They could not figure out why a person is incarcerated in a mental asylum when he turns mad and why when a nation turns mad, we start calling it a Power (Anokhay Raqas. In Urdu script: انوکھے رقاص – Jasoosi Dunya:65)

Dhamaka – A film by Ibn-e-Safi

"Dhamaka" was produced by Muhammad Hussain Talpur, based on the Imran Series novel Baibaakon Ki Talaash (Urdu for (In Search of the Outreageous). Pakistani film actor Javed Sheikh (then known as Javaid Iqbal) was introduced as Zafarul Mulk, the lead role in the film. Muhammad Hussain Talpur (film producer) played the role of Jameson and actress Shabnam played the role of Sabiha. Imran and X-2's team was not shown in the movie. The voice of X-2 was recorded by Ibne Safi himself. Actor Rehman played the role of a villain for the first time. The film featured a rendition of a ghazal by the singer Habib Wali Mohammed, "Rah-e-talab mein kaun kisi ka", which was written by Ibn-e-Safi. The movie was released on 13 December 1974.

Poetry

(Note: Most of the English translations of Urdu poetry and titles are literal and do not capture the true essence of the language. Some meaning is definitely lost in translation.)

Ibn-e-Safi was also a poet. He used to write poems under the pen name of "Asrar Narvi". He wrote in various genres of Urdu poetry, such as Hamd, Na`at, Manqabat, Marsia, Ghazal, and Nazm. His collection of poetry, Mata-e Qalb-o-Nazar (Urdu or in English (The Assets of Heart & Sight), remains unpublished.

Following is the list of his Ghazals:

  • Daulat-e-Gham (Urdu (The wealth of sorrow)
  • Zahan se Dil ka Bar Utra Hai (Urdu (Heaviness of the heart is unloaded by the mind)
  • Chhalakti aayay (Urdu (The liquor shows up overflowing)
  • Kuch to ta-alluq ... (Urdu (Some affiliation ...)
  • Aaj ki raat (Urdu (Tonight)
  • Baday ghazab ka ... (Urdu (Of Much Might ...)
  • Yun hi wabastagi (Urdu (Casual connection)
  • Lab-o-rukhsar-o-jabeen (Urdu (Lips and Cheeks and forehead)
  • Rah-e-talab mein kaun kisi ka (Urdu (In the path of demands, no one recognises anyone)
  • Kuch bhi to apne paas nahin ... (Urdu (Do not have anything ...)
  • Aay nigaraan-e-khoobroo (Urdu (Gorgeous Sculptures)
  • Kabhi sawab ki hain ... (Urdu (Sometimes, of virtuousness ...)
  • Kabhi qatil ... (Urdu for Sometimes killer ...)
  • Qafas ki daastaan hai ... (Urdu (It is the tale of imprisonment ...)
  • Maan (Urdu (Mother)
  • Shakist-e-talism (Urdu (Defeat of the Magic)
  • Talism-e-hosh-ruba (Urdu (The Breath-taking Magic)[1]
  • Tanhayee (Urdu (Solitude)
  • Bansuri Ki Aawaz (Urdu (The Sound of Flute)[7]

Death

Ibne Safi died on 26 July 1980 of pancreatic cancer at age 52. He was buried in Paposhnagar graveyard in Karachi.[4][7]

Influence

The Bollywood screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar was greatly inspired by Ibn-e-Safi's Urdu novels, which he grew up reading as a child. Akhtar was particularly influenced by the Jasoosi Dunya and Imran series of detective novels, such as The House of Fear (1955). He was influenced by the fast action, tight plots and economies of expression in the Jasoosi Dunya detective thrillers. He also remembered Ibn-e-Safi's novels for their fascinating characters with catchy memorable names, which left a lasting impression on Akhtar, whose Bollywood scripts later employed some of Ibn-e-Safi's narrative techniques, such as giving catchy names to the characters, his sense of plot, and speaking styles.[9] Akhtar said that Ibn-e-Safi's novels taught him the importance of larger-than-life characters, inspiring famous Bollywood characters such as Gabbar Singh in film Sholay (1975) and Mogambo in Mr. India (1987).[10]

Awards and recognition

See also

References
  1. Altaf Husain Asad (3 June 2018). "The life of Ibn-i-Safi". The News On Sunday - The News International (newspaper). Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  2. Yasser Latif Hamdani (23 October 2008). "Ibn-e-Safi's Imran Series: An English Translation". ALL THINGS PAKISTAN website. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  3. Deepika Sarma (14 July 2011). "Murder on their minds (includes review of four novels by Ibne-e-Safi)". The Hindu (newspaper). Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  4. "Ibne Safi profile". IslamicBoard.com website. 9 March 2005. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  5. "Ibne Safi (a book review)". Compast.com website. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  6. Vivek Kaul (21 March 2010). "Book review: 'The House Of Fear '". DNA India website. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  7. Ibne Safi, unlikely combination of poet and pulp fiction writer, would have been 90 this year Scroll.in website, Published 26 July 2018, Retrieved 26 November 2020
  8. Ibn-e-Safi books on goodreads.com website Retrieved 26 November 2020
  9. Chaudhuri, Diptakirti (2015). Written by Salim-Javed: The Story of Hindi Cinema's Greatest Screenwriters. Penguin Books. pp. 26–27. ISBN 9789352140084.
  10. "Urdu pulp fiction: Where Gabbar Singh and Mogambo came from". Daily News and Analysis. 10 July 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  11. Ibne Safi, Fehmida Riaz among 116 recipients of civil awards Dawn (newspaper), Published 14 August 2019, Retrieved 24 November 2020
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