Waheed Qureshi

Education

Born as Abdul Waheed on 14 February 1925 in Mianwali (now in Pakistan), Dr Waheed Qureshi got his early education in Lahore. He obtained honours degree in Persian in 1944, master's degree in Persian in 1946 and master's degree in History in 1950 from Government College, Lahore.

From 1947 to 1950, he remained Alfred Patiala Research Scholar in Punjab University, Lahore. In 1952, he wrote thesis "Insha Literature in Persion – A Critical Study" and obtained PhD degree on classical Persian prose. He wrote another research dissertation on Mir Hasan and his poetry in 1964, and obtained D.Litt in Urdu.

Being devoted to books since childhood, he began building his personal library when he was a student and turned it into a sizeable collection of rare Urdu and Persian books and manuscripts.

Career

Waheed Qureshi was appointed lecturer in Oriental College, Punjab University, Lahore in 1963 and he became its principal in 1980. He worked as dean of Islamic and Oriental Learning for years. During his tenure at the National Language Authority as its chairman, he got published a large number of research dissertations and technical books and strove for the implementation of Urdu as the official language of Pakistan.

He entered the literary circles with a bang in late 1940s when he wrote Shibli ki hayat-i-muashaqa, a research work that unearthed the love-life of Shibli Nomani, a renowned Muslim scholar, and tried to portray him as a human in the light of Freudian theories. He psychoanalysed Shibli's personality as reflected in his Persian ghazals and his letters addressed to Atiya Fayzee.

In addition to his two doctoral dissertations, his works that earned him name and respect of his peers were his critical studies, research papers and annotated and edited versions of some classical Urdu and Persian works. Another contribution of his is towards understanding the ideological basis of Pakistan, Pakistan movement and poetry of Iqbal. He remained editor of several literary and research journals, including Saheefa, Iqbal Review and Iqbal, for many years. The institutions that benefited from his acumen include Maghribi Pakistan Urdu Academy, Bazm-i-Iqbal and Iqbal Academy Pakistan. He held the charge of Director Iqbal Academy Pakistan from July 1982 to April 1983 in first term and from September 1993 to June 1997 in second term.

He wrote around 30 books. His vast and deep study of oriental literature, acquaintance with the German and French languages and exposure to social sciences helped him create a distinct literary approach and style that beautifully entwined criticism with research.

Dr. Waheed Qureshi was a researcher, critic, poet, teacher, administrator and known as a witty person. One manifestation of his wit was his satirical literary column in Daily Jang, which he wrote with the pseudonym Mir Jumla Lahori. He also gave comic speeches on Radio Pakistan on several occasions.

He was given several awards by the Government of Pakistan including Niaz Fatehpuri Award in 1984, Tufail Award in 1986 and Iqbal Award in 2003. The most notable award he achieved was Pride of Performance in 1993.

Death

Dr. Waheed Qureshi died 17 October 2009 in Lahore.