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Ale Ahmad Suroor (1911-2002) was an Urdu poet, critic and professor from India. He is best known for his literary criticism. In 1974 he was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award by the Government of India for his literary critic work, Nazar aur Nazariya. In 1991 he was also awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award.[1][2][3] He was awarded a special gold medal by the President of Pakistan on the centenary of the birth of Muhammad Iqbal.[4][5]

Ale Ahmad Suroor
Born	9 September 1911 Badaun district, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, India
Died	9 February 2002(2002-02-09) (aged 90) Delhi, India
Occupation	Professor, Poet, Critic
Language	Urdu
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Aligarh Muslim University
Genre	Literary criticism, Ghazal
Notable awards	Padma Bhushan (1991) Sahitya Akademi Award (1974)

Part of a series on
Progressive Writers' Movement
Members Urdu writers Sajjad Zaheer Ahmed Ali M. D. Taseer Hajrah Begum Rashid Jahan Razia Sajjad Zaheer Abdul Aleem Faiz Ahmad Faiz Majaz Ahmad Faraz Ismat Chughtai Saadat Hasan Manto Kaifi Azmi Jan Nisar Akhtar Shamim Karhani Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi Josh Malihabadi Sahir Ludhianvi Majrooh Sultanpuri Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum Ali Sardar Jafri Akhtar ul Iman Majnun Gorakhpuri Firaq Gorakhpuri Sibte Hassan Habib Jalib Ale Ahmad Suroor Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi Akhtar Husain Fikr Taunsvi Habib Tanvir Salma Siddiqui Krishan Chander Khatir Ghaznavi Muhammad Ali Siddiqui Sulaiman Areeb Hameed Akhtar Shaukat Siddiqui Salaam Machhalishahari Aziz Qaisi Khawar Rizvi Hajra Masroor K. A. Abbas Mohiuddin Qadri Zore English writers Mulk Raj Anand Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya Bengali writers Somen Chanda Pramod Ranjan Sengupta Bishnu Dey Punjabi writers Amrita Pritam Ahmad Rahi Hindi writers Premchand Kashmiri writers Rehman Rahi Dinanath Nadim Marathi writers Mama Varerkar
Notable works Angarey Atish Paray Twilight in Delhi Manto Ke Afsanay Dhuan
Related Organisations Communist Party of India Indian People's Theatre Association
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Early life

Suroor was born in the Badaun city of Uttar Pradesh on 9 September 1911. He studied Science and graduated from St John's College, Agra. He completed his master's degree in English literature in 1934. From 1958 to 1974 he worked as professor and Head of Urdu at Aligarh Muslim University.[1][5]

Philosophy

Suroor's autobiography, Khwab Baki Hai (Dream Still Remain), states, "Criticism takes the help of science but it is not a science; it is a branch of literature". Regarding poetry Suroor states that poetry does not bring "revolutions" but it creates right environment to make sudden change in mind, it is not "sword" but the "lancet".[5]

Work

Suroor wrote extensively on Urdu poet Muhammad Iqbal. Suroor was the founder director of the "Iqbal institute" in Kashmir University which is now known as the "Iqbal institute of Culture and Philosophy". The "Iqbal Chair" was established at Kashmir University in 1977 where Suroor was appointed as Iqbal professor.[7][8]

Books

Suroor authored many books. The following is an incomplete list of Suroor's books.[5]

• Khwab Baaki Hai (Dreams Still Remain): It is an autobiography of Suroor published in 1991.[9][10]
• Nazar aur Nazariya (Sight and Perspective) (1973): Critic work which won Sahitya Akademi Award of Government of India in 1974.
• Tanqidi Ishare (Critical Signposts) (1942): It was Suroor's first collection of critical writing.
• Naye aur Purane Chirag (New and Old Lamps) (1946)
• Tanqid Kya Hai? (What is Criticism?) (1947)
• Adab aur Nazariya (Literature and Perspective) (1954)
• Jadidiyat aur Adab (Modernism and Literature) (1967)
• Masarrat se Basirat tak (From Pleasure to Insight) (1974)
• Urdu aur Hindustani Tehjib (Urdu and Indian culture) (1985)
• Afkar ke Diye (The Lamps of the Mind) (2000)

The following are some of books written by Suroor on Iqbal's legacy.[5]

• Iqbal aur unka Falsafa (Iqbal and his Philosophy) (1977)
• Iqbal:Nazar aur Shairi (Iqbal:Vision and Poetry) (1978)
• Iqbal, Faiz aur Ham (Iqbal, Faiz and We) (1985)
• Iqbal ki Manviyat (The Relevance of Iqbal) (1986)
• Danishwar Iqbal (Iqbal The Intellectual) (1996)

Awards and recognition

Suroor was honoured by following major awards[5]

• Uttar Pradesh Urdu Akademi Award (1954)
• Delhi Urdu Akademi Award (1973)
• Sahitya Akademi Award (1974)
• Pakistan President's "Iqbal Centenary Gold Medal" presented to Suroor by the High Commissioner of Pakistan to India for his contribution to Muhammad Iqbal related literature (1978)[4][5]
• Ghalib Modi Award (1982)
• Padma Bhushan by President of India (1992)
• Majlis-e-Farogh-e-Urdu (1996) : Regarded as the Urdu-speaking world's highest literary award.[11]
• Iqbal Samman by Government of Madhya Pradesh (2001)

References

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