Today marks the 89^th birth anniversary of the eminent poet Jaun Elia who believed in open intellectual dialogue and discourse.

halat-e-hal ke sabab halat-e-hal hi gai

shauq men kuchh nahin gaya shauq ki zindagi gai

Born on December 14, 1931, Elia’s rare ideas and unique writing style fascinates the readers and he will always be remembered for his greatest services to the Urdu language.

Be-qarari si be-qarari hai

Vasl hai aur Firaq Taari hai

Jaun Elia was romantic and yet strongly believed in family system. He tied knot with a known story writer, columnist Zahida Hina but later they divorced.

His religious views could be well explained in the following verse.

Youn jo takta hai aasmaan mein tu

Koi rehta hay aasmaan mein kia?

He was realistic, never believed in hypocrisy.  Jaun was fluent in English, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Sanskrit and Urdu. His ghazals are a true and rare depictions of intellectuality, social criticism and human truth.

Woh Jo Tha Woh Kabhi Mila Hi Nahi

So Gareban kisi Sila hi Nahi

For his literary services, he got the Presidential Pride of Performance Award in 2000. Jaun Elia died on November 08, 2002, after a protracted illness and is resting in Sakhi Hassan graveyard of Karachi.

Jo Guzari na Jasakay Hum se

Hum ne wo Zindagi Guzari hai