Jaun Elia Ghazals

Jaun Elia (December 1931 to 8 November 2002)

Syed Hussain Jaun Asghar Naqvi, commonly called Juan Elia, was an Urdu poet, philosopher, biographer, and scholar from South Asia who migrated from India to Pakistan during the partition of the subcontinent. He was the brother of Rais Amrohvi and Syed Muhammad Taqi, who were journalists and psychoanalysts. 

He was fluent in Urdu, Arabic, English, Persian, Sanskrit, and Hebrew. Jaun acquired knowledge of philosophy, logic, Islamic history, the Muslim Sufi tradition, Muslim religious sciences, Western literature, and Kabbala.”

Early life

Jaun Elia was born as Syed Sibt-e-Asghar Naqvi on 14 December 1931 in Amroha. His father, Shafiq Elia, was a scholar of literature and astronomy. He was the youngest of his siblings. Rais Amrohvi was his elder brother. Indian film director Kamal Amrohi was his first cousin. He married writer Zahida Hina in 1970, and they separated in 1992.

Poetry collections

• Sukhan Meri Udasee Hai
• Zakham-e-Umeed
• Mubadala
• Tumharey Aur Mere Darmiyan
• Daricha Haye Kheyal
• Qatar
• Jaun Elia Ki Tamam Ghazlain
• Inshaye our Mazaameen
• Farnood
• Is Rang Ke Tufaan
• Shayad

Being a communist, Elia opposed the partition of India. Elia once remarked on Pakistan that “this was the mischief of boys from Aligarh” But, he eventually migrated to Pakistan in 1957 and decided to live in Karachi.