Zehra Nigah

Some Lesser Known Facts About Zehra Nigah

• Around 1922, the living room in Zehra Nigah’s family home used to be the centre stage for meetings of poets including Iqbal, Firaq, Makhdoom, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and Majaz.

• Zehra’s maternal grandfather used to encourage her and her siblings to revise tough poets like Haali and Iqbal with correct meanings, pronunciations, and reading styles.

• Her maternal grandfather used to tempt the children by telling them that if they would memorise Iqbal’s Jawab-e-Shikwa or Musaddas-e-Hali poetry then he would give them five rupees.

• Zehra Nigah moved to Karachi, Pakistan from India with her family in 1948.

• Zehra Nigah began her writing career during her childhood. When she was 14 years old, she learned the poetry of prominent poets by heart.

• Zehra was in seventh standard when she first attended and recited in a mushaira (a social meeting where people recite Urdu poetries).

• The inspiration behind Zehra’s poetry was her family’s migration to Pakistan after the 1947 partition of India.

• In 1980, Zehra Nigah wrote many books including ‘Shaam Ka Pehla Tara’ (1980), ‘Waraq,’ ‘Firaq’ (2009), and ‘Gul Chandni.’

  

• In 2003, she wrote the screenplay of the Pakistani TV series titled ‘Umrao Jaan Ada’ which was the adaptation of Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s novel of the same name.

  

• Zehra Nigah was one of the first Urdu women poets to make their mark in the male-dominated field of Pakistani poetry.

• In 2012, an event was held by fellow writers at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi to launch a CD of Zehra Nigah’s poetry in her own voice.