"naqoosh" – a literary journal from lahore, pakistan "naqoosh" is a literary journal published from lahore, pakistan, with its inaugural issue released in march 1948. the first editors of this journal were renowned urdu poet, critic, and journalist ahmad nadeem qasmi and celebrated short story writer hajra masroor. the first issue of naqoosh featured works from several distinguished writers, including krishan chander, ahmad nadeem qasmi, hajra masroor, aziz ahmad, hafeez jalandhari, saba akbarabadi, yusuf zafar, qayyum nazar, qatil shifai, asar lucknawi, akhtar sheerani, firaq gorakhpuri, hafeez hoshyarpuri, ali sardar jafri, abdul hameed adam, khalid hassan qadri, mukhtar siddiqui, safiuddin safi, and abdul aziz falakpuri. throughout its history, naqoosh has been under the leadership of different editors, resulting in four distinct editorial eras: first era (march 1948 – april 1949) under the editorship of ahmad nadeem qasmi and hajra masroor, naqoosh published only its first ten issues. both editors were affiliated with the progressive writers' movement, which influenced the content of the early issues. this political alignment led to the journal facing a six-month suspension due to governmental restrictions. second era (may 1950 – march 1951) in this short period, waqar azeem took over as the editor and transformed naqoosh significantly. he prioritized literary aesthetics and classical literary traditions. the articles published during his tenure included: "andalus mein asar-e-ilmiya" by niaz fatehpuri "qadeem urdu ki razmia masnaviyan" by nasruddin hashmi "urdu novel" by mumtaz shirin "urdu shayari ki taraf pesh qadmi" by sufi tabassum a "novella edition" was also published in 1951, featuring notable works such as: "allah ke naam par" by intizar hussain "jahan baraf girti hai" by a. hameed "mehmaan-e-bahar" by ashfaq ahmed "sasural" by shaukat thanvi "katari" by saadat hasan manto third era (april 1951 – september 1986) during this period, naqoosh was personally managed and edited by its owner, muhammad tufail. this was the longest and most significant period in the journal’s history. muhammad tufail wrote the editorial section titled "tulu" (dawn). over time, he became a distinguished writer himself, producing nine collections of biographical sketches, published under the titles: "janab" "sahib" "aap" "muhtaram" "mukarram" "moazzam" "makhdoomi" "muhib" "mahve qalam" fourth era (december 1986 – present) in december 1986, javed tufail assumed editorial responsibilities. one of naqoosh’s key strengths is its inclusivity, as it is not restricted to any single literary school of thought. writers and poets from all literary backgrounds are given space to express their ideas. while naqoosh values classical traditions, it does not oppose innovation. instead, it serves as a bridge between classical and modern literary traditions. technically, naqoosh is a monthly magazine, but its special editions on various literary topics are so extensive that they resemble independent books. some of the most notable special issues include: ghazal number short story number letters number personalities number satire & humor number patras bukhari number shaukat thanvi number manto number mir anis number iqbal number autobiography number prophet muhammad (pbuh) number lahore number, among others.