Profile of Raghib Muradabadi
haqīqat ko chhupāyā ham se kyā kyā us ke make-up ne
jise lailā samajh baiThe the vo lailā kī maañ niklī
haqiqat ko chhupaya hum se kya kya us ke make-up ne
jise laila samajh baiThe the wo laila ki man nikli
Born in Delhi in 1918, Raghib Muraadabadi moved to Pakistan after partition and worked for the government.
Raghib began writing poetry at the age of nine when he was in the fourth grade. His literary talent bloomed under the guidance of Maulana Zafar Khan. He wrote 40 books which include a collection of ghazals, nazms, naat, a collection of poetry in Punjabi and translations (in verse) of Quranic Ayats. His collection of ghazals ‘Rag-e-Guftar’ was published to much critical acclaim as were his naats. Raghib Muradabadi is considered to be one of the best poets of rubaai (quatrain) ever. One of his books titled ‘Maut’ has 500 rubaais on the topic of death. The foreword to the book is written by Allama Talib Jauhri. He also penned his thoughts on the issue of terrorism. His compilation of Josh's letters, ‘Khutoot-e-Josh Malihabadi’, and a book titled ‘Mukaalimat-e-Josh-o-Raghib’ reveals his closeness to Josh Malihabadi.
Raghib Muradabadi had thousands of ‘shagirds’ (pupils), the most prominent of which was the popular poet Habib Jalib. It is believed that Habib adopted the pen-name ‘Jalib’ on his suggestion. He was regarded as an ‘Ustad’ (Maestro) of ghazal, nazm and rubaai. His rubaaiyaat were considered to be perfect in terms of technicality and fulfilment of meanings and expressions.
He received the prestigious ‘Pride of Performance’ in the Musharraf era for his distinguished literary services. Saaghar-e-sad-rang, Azm-o-iisaar, Ziya-e-sukhan , Rag-e-guftar, Mid’hat-e-Khair-ul-bashar, Mukaalimat-e-Josh-o-Raghib, Hamara Kashmir, Ba-huzuur-e-khatim-ul-ambia and Mehnat Ki Reet are some of the collections of his poetry.