Aks-e-khushboo

by Parveen Shakir

Genres: Poetry

About the author

Parveen Shakir was an Urdu poet, teacher and a civil servant of the Government of Pakistan.

Parveen started writing at an early age and published her first volume of poetry, Khushbu [Fragrance], in 1976 to great acclaim. She subsequently published other volumes of poetry; all well-received.

Shakir employed mainly two forms of poetry in her work, one being the prevalent Ghazal, and the other being free verse. The most prominent themes in Shakir's poetry are love, feminism, and social stigmas, though she occasionally wrote on other topics as well. Her work was often based on romanticism, exploring the concepts of love, beauty and their contradictions, and heavily integrated the use of metaphors, similes and personifications.

Arguably, Shakir can be termed the first female poet to use the word larki (girl) in her works. The male-dominated Urdu poetry scene seldom employs that word, and uses masculine syntax when talking about the 'lover'. Similarly, she often made use of the Urdu first-person, feminine pronoun in her verses which, though extremely common in prose, was rarely used in poetry, even by female poets, before her.

On 26 December 1994, Shakir's car collided with a bus while she was on her way to work in Islamabad. The accident resulted in her death, a great loss to the Urdu poetry world. The road on which the accident took place is named after her.

Reviews

[W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such beautiful poetry. It's filled with dazzling,vivid imagery. There is a lot of pathos,longing and loss.

Also has the pain of loneliness,and the memories and agony of parting from a loved one. Most poignantly,she muses about what it would be like to die.
(She died young in an accident).

A terrific book,one worth reading again.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a translation, from Urdu, into English. The title Khushbu means Perfume. The poems are either free verse, or ghazals - short, lyrical poems - usually concerning love.

Her poems are funny, feminist, sensual and erotic.
This was her first poetry collection, published in 1976 and it was very popular. She was honoured as a great poet after her early death in 1994, in a road accident.

[Rabia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is said that Parveen Shakir is heartbeat of all new generations coming with time and she was much needed in this world but destiny has many other things to show off. She never get old.
This book is not purely by Parveen Shakir but it's compilation of her poetry by anyother person.
The poems are either free verse, or ghazals - short, lyrical poems - usually concerning love.
Its beautiful and worthy read for everyone if you want to read something light nd speedy.
کون چاہے گا تمہیں میری طرح
اب کسی سے نہ محبت کرنا

[Omama. · Rating 4 out of 5]

موت کی آہٹ دل میں سُنائی دے رہی ہے کیوں
کیا محبت سے بہت خالی یہ گھر ہونے کو ہے

۔۔۔

میں سوچتی تھی، تیرا قرب کچھ سکون دے گا
اُداسیاں ہیں کہ کچھ اور بڑھ گئیں مل کر

۔۔۔

دل پھٹنے لگا ہے ضبطِ غم سے
مالک! کوئی درد آشنا دے

۔۔۔

کون چاہے گا تمہیں میری طرح
اب کسی سے نہ محبت کرنا

۔۔۔

کمال شخص تھا جس نے مجھے تباہ کیا
خلاف اس کے یہ دل ہو سکا ہے اب بھی نہیں

۔۔۔

[Aakash saini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parveen Shakir aagar us car accident mein na maru hoti to mujhe ummed hai ki wo is pure desh mein ekk aesi shyara hoti to sab se aalag niyari or aajab lekni k liye jani jatti, aap lekhani mein mujhe Amrit pritam ji or jaun Elia jaani ki jhalak.

main sach kahungi magar phir bhi haar jaungi
vo jhuut bolega aur la-javab kar dega

[Munazza Mazhar · Rating 5 out of 5]

عکس خوشبو ہوں بکھرنے سے نہ روکے کوئی

اور بکھر جاؤں تو مجھ کو نہ سمیٹے کوئی 🥀

[Eha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love parveen shakir so much