Jon Elia

Jon Elia was a Pakistani poet and philosopher of Urdu and Persian. He was born as Syed Sibt-e-Asghar Naqvi on 14 December 1931 in Amroha, a town in Uttar Pradesh, British India. He was the youngest of his siblings and had a prodigious talent for learning languages. He was well-versed in Arabic, English, Hebrew, Persian, Sanskrit, and Urdu. He also acquired knowledge of philosophy, logic, Islamic history, Sufism, religious sciences, Western literature, and Kabbalah. He started writing poetry at the age of 8 but published his first collection, Shayad, when he was 60. He wrote in a simple and direct style, using everyday words and expressions. He was influenced by the classical and modern poets of both Urdu and Persian traditions. He was also a member of the Progressive Writers' Movement and a follower of Marxism. He opposed the partition of India and the military dictatorship in Pakistan. He was jailed several times for his political views and activities. He also wrote books on various subjects, such as criticism, history, culture, linguistics, lexicography, and translation. He died on 8 November 2002 in Karachi due to a lung infection. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the nation's second highest civilian award, in 2009. He is regarded as one of the most prominent and unconventional poets of modern Urdu literature.