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Yusufi, Mushtaq Ahmad : A Wordsmith par Excellence

Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi:

(1923-2018)




Humor and satire are important components of communication. Life changing messages can be conveyed through this genre in a very jovial manner. The problem, however, lies in the writers’ involvement in scurrilous sentences which might be offensive. Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi raised the Urdu humors-writing up to the apogee.

Yusufi was born in a well-educated family of Jaipur (British India), born in Tonk, Rajasthan, India 1923.From his paternal side, he belonged to Pashtun of the Yusufzai clan, while from his maternal side he belonged to Rajput of the Rathore clan. His father Abdul Karim Khan Yusufi served as the was chairman of the Jaipur Municipality, and later Speaker of the Jaipur Legislative Assembly. Yusufi earned a B.A. from Agra University before coming to Aligarh. He completed an M.A. in Philosophy and LL.B from Aligarh Muslim University and joined the Indian Civil Service soon after.


After partition, his family migrated to Karachi, Pakistan. In 1950, he joined Muslim Commercial Bank, later became deputy general manager. IN 1965 he joined Allied Bank Ltd as managing director. In 1974, he became president of United Bank Ltd. Then he became the chairman of the Banking Commission of Pakistan in the 1970s.


He was awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1999 and Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2002, the highest civilian honors conferred by the Government of Pakistan. He also received the ‘Kamal-e-Fun Award’, the highest literary award by Pakistan Academy of Letters in 1999. His famous collections include 'Charagh Taly', 'Khaakam Badahan', 'Aab-E-Gum', 'Sham e Shair Yaran' and 'Zarguzasht'. His novel 'Aab-e-Gum' was translated into English as 'Mirages of the Mind' by Matt Reeck and Aftab Ahmad.


His writings are flooded with Persian and Urdu verses and one can find several quotations from illustrious writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Marcel Proust, Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain in his works. He also shared anecdotes from ancient China, Greece and even from classical Persian and Arabic literature in his writings. No doubt he was one of the greatest humorists and satirists of modern Urdu. After so many attempts made to translate his work in English, Intizar Husain wrote, ‘Yusufi's work is untranslatable’. Today few of his quotations can be seen floating on social networking sites:

‘The problem with rumours in Pakistan is that they often turn out to be true.’

‘There are three kinds of enemies – enemy, mortal enemy, and relatives.’

‘The thing that has made the greatest sacrifice for Islam is goats.’

After a prolonged illness, Yusufi passed away in Karachi on 20 June, 2018, at the age of 94, he was laid to rest after his funeral prayer was offered in Sultan masjid in DHA, Karachi




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