Poet, Author, Critic and Theorist 

Shamsur Rahman Faruqi was a distinguished Urdu critic, poet, fiction writer, and theorist. His works span over different genres, from literary history and criticism to poetry and fiction. Considered an authority on llm-e bayan (the science of poetic discourse) and classical poetry, he was also a noted lexicographer. Faruqi’s book Ka’i Chaand the Sar-e Asmaan, written in 2006, has been hailed as a masterpiece of Urdu fiction. An English version of this book, called Mirror of Beauty, was published in 2013. He also translated his stories into English which are included in a book titled The Sun Rose from the Earth. He has also been credited with spearheading the revival of the Dastangoi style of storytelling in India. He was awarded the Saraswati Samman for his work She`r-e Shor-Angez, a study of the major eighteenth-century poet Meer Taqi Meer. India