Urdu Poetry And the Idea of ‘Shifa’ Or ‘Healing’

Urdunama: The Quint’s Fabeha Syed recites Sahir Ludhinvi’s 26 January, a nazm against politics of religion.

In this episode, The Quint’s Fabeha Syed recites Sahir Ludhinvi’s 26 January, a nazm against politics of religion. 

(Image: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

Host, Writer, and Sound Designer: Fabeha Syed
Editor: Shelly Walia
Music: Big Bang Fuzz

As the world is rejoicing the arrival of many vaccine candidates in different countries, hopes of re-starting our lives make us feel closer to recovery. But what sort of recovery is it that we need? What do we actually need to recover from? Virus, ill health, or is it something else, something more?

In this episode of Urdunama, we look at the idea of healing in Urdu poetry — from hatred, oppression, to those social ills that have always made the poets question our society.

Tune in, as The Quint's Fabeha Syed recites Ghalib, Muztar Khairabadi, and also, Sahir Ludhianvi's nazm against the politics of religion, '26 January'.