Why Elia Did Not Publish His Works Imam Shamil

Jaun Elia was a master in the true sense of the word — an aalim. He had a command over many languages including Arabic and Persian, and like his father he could also read Sanskrit and Hebrew. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of philosophy, religion, Islamic mysticism and even Kabbalah, the mystical aspect of Judaism. He was the custodian of a tradition, a culture. Therefore, you will find in his poetry and prose traces of the Old Testament, the Bible and the Quran, philosophical discourses of the Mutazilites, pre-Islamic Arabian poets, as well as references from Emmanuel Kant, Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre. There is hardly any modern Urdu poet who can claim to have fused such diversified knowledge systems with blood expectorating Romanticism and passion. No wonder Jaun Elia inspired people like Baba-i-Urdu, Maulvi Abdul Haq, to stand up in his honour when he was only in his late 20s. Despite these high standards, Jaun always looked down upon his own poetry.