Pakistani Shairo Shayari | The Work Of Syeda Henna Babar Ali

The trend of Pakistani shairo shayari has picked up speed over the past years. Keeping in mind the traditional pattern of poetry, many modern styles have been introduced. Poetry involves a thought process in which a poet expresses his/her character, experiences, recollections and emotions into words. The skill is seldom acquired but is mostly innate, inborn and instinctive. Poetry has various genres. Some are Epic, Dramatic, Satirical, Light while others are Lyrical, Elegy, Speculative and verse fabled. One thing common in all, is that it is driven initially by a cause and always has an end product- a moral. One such example of a poet who tries to express her feelings and thoughts regarding nature is Syeda Henna Babar Ali. She, a passionate and well renowned poet and music composer, has written both in Urdu and English. Her main objective is to spread peace through music and poetry. Her most appreciated books on poetry are written in English. They are listed below as:

Books by Syeda Henna Babar Ali

1. Wet Sun
2. The Nest
3. A Rose
4. Rainy Days
5. Dream Reality
6. Midnight Dialogue
7. Life’s Triangle
8. The Luminous Path
9. To Discover the Unknown.
10. Gardish-e-Dauraan in Urdu

In contrast to these, her work of shairo shayari Urdu is comparatively less, owing to her experience, once with another famous poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz to whom she had presented her work but got a remark which was, “It will take around fifteen years for you to learn poetry”. This reply was somewhat unsettling and distressing for her. Since then she had resolved to pursue her work more in English than Urdu. The result of this is her nine English books and just 2 works of Urdu namely, Gardish -e- Dauraan and the other still being written.

Music by Syeda Henna Babar Ali

Apart from her written works, she has contributed a lot to music. Having received vocal training from a number of music maestros and legends including, Madam Nur Jehan and Farida Khanum, Ustad Nazim Ali Khan and Ustad Abdul Haq Qureshi. Henna has developed a proclivity towards reciting Hamd and Naat lately. Some of her notable works are:

1. Dil Mein
2. SubhanAllah
3. Ali Ke Naam Se
4. Noor Hi Noor Hai
5. Musalman
6. Hum Ho Gaye Allah Ke

She stresses much upon women in her poetic writings. She advocates their position in the society and makes effort to help them realize their true strengths and potentials. Her poetry is emotionally moving and stirs women into action to realize their worth. Her poignant writings invoke a feeling of humanity and kindness for the people and love for nature.